Biography:

Zeba Khan is a first-year PhD student at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her research focuses on barriers and facilitators of seeking care for moderate to severe dysmenorrhea among Canadian youth. Zeba is one of 25 graduate students to receive the most prestigious awards available to graduate students at UBC, the Killam Doctoral Scholarship, and is supervised by Dr. Paul Yong at the Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Laboratory. In her academic career, Zeba has published several papers, and notably, co-authored the ‘A qualitative study of sexual health and function of females with pelvic cancer’ paper, which won the ‘Best Journal Paper’ at the International Society for Sexual Medicine conference.

Zeba is the Founder and Director of Free Periods Canada Foundation – a grassroots non-profit organization focusing on research, and education to address menstrual inequity in Canada. In 2019, Zeba conducted a community-based qualitative research called ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT PERIODS: A Critical Analysis of Menstrual Inequities in Canada’ and became a finalist at the international Map the System research competition organized by Oxford University. Zeba co-led the ‘Mapping Menstrual Equity in Canada’ research project and produced a series of three reports with Dr. Lisa Smith. This research project was contracted to Dr. Lisa Smith by Women and Gender Equality Canada to inform the design and development of a $25 million Menstrual Equity Pilot Fund. Zeba is one of the six members of the Period Poverty Task Force (PPTF) in British Columbia. The PPTF was convened by the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction to support the Province’s goal to end period poverty by generating recommendations for the Ministry.

Zeba has received over 22 scholarships and awards recognizing her work in academia as well as in the community as a menstrual equity advocate. Notable awards of recognition include the Diana Award (2019), the BC Community Achievement Award (2021), and the International Community Achievement Award (UBC, the consecutive years between 2015-2019).