Biography:

 

Xiaoqing (Blandine) Dang is a PhD candidate in the Women+ and Children’s Health (WACH) Program at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, supervised by Dr. Pascal Lavoie. Her research focuses on neonatal immunology, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), maternal-newborn immunity, and population-level approaches to understanding why some infants are more vulnerable to severe respiratory infections early in life.

Her current work investigates how maternal immunity during pregnancy shapes newborn protection against RSV, with a particular focus on geographic and health inequities across British Columbia. Using residual newborn screening dried blood spots (NDBS), she studies maternally transferred RSV antibodies and immune protection at birth in infants from remote and metropolitan communities. Her research also explores how metabolic and genetic factors, including CPT1A-associated fatty acid metabolism, may contribute to severe respiratory disease risk in early life.
Blandine’s broader interests include maternal-fetal immunology, vaccine-preventable respiratory infections, neonatal immune development, translational epidemiology, and health equity in underserved populations. She is particularly interested in how immunization strategies and public health programs can be optimized to improve protection for pregnant people and infants across diverse communities.

Before joining UBC, she completed both her MSc and BSc degrees at the University of Waterloo. Her long-term goal is to bridge immunology, epidemiology, and public health policy to improve maternal and child health outcomes.