CNIW Students Showcase Research at the 2026 American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting
By Oceanna Liu
The American College of Epidemiology (ACE) 2026 Annual Meeting took place September 14-17, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. Five students represented CNIW at the conference and delivered poster presentations. Our students immersed themselves in epidemiology research, attending keynote lectures, oral presentations, and other researchers’ poster presentations.
CNIW Student team members, from left to right, Oceanna Liu, Arianna Ding, and Jackie Zhou
Each student brought a unique perspective to the ACE conference, drawing from diverse academic disciplines and institutions, including Neuroscience at the University of Calgary, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia, and Health and Disease at the University of Toronto. All five students had previously participated in CNIW’s Summer Camp or worked with CNIW as summer students supported through the Government of Canada’s Canada Summer Jobs program. For all five students, this was their first ACE conference. Post-event feedback indicated high satisfaction with the experience, particularly highlighting the value of presenting their research and gaining exposure to the broad scope of epidemiological research presented at the conference.
CNIW Student Team Members Jia (Caroline) Wei and Angela Zhang (right). Caroline and Angela are undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Western University (UWO), respectively.
CNIW is dedicated to promoting immigrant wellbeing through research, knowledge dissemination, and community service. CNIW seeks to empower youth and strengthen our organization by introducing young researchers to opportunities such as the ACE conference.
Several of the posters presented by CNIW students were prepared in collaboration with Dr. Zhuoyu Sun, Dr. Yun Zhu, and their research teams at Tianjin Medical University, reflecting CNIW’s ongoing international research and student-training collaborations.
The following CNIW abstracts were presented:
1. Luo X, Li J, Ding A, Liu O, Zhou J, Chen Y, Wang PP, Zhu Y. Alcohol Consumption, DNA Methylation and Stroke. Poster Presentation, American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting, Buffalo, NY, September 14-17, 2026.
2. Dai L, Wang X, Ding A, Liu O, Chang K, Liu C, Wang PP, Zhu Y. Alcohol Consumption, DNA Methylation and Lung Cancer. Poster Presentation, American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting, Buffalo, NY, September 14-17, 2026.
3. Li X, Wang Y, Li X, Wei C, Zhang A, Wang PP, Sun Z. Evaluation of Cervical Cancer Screening Strategies Combining HPV Testing and Cytology: Diagnostic Accuracy and Cost-Effectiveness Assessment. Poster Presentation, American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting, Buffalo, NY, September 14-17, 2026.
4. Zhang A, Wei J, Lei N, Cao H, Han X, Jia I, Huang S, Trippen W, Wang PP. Barriers to Uptake of COVID-19 and RSV Vaccines During Pregnancy Among Chinese Canadian Women. Poster Presentation, American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting, Buffalo, NY, September 14-17, 2026.
Dr. Peter Wang, Director of CNIW, expressed “I am very pleased to see our students’ continued success at the ACE Annual Meeting. For the past five years, CNIW has supported students in attending and presenting their work at ACE and other academic conferences. Conference participation has now become an integral part of CNIW’s knowledge mobilization and student training program, providing young people with valuable opportunities to develop their research, communication, and professional skills. We are committed to continuing this initiative, and I am also delighted that CNIW students will be presenting their work at the Canadian Immunization Conference (CIC) , to be held in Toronto in November 2026.”
The Canadian Immunization Conference will provide CNIW students the opportunity to examine new research on emerging vaccine- and immunization-related issues and their potential impacts on decision-making, policy and practice.