HEAL Spotlight: Mackenzie Betteridge
- Post by: Anastasia Soukhov
- 10:34AM Apr 01, 2026
- No Comment
Meet Mackenzie Betteridge:
Hometown: Windsor, Ontario
Hobbies: Hiking, nail polish, yoga, equestrian sports
Education: BSc in Biological Sciences & Psychology
Current role at HEAL: MSc Student in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (thesis supervisor Dr. Jamie Seabrook and Dr. Jason Gilliland) and HEAL Youth Advisory Council (HEALYAC) Staff Co‑Facilitator
Joined the HEAL: September 2024
Research at HEAL:
Mackenzie is a member of the QuaranTEENing project. QuaranTEENing is a Canada-wide longitudinal survey examining Canadian adolescents’ mental health, social connectedness, and substance use amid and following the COVID-19 pandemic. Mackenzie’s current research focuses on adolescent cannabis use utilizing data from the QuaranTEENing project. Her graduate thesis explores sociodemographic, psychological, health-behaviour, and neighbourhood-level factors that shape cannabis use among adolescents across Canada.
What Mackenzie Enjoys Most About Working with HEAL
What is your favourite part of working with the HEAL: My favourite parts of working with the HEAL are collaborating with such a diverse and hardworking group of researchers, as well as the opportunity to engage with the Youth Advisory Council. The breadth of the HEAL’s research initiatives brings together a wide range of unique perspectives and skill sets, which creates such an enriching environment. I am very grateful for the opportunity to both contribute to and learn from other members of the lab. Being a staff co-facilitator of the HEALYAC over the past few years has been a very rewarding experience. I am passionate about uplifting youth voices and strongly support the HEAL’s mission to produce research that is closely aligned with current perspectives and priorities of young people.