HEAL Spotlight: Laine Barnfield
- Post by: Anastasia Soukhov
- 9:11AM May 01, 2026
- No Comment
The HEAL Spotlight series is a monthly feature where we celebrate the people behind the research and highlight the diverse voices that make the HEAL such a vibrant community.
Meet Laine Barnfield
Hometown: London, Ontario
Hobbies: Running, canoe trips & backcountry camping, cooking (especially trying new recipes!)
Education: Laine is currently a 4th-year undergraduate student at the University of Guelph, studying in the Bachelor of One Health Program (BOH). Laine is a co-op student at the HEAL supporting research like the SNAP project (Substance use iNterventions for Adolescents Program) and is also a HEAL YAC co-facilitator.
Joined the HEAL: September 2021 as a HEAL YAC member in high school. Laine returned to the HEAL in May 2025 as a university co-op student!
Research at HEAL:
At the HEAL, Laine works as an undergraduate research assistant. The past year, Laine has contributed to several projects on topics such as social prescribing for type 2 diabetes; waste disposal in MURBs (multi-unit residential buildings); and adolescent substance use. Laine is currently part of the SNAP youth team helping to write a systematic review on hospital-based substance use interventions for youth. The team has also created tangible substance use resources such as a service directory and support map. Check them out here: SNAP Youth – HEAL
Laine has really enjoyed the opportunity to be a co-facilitator of the HEALYAC. Coming back to the YAC after being a participant 4 years ago has been a full circle moment for her!
What Laine Enjoys Most About Working with HEAL:
“The HEAL community and the learning that I get to do every day. The HEAL is such a fun and vibrant work environment!”
She feels the HEAL team has been so welcoming and supportive. She feels very lucky for all the opportunities that Dr. Gilliland and the HEAL team have shared, and all that she has learned this past year. She is grateful for the expertise and guidance from her peers in the lab and feels it has been a privilege to learn from the Post-docs, PhD, Masters, and work-study students she has collaborated with.