After her dad was killed, this B.C. doctor wants to help others through mentor program – BC [Video]

Dr. Jacquelyn Cragg was only eight years old when she lost her father in a violent home invasion in Alberta.

“One thing that I really found healing was actually exploring scientific areas and mathematics and calculus and statistics,” she told Global News.

“And I had some really amazing mentors who really fostered a passion for those areas. And that was really healing for me.”

Cragg, now a professor of health outcomes at the University of British Columbia, is hoping her experience can help other youth affected by violent crime.

She is launching a program, backed by a $150,000 NSERC PromoScience grant, to provide trauma-informed mentorship to young people by pairing them with UBC graduate students to explore scientific inquiry through science fair projects.

“The programme pairs, it’s a one-on-one mentorship program, so it pairs these youth who have been victimized by violent crime, it pairs them with undergraduate students and …