Fresh Faces at CPN-PREV: Our Team Is Expanding

Since last spring, our team at CPN-PREV has been growing significantly! We therefore decided the time was right to shine the spotlight on the latest additions to our team.

We are excited to welcome Christiane (Chris) Ndedi Essombe (Ph.D.), Théodore Ownby and Neslihan Sriram-Uzundal!

Christiane (Chris) Ndedi Essombe (Ph.D.)
Knowledge Mobilization Lead
Christiane (Chris) Ndedi Essombe (she /her) is an early career researcher based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). She holds a master's in public health from the University of Montreal School of Public Health and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Cape Town. Her research mobilizes critical race theory, decolonial approaches, and western psychology to examine the afterlives of western colonial violence and their influence on the way Black Africans in Africa and in the diaspora perceive themselves and others. She draws from her research background and involvement in the field of antiracism to support capacity development and knowledge mobilization efforts at CPN-PREV.

Théodore Ownby
Research Assistant
Theodore Ownby (he/him) is a doctoral candidate in psychology (Ph.D./D.Psy.) at the University of Quebec in Montreal, having finished his bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Montreal in 2025. He has been working in the field of prevention of violent extremism since 2023, doing research and intervention work with RAPS (Recherche Action sur les Polarisations Sociales). His work in schools and prior to integrating the field of PVE has given him a particular interest in working with youth and listening to youth perspectives. His other current research and intervention interests include inceldom, nihilist violence, masculinism and dreams.

Neslihan Sriram-Uzundal
Research Assistant
Neslihan Sriram-Uzundal (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Education at Concordia University. She is a student affiliate of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) and a student member of the Centre for Sensory Studies. She is also a Public Scholar of Concordia University, carrying her research from academia to the public. Her research focuses on the damage-, pain-, and deficit-centered depiction of minorities in the German education context. As a research assistant with CPN-PREV, she supports the expansion of the interactive map by researching, contacting, and adding organizations for survivors of gender- and identity-based violence.

To learn more about each of them, as well as the rest of our team, visit Our Team page.