Nathan Lachowsky, PhD 

nlachowsky@uvic.ca

“I am a social epidemiologist with 10 years of experience conducting community-based research on sexual health and HIV/AIDS with sexual minority men across Canada and New Zealand. I work as an Assistant Professor and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar in the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria. As a gay man myself, I actively volunteer in the LGBTQ+ community and currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Health Initiative for Men and as the Research Director of the Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health.”

Allie Slemon, PhD, RN 

“I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria. My research centres on promoting social justice within the nursing profession and across health care systems. In particular, I work with 2SLGBTQ+ communities and people who experience mental health challenges to identify new strategies and approaches for remediating inequities in health and health care. Current projects include implementing and evaluating a 2SLGBTQIA+ Liaison Nurse role within health care settings in British Columbia, working alongside health care leaders and community organizations.”

Ingrid Handlovsky​, PhD, RN 

“I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria. My research work is informed by a commitment to health equity with an emphasis on situating discrimination (structural and interpersonal) as a determinant of health. In particular, I am interested in exploring how our complex and multi-faceted social environments-inclusive to historical, political and cultural dynamics – inform health practices, perspectives and experiences of well-being for – in particular – LGBTQ2S+ individuals. My research is informed by social justice and critical perspectives to draw attention to the structural conditions that subject individuals, groups and populations to disadvantage while highlighting, and learning from, tremendous demonstrated resiliencies.”

Robert Beringer (Savage), PhD, Assistant Professor

robertberinger@uvic.ca

“I have worked as a gerontologist and researcher for 10 years. In 2019 I completed my doctoral dissertation focused on The Experience of Older Gay Men Living in Non-Metropolitan British Columbia. Concurrently as a CIHR, Institute of Gender and Health, Design Jam award recipient (2018), I have created a website and program titled The LGBTQI2S Dignity Project which aims to address challenges older LGBTQI2S face when they enter long-term care. In addition, since 2017 I have worked in the role of HQP (Highly Qualified Personnel) as a member of the iCAN-ACP Diversity Access Team, where we are exploring barriers to advance care planning in LGBTQI2S, Chinese, and South Asian populations.  During the 2-year post-doctoral Health System Impact Fellowship (HSIF), I will extend my work with the LGBTQI2S community by Evaluating and Optimizing LGBTQI2S Engagement with Hospice and Palliative Care in the Island Health Region of British Columbia. Using a Participatory Action Research approach in my HSIF project, I will gain valuable experience as an applied community-based researcher, which aligns with my long-term career objectives.”

Aki Gormezano, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Aki completed his PhD in social-personality psychology under the supervision of Dr. Sari van Anders at Queen’s University in 2022. As a postdoctoral research fellow in CHER, he is most involved with the Group Sex Project, which is a mixed-method longitudinal exploration of pleasure, risk, and harm reduction practices among group sex participants. Overall, his research focuses on how sexual contexts (e.g., dyadic vs. group sex, porn vs. in-person sexuality) shape sexuality and impact sexual health.

Laine Halpern Zisman (she/her), PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Laine Halpern Zisman is a queer performance, media, and communications scholar and has published and taught on a range of topics related to queer theatre & media, activism & intergenerational trauma, and critical queer feminist theory. Laine is also a queer doula (@QueerConceptions) who specializes in fertility support, focusing on LGBTQ+ advocacy, education, and support navigating family building journeys. She provides fertility support through Birth Mark Toronto and is a doula with Perinatal Wellbeing Ontario.

Tyrone Curtis, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

“I am a mixed methods public health researcher focusing on health inequities in 2S/LGBTQ+ populations, with a special interest in sexuality and sexual health. Originally from Australia, I completed my PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health at the Institute for Global Health at University College London in the UK in 2022. My mixed-methods dissertation research focused on understanding the sexual healthcare needs of heterosexual-identifying men who have sex with men, so as to inform public health interventions to improve the sexual health of this and other similar populations. I moved to Canada in October 2022, when I started in my current role as a postdoctoral fellow in CHER in the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria. My research in CHER explores inequities in PrEP use among MSM in Canada, and aims to understand the PrEP access and delivery needs and preferences of subpopulations of MSM underserved by current PrEP programs. Outside of my research, I can usually be found at a flying trapeze rig somewhere in the world.”

Meera Dhebar, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

mdhebar@uvic.ca

My recently completed PhD was a collaborative degree with the Taos Institute and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, which required social constructionism as its foundation. As an emerging researcher in social justice and mental health, my work is informed by my significant experience as a mental health clinician. For the last decade I have been a therapist, clinical supervisor, clinical director and adjunct professor, teaching and practicing queer intersectional perspectives. Prior to that I worked in front line, community based, and later health care capacities. Through my doctoral research I developed a framework called Queer Worldmaking (QWM) as a way to decolonize aspects of research and policy, whereby queerness is understood through a cultural lens, instead of the prevailing discourses of psychology and social work. During the 2-year post doctoral CIHR Health Systems Impact Fellowship (HSIF) I will be engaging in secondary data analysis of Community Based Research Centre’s large scale quantitative survey Our Health for specific intersectional, identity based experiences of sexual and reproductive health, and mental health, during COVID-19.

Alex Wells, PhD Candidate

Alex is a PhD candidate in the Social Dimensions of Health program at the University of Victoria. They have an MSW with a joint specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies from the University of Toronto. He also has a BSW from York University and a BA from the University of Toronto. Their research looks at the role of LGBTQ2S recreational sports teams and leagues play in supporting the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ2S communities from across Canada. His broad research interests include LGBTQ2S mental, sexual and physical health, community-based research and health initiatives and recommendations for social work practice. Alex is a registered social worker with over ten years experience working and volunteering to support LGBTQ2S communities.

Carol Bilson, PhD Candidate

Carol is a PhD candidate in Social Dimensions of Health at the University of Victoria, pronouns are she/her. Her research is centered around the development of educational restorative processes for people who cause sexualized or gender-based violence on post-secondary campuses, with particular attention to male-identified students. Conjointly, she holds the position of Education Coordinator at the Victoria Women’s Transition House Society (VWTH) where she trains staff, volunteers, fellow community members, and service providers on the complex issues of intimate partner violence and trauma-informed practices. Carol also co-facilitates Indigenous cultural safety workshops (Decolonizing Together) that support organizations work in more collaborative and relationally accountable ways with Indigenous peoples. Carol has over 10 years of experience in community facilitation and was the previous director of the anti.violence.project (University of Victoria Undergraduate Student Society sexual assault center) where she ushered in multiple sexualized violence awareness campaigns, developed train-the-trainer consent workshops, and initiated the first educational restorative process for men who assault on campus. This work with male students who caused harm led to the development of the first male-identified support group (UVIC Men’s Circle). Carol has developed multiple community workshops on colonization, anti-racism, and gender-based violence, including her most recent work an 8-week program Cultivating Healthy Relationships in Boys and Male Youth. This program, currently being run at VWTH with boys ages 12-15 who have witness violence in their homes.  

Gioi Tran Minh M.D, MPH, Ph.D. Candidate

“I am a Ph.D. student on Social Dimensions of Health at the University of Victoria. My study focuses on substance use among transgender and gender non-binary people in Canada. I have worked as a public health specialist for over 20 years in Vietnam, mainly around HIV-related issues with disadvantaged populations. I am a research assistant for Trans PULSE survey (a national survey on transgender health in Canada) and work voluntarily for non-profit organizations.”

Leo Rutherford, PhD Candidate

Leo Rutherford is a PhD candidate in the Social Dimensions of Health program working on community based participatory research (CBPR) projects with the trans community. He is a queer trans guy who is passionate about research crafted by and for the trans community. Originally from the U.S., Leo sees research as activism and knowledge translation as essential. His background is in Psychology and Human Sexuality. His broad research interests are trans health, sexuality, sexual health and patient reported surgical outcomes. Leo has recently been awarded a two-year CIHR patient-oriented research fellowship.

Mattie Walker, PhD Candidate

mattiew@uvic.ca

Mattie Walker is a PhD candidate in the Social Dimensions of Health Program at the University of Victoria. They hold an MA Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria. Mattie’s doctoral research project, Transforming Supports, focuses on trauma-related mental health supports for trans and gender-diverse people. Alongside their research work, Mattie works as a clinical counsellor in Victoria specializing in working people who have experienced trauma and with queer and trans individuals. Through this role, Mattie has first-hand experience with the community need for safe and appropriate mental health services, as well as practitioners’ need for relevant and applicable knowledge to integrate into their practices. Having worked in the anti-violence sector for over 10 years in various roles, Mattie sees their PhD and research work as an extension of social justice work through engaging in research that will be able to inform practice, policy, and mental health initiatives.

Ngozi Nneka Joe-Ikechebelu, PhD Candidate

“I am a public health specialist with over 10 years’ experience in clinical and community health research on women’s health, HIV/AIDs and Primary Health Care. Currently doing a PhD program in Social Dimensions of Health of the UVic, Canada. In the face of rising global economic recession; using community-based structural intervention research for real-life, complex and relevant inequitable health services with historically marginalised communities is vital for our health and well-being. Presently in Canada, I am actively involved as a research assistant with HSD of UVic, volunteer with British Columbia Coalition Institute of CCGHR and their Nigeria Working Group.”

Sajjad Kaveh Shaldehi , PhD Candidate

Sajjad is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Victoria where he studies and works on the sociology of gender and sexuality. He employs sociological insights and methodologies to reflect on how gender identities, sexual orientations, and romantic loves are perceived and embodied in an age of advanced globalization. He is particularly interested in exploring and revealing that how the body, as the most individual private property, confronts the hegemony of power, and thus has become the main battleground between politicization and medicalization on the one hand, and the desire to embody it contrary to the dominant discourse, on the other hand.

Jenna Ashley, MPH, Data Analyst

Jess Crawford (they/them), RN, MN Student, Research Assistant​

Nini Longoria, MSc Student, Research Assistant​

Stephanie Arthur, MPH, Data Analyst

Stephanie Arthur is of Ghanaian descent, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She holds a BSc from the University of Winnipeg and a Master of Public Health from the University of Toronto. Her main areas of study were biology, bioanthropology, and epidemiology. Currently she works with CHER as a data analyst working on various health-related projects.

Anthony Theodore Amato (he/him), MA Student

“Having completed a double Bachelor’s Degree at Concordia University in Psychology and Human Relations in Montreal, I relocated across the country to embark on this new journey. I am a first year Master’s student in the Social Dimensions of Health program at the University of Victoria seeking to examine trends in social well-being pre and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic among a diverse group of gay, bisexual, trans, queer, two-spirited, and other men who have sex with men (GBTQ2S+). This data will be extrapolated from the Sex Now Project, a national longitudinal survey seeking to understand health and social related factors among GBTQ2S+ people. I am particularly interested in factors related to social support, discrimination, and loneliness. Other interests include health equity, promoting resilience among sexual and gender minorities, and supporting aging populations.”

Jordan Monks, MSc Student

Logan White, MA Student

Logan White is a master student in the Social Dimensions of Health Program at University of Victoria. Supervised by Dr. Lachowsky. Logan intends for his research to focus on the efficacy of psychedelic substances in lessening substance dependency within individuals inside the LGBTQ2S+ community.

Marshall Kilduff (he/him/his), MA Student

“I currently work as a health promotion educator, focusing on queer and trans sexual health and wellness with AVI Health and Community Services. I will be starting my MA in the Social Dimensions of Health program at UVic in the fall of 2022. I plan to focus my research on LGBTQ2S+ mental health, substance use, and homelessness. The ultimate goal is to start a queer transition/stabilization house. As a queer, trans man who has lived/living experience of mental illness, housing instability, and poverty, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. I want to create the resources that didn’t exist when I was at my lowest points and build community with folks who experience extreme marginalization.”

Roz Queen, BA (Hons), Research Assistant

rozomqueen@gmail.com

Rob Higgins, MA Student

Rob Higgins is an MA student in the social dimensions of health program. Rob is passionate about community-based research and believes that both policy change and research findings should be driven by the communities they impact. His masters work investigates more inclusive blood donation screening policy for sexual and gender minorities, and focuses on the role pharmacological HIV prevention intervention could play in future blood donation policy changes. 

Zackary Derrick, MPH Thesis Student 

Zackary Derrick is a nonbinary community organizer, nonprofit consultant, and scholar, based on Kanienʼkehá꞉ka territory commonly referred to as Montreal. They hold a BA in First Peoples Studies from Concordia University, and are currently completing a Master of Public Health at the University of Victoria. Their thesis work builds on Dr. Renée Monchalin’s research project Global Goal, Local Impact: Access to Abortion Services for Indigenous Peoples in Canada through an exploration of the specific experiences of Two-Spirit, trans, and gender-diverse participants.  Zackary is excited about the intersections of advocacy work, community-based research methods, and sexual health equity. In their spare time, Zackary enjoys the 3 Bs: baking, board games, and books.

Where they are now…

• Anya Slater, former Research Administrative Assistant, Human and Social Development Research Support Team Lead
• Kiffer Card PhD, former Postdoctoral Fellow, Assistant Professor Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, MSHRBC Scholar
• Marion Selfridge PhD, former Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellow Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research
• Michael Montess PhD, former Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoctoral Associate in the Rotman Institute of Philosophy and the School of Health Studies at Western University
• Sara Chadwick PhD, former Postdoctoral Fellow, Assistant Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies, Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison