Research Objectives
Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) was declared a global health emergency in 2022, affecting many GBQM. Our research acknowledges the historical disparities in GBQM’s physical, mental, and sexual health, compounded by systemic marginalization and barriers to healthcare. Our study is dedicated to improving the well-being of diverse GBQM individuals and communities.
As an interdisciplinary research team, our primary goals are threefold:
- Understanding Mpox Experiences: We aim to delve into the experiences and perspectives of diverse GBQM across Canada. This includes exploring aspects such as: disease progression, vaccine confidence, health-seeking behaviours, and the broader impact of Mpox on the social and sexual lives of GBQM.
- Exploring Health System Perspectives: Our research encompasses the investigation of the challenges faced by health system stakeholders in responding to, controlling, and mitigating the impact of Mpox. This perspective is crucial for developing effective strategies to address this public health emergency.
- Integrated Knowledge Translation: We are committed to implementing a comprehensive knowledge translation strategy that actively involves community and public health partners. Our goal is to develop and mobilize intersectional and stigma-informed approaches to pandemic preparedness specifically tailored to GBQM communities.
Please direct any research questions to study coordinator Mac Stewart: mackenzie.stewart@utoronto.ca
For More Information About Mpox
Click here for more information about mpox including symptoms, treatment, vaccination and what to do if you have been exposed to the virus. If you have further questions related to mpox, please contact your local or provincial public health authority, or your primary health provider.
Our Team
Nominated Principal Investigator: Dr. Daniel Grace 
Dr. Daniel Grace (he/him) is a Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences. Daniel is a sociologist who conducts research related to the social determinants of health, HIV and STI prevention strategies, and the sexual health of gay men. Daniel completed his postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is currently working on multiple qualitative and mixed methods studies funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal in the areas of health care access, HIV and STI prevention, and mental health for diverse communities of gay men. These studies include a focus on conducting qualitative analysis to understand how HIV prevention strategies and biomedical technologies are used and understood by gay men in their everyday social and sexual lives. Contact Dr. Grace: daniel.grace@utoronto.ca
Principal Investigator: Dr. Cornel Grey
Dr. Cornel Grey is an assistant professor at Western University. His research focuses primarily on the health of black queer men. More specifically, he is interested in the ways that black queer men mobilize skin-to-skin contact as a practice of care. He recently completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health where he examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the social and sexual lives of gay, bisexual, and queer men. His current projects include a qualitative study examining the impact of positive touch on the health of black queer men and an archival study examining black queer diasporic networks.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Darrell Tan
Dr. Darrell Tan is an infectious diseases physician, clinician-scientist and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator whose research focuses on clinical trials in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and HIV/sexual transmitted infection (STI) co-infection. As Director of the University of Toronto Clinical Research Unit on HIV Prevention and co-leader of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network Biomedical Prevention Working Group, he is leading multiple efforts to optimize the implementation of HIV pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) in Canada. These include Canada’s first demonstration project of daily oral TDF/FTC-based PrEP in Toronto MSM, the development of national Clinical Practice Guidelines on PEP & PrEP use, exploration of the relationship between syndemic health problems and clinical outcomes of PEP & PrEP, studies of nurse-led PEP & PrEP, and evaluations of novel antiretroviral PEP regimens.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Nathan Lachowsky
Dr. Nathan Lachowsky (he/him/his) is a settler researcher and uninvited guest on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen peoples. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria, Canada, and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. He also serves as Research Director for the non-profit Community-Based Research Centre Society, which promotes the health of people of diverse sexualities and genders through research and intervention development. Championing interdisciplinary and community-based approaches, Dr. Lachowsky has conducted HIV and sexual health research with sexual and gender minoritized men, including Indigenous Two-Spirit and ethnoracial minority men across Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand. Dr. Lachowsky’s principal area of research focuses on social and behavioural epidemiology and the importance of developing and analyzing mixed methods data to inform public health practice, health service provision, and policy. He conducts interdisciplinary research within a social justice framework in order to achieve health equity for marginalized communities.
Principal Knowledge User: Dr. Joseph Cox
Dr. Joseph Cox is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health in the Division of Infectious Diseases of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University and an investigator at the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute. He earned his bachelor’s degree and medical degree at Dalhousie University and then his master’s degree in epidemiology and residency training in public health and preventative medicine at McGill University. Dr. Cox’s research focuses on involving vulnerable populations, evaluating the impact of prevention and care interventions for vulnerable populations, and advancing the clinical method and care of patients with substance use disorders and patients living with multi-morbidities.
Principal Knowledge User: Michael Kwag
Michael Kwag is the current Executive Director of the Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC). He has nearly two decades’ worth of professional experience in community-based research, health promotion, policy mobilization and advocacy on 2SLGBTQIA+ health and wellbeing. Prior to his appointment as Executive Director, he held the role of CBRC’s Director of Knowledge Exchange and Policy Development since 2019. Additionally, he was the organization’s Director for the Advance Community Alliance, as well as a coordinator for CBRC’s special projects and youth programs from 2004 until 2008. In addition to his roles at CBRC, Kwag has cemented his status in the sector through both paid and volunteer positions with CATIE (Canada’s leader on HIV and Hepatitis response), the Health Initiative for Men, the BC Centre for Disease Control, AIDS Vancouver, Vancouver Coastal Health, and the Asian Society for the Intervention of AIDS.
Postdoctoral Fellow: Dr. Emerich Daroya
Dr. Emerich Daroya (he/him) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Division of Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. A sociologist by training, he draws on queer-feminist science and technology studies to study gay, bisexual, and queer men’s sexual health using qualitative methods. His research interests include queer theory, HIV/AIDS, new materialisms, sexuality studies, and race/racism. His research at DLSPH focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on gay, bisexual, and queer men’s sexual and mental health; and the effects of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) on gay, bisexual, and queer men’s sexual lives.
Contact Dr. Daroya: emerich.daroya@utoronto.ca
Research Coordinator: Mac Stewart
Mac Stewart (he/him) is the research coordinator for the Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research Centre housed at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. His research interests include trans healthcare, sexually transmitted and blood borne infection testing, queer pandemic response, and community-based research.
Contact Mac: mackenzie.stewart@utoronto.ca
Research Assistant: Joshun Dulai 
Joshun Dulai (he/him; they/them) is a PhD candidate in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. They are a queer South Asian person who grew up on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh nations (Vancouver). Joshun has over a decade of experience working in the area of 2SLGBTQIA+ health, BIPOC health, sexual health (STBBI prevention), and mental health.
Research Assistant: Jordan Ramnarine
Jordan Ramnarine (he/him) is a queer Indo-Caribbean-Canadian settler scholar. He is currently completing a Master of Public Health in Indigenous Health (Collaborative Specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. His research interests include queer/trans of colour critique, arts-based praxis, community building, anti-colonial resistance, critical health humanities, posthuman feminism, planetary justice, and human rights.
Co-Investigators
Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP)
Praney Anand
Alberta Health Services
Casey Shukalek
BC Centre for Disease Control
Mark Gilbert
Troy Grennan
Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC)
Jessy Dame
Dalhousie University
Matthew Numer
Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance
Devan Nambiar
McMaster University
Syrus Ware
Toronto Metropolitan University
Trevor Hart
University of Alberta
Raynell Lang
University of Calgary
Zack Marshall
University of Manitoba
Rusty Souleymanov
Université de Montréal
Olivier Ferlatte
Edward Ou Jin Lee
University of Toronto
David Brennan
Carmen Logie
Job Opportunities
CASUAL OPPORTUNITY for Indigenous Research Assistant
Community Advisory Board Members/ Conseil Consultatif Communautaire
Funding
This study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant supporting research on mpox and other (re) emerging zoonotic threats.