Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Links

• Zoom link

SBHS Seminar Series take place monthly during the academic year, and is a platform for SBHS students, faculty and post-docs to present their research. Everyone in DLSPH is welcome to attend!

Zoom link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/84813524969

Meeting ID: 848 1352 4969

Towards planetary health in “a world that fits many worlds”

Planetary health offers a promising framework for addressing health inequities at the intersection of ecosystems and human well-being. Its emphasis on viewing “humans as part of nature” and engaging with Indigenous Knowledges could help move beyond biomedical paradigms. Yet, a closer look at the ontology of modern Western science (i.e., assumptions about reality and being) reveals tensions between planetary health’s progressive aims and the binaries (e.g., Culture/Nature, Human/Other) that underpin most epistemologies and research approaches. In this presentation, I will share “learning moments” from my doctoral research in the Santiago River watershed in Jalisco, Mexico, with the collectives Un Salto de Vida and Concejo Indígena de Xonacatlán. I will argue that embracing the ontological possibility of “a world that fits many worlds” may lead to more respectful engagements with Indigenous and local knowledge systems, and more equitable planetary health outcomes.

Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta, SBHS PhD Candidate (he/him) is a PhD Candidate, Vanier and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. Carlos grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he participated in grassroots environmental collectives. His scholarship embraces a transdisciplinary approach at the intersection of public health, decolonial, and Indigenous studies. His published work explores how different knowledge systems shape intersectoral action, health promotion, planetary health, and research methods.

Co-Workers Matter: Understanding the role of co-workers in the support, communication and disability disclosure process of people working with chronic health conditions

We spend over one-third of our adult lives in paid work and employment is a recognized social role that is associated with greater health and well-being. However, employment rates for people with disabilities are lower than for people without a disability, and rates of job loss are higher. Additionally, chronic health conditions are on the rise with more than one in five Canadians over the age of 15 years (27%) reporting that they live with a physical, mental, or cognitive health condition that creates a disability. My research asks, what role do co-workers play in fostering or undermining workplace support to workers living with a chronic health condition? A deeper appreciation and understanding of workplace relationships and communication dynamics and the role they play in workers lives has the potential to improve organizational support of workers living with chronic health conditions and their co-workers.

Gemma Woticky, SBHS PhD Candidate: is a PhD candidate at DLSPH and a recipient of a three-year Frederick Banting and Charles Best Graduate Scholarship from Canadian Institutes for Health Research. She holds a MPH and has over ten years experience working in community organizations that support people with disabilities. Her research interests include chronic disability and the workplace, co-worker communication and support, meaningful employment and its impact on health outcomes, and qualitative research methodologies. She also supports her supervisor, Dr. Monique Gignac, and her partnership project, Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED) at the Institute for Work and Health.

Download: SBHS Divisional Seminar, November 18, 2025