Faculty Member
Winston Husbands PhD (University of Western Ontario); BA, MPhil (University of the West Indies, Kingston JA)
- Email Address(es)
- winston.husbands(at)utoronto.ca
- Division(s)/Institute(s)
- Social & Behavioural Health Sciences Division
- Position
- Adjunct Professor
- SGS Status
- Associate (Restricted) Member
- Appointment Status
- Status Only
- Currently Accepting Doctoral Students?
- No
Research Interests
My research and related knowledge development address (a) how health and wellbeing among Black communities emerge in the context of structural disadvantage, and (b) community-based, self-determined approaches to understanding and promoting health among Black Canadian communities. My research activities have examined sexual health, structural violence and health, health and social justice, and community-engaged research.
Professional Summary & Appointments
My research with Black communities intersects with community engagement and advocacy to develop transformative responses to the hugely disproportionate burden of HIV among among Black communities. My work in HIV started as a volunteer with the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention back in the 1990s. Since then I have been Director of Research at the AIDS Committee of Toronto, a Senior Scientist at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (retired 2021), and a founding co-Chair of the African and Caribbean Council on HIV and AIDS in Ontario. I am currently co-chair of the Interim Committee on HIV among Black Communities in Canada.
Honours & Awards
CAHR-CANFAR Excellence in HIV Research Award for Community-based Research, 2018.
Mark Wainberg Lecture at CAHR 2025 in recognition of my contributions to HIV research in Canada.
Current Research Projects
I am a co-investigator, working with a team of Black scholars led by Notisha Massaquoi, on “Not Business as Usual” (NBAU), funded through an HIV team grant from CIHR ($1.5 million, 2026-2031). NBAU will strengthen Black scholarship, community engagement, and advocacy within the framework of the Black HIV Manifesto developed by the Interim Committee on HIV among Black Communities in Canada.
Representative Publications
Husbands, W., Antabe, R., James, C. (2026). Black emancipation and the burden of Canada’s HIV epidemic among Black communities. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-026-03027-6
Mbuagbaw, L., Rezene, F., Tharao, W., Husbands, W., Shahin, R., Nyambi, A., Lawson, D., Kihembo, M., Aden, M., Ongolo-Zogo, C., Danone, C., Boamah, S., Jackson-Best, F., Dryden, O., Nelson, L., Verma, G., Kopp, A., Lofters, A. (2026). Healthcare utilization and HIV burden among Black communities in Ontario: a matched cohort study. Canadian Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-026-01204-y
Husbands, W., Massaquoi, N., Owino, M., Este, D. (2025). Black scholarship on HIV and health: configuring public health for Black emancipation. Canadian Journal of Public Health 116 (2), 170-173. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-025-01038-0
Owino, M., Dryden, O., Este, D., Etowa, J., Husbands, W., Nelson, L., Ojukwu, E., Peters, E., Tharao, W. (2024). A manifesto for transformative action on HIV among Black communities in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health 115, 245-249. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-024-00856-y
Husbands, W., Lawson, D., Etowa, E., Mbuagbaw, L., Baidoobonso, S., Tharao, W., Yaya, S., Nelson, L., Aden, M., Etowa, J. (2022). Black Canadians’ exposure to everyday racism: implications for health system access and health promotion among urban Black communities. Journal of Urban Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-022-00676-w.
Antabe, R., Robinson, K., Husbands, W., Miller, D., Harriott, A., Johnson, K., Wong, J., Poon, M., Kirya J., James, C. et al (2022). “You have to make it cool”: how heterosexual Black men in Toronto, Canada, conceptualize policy and programs to address HIV and promote health. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0278600. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278600
Antabe, R., Miller, D., Kohoun, B., Okunufua, O., Husbands, W. (2021). Black resilience: a strategic asset for engaging heterosexual Black Canadian men in community responses to HIV. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01011-w.
Husbands, W., Nakamwa, J., Tharao, W., Greenspan, N., Calzavara, L., Sathiyamoorthy, T., Muchenje-Marisa, M., Arnold, K., Browne, O., Kerr, J. (2020). Love, judgement and HIV: congregants’ perspectives on an intervention for Black churches to promote critical awareness of HIV affecting Black Canadians. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00808-5