Faculty Member

Cilia Mejia-​Lancheros RN, MPH, Msc.GHP, PhD

Email Address(es)
cilia.mejialancheros(at)utoronto.ca
Office Address
115 College Street, 6th floorToronto, ON, M5T 3MT
Division(s)/Institute(s)
Social & Behavioural Health Sciences Division
Position
Assistant Professor
Appointment Status
Status Only

Research Interests

Dr. Mejia-Lancheros has strong international and multidisciplinary experience in health and social science research. Her work focuses on understanding the impact of social determinants on the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities across the life course and generations. She is an expert in designing, implementing, and evaluating health and social interventions in collaboration with community partners and target populations to drive meaningful change.

Dr. Mejia-Lancheros generates evidence to inform programs, policies, and practices using advanced epidemiological, biostatistical, and mixed-methods approaches. Committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice, she integrates resilience-informed, intersectional, socioecological, health equity, and community-based participatory research frameworks to advance health and social well-being and promote equity.

Dr. Mejia-Lancheros is currently a recipient of the CIHR Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award, through which she is advancing the co-design and implementation of community-based, family-focused, and culturally sensitive mental well-being programs for diverse immigrant and refugee communities in the Region of Peel. She collaborates with a wide range of community-based and research groups dedicated to promoting social and health well-being in the Peel region.

Education & Training History:

Dr. Mejia-Lancheros received her Ph.D. in Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health (Public Health stream) from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, graduating with Cum Laude distinction and an International Doctoral Research Certificate. She also holds an MSc in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London, England; a Master of Public Health from Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona; and a Bachelor of Nursing Science from the National University of Colombia, Colombia.

Primary Teaching Responsibilities/Interests

Social Epidemiology

Social Determinants of Health

Population Health Intervention Research

Global Migration and Health

Homelessness and Health

Mental Well-being Determinants

Community-based Participatory Research, Solutions co-design, Co-Implementation and Co-evaluation

Cross-generational Transmission of Health and Disease

Honours & Awards

Recipient of the CIHR Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award

Representative Publications

  1. Lachaud J, Yusuf A, Maelzer F, Perri M, Gogosis E, Ziegler C; Mejia-Lancheros, C,  Hwang SW.(2024). Social isolation and loneliness among people living in supportive housing and with homelessness experience: A scoping review. BMC Public Health. 24: 215. DOI: 0.1186/s12889-024-19850-7
  2. Matheson F, McLuhan A, Croxford R, Hahmann T, Max Ferguson, Mejia-Lancheros C. (2023)Health status and health care utilization among men recently released from a superjail: a matched prospective cohort study. International Journal of Prisoner Health. 19(4):709-723. DOI: 10.1108/IJPH-01-2023-000410.1093/fampra/cmad023
  3. Mejia-Lancheros C, Lachaud J, Gogosis E, Thulien N. Stergiopoulos V, Da Silva G, Nisenbaum R, O’Campo P, Hwang SW. (2022) “Providing housing first services for an underserved population during the early wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study”. PloS One.17(12): e0278459. DOI:1371/journal.pone.0278459.
  4. Bonilla C & Mejia-Lancheros C. (2022)The skin we live in: pigmentation traits and tanning behaviour in British young adults, an observational and genetically-informed study. 13(5): 896. DOI:10.3390/genes13050896.
  5. Mejia-Lancheros C, Alfayumi-Zeadna S, Lachaud J, O’Campo P, Gogosis E, Da Silva G, Stergiopoulos V, Hwang SW, Thulien N (2022). Differential impacts of COVID-19 and associated responses on the health, social well-being and food security of users of supportive social and health programs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study. Health Soc Care Community. 30(6):e4332-e4344. DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13826.
  6. Mejia-Lancheros C, Lachaud J, Aubry T, Weins, O’Campo P, Stergiopoulos V, Hwang SW. (2022) Multi-trajectory group well-being and associated predictors among adults experiencing homelessness and mental illness: findings from the At Home/Chez Soi study, Toronto site. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 57:67-81. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-021-02093-x.
  7. Mejia-Lancheros C, Lachaud J, To M J, Lee P, Nisenbaum R, O’Campo P, Stergiopoulos V, Hwang  (2021).The Long-Term Effects of a Housing First Intervention on Primary Care and Non-Primary Care Physician Visits Among Homeless Adults with Mental Illness: A 7-Year RCT Follow-Up. Primary Care and Community Health. 12; 1–11. DOI: 10.1177%2F21501327211027102.
  8. Mejia-Lancheros C; Lachaud J, O’Campo P, Woodhall-Melnik J, Hwang SW, Stergiopoulos V. (2021). Longitudinal interrelationships of mental health discrimination and stigma with housing stability, recovery, quality of life and community functioning in adults experiencing homelessness and mental illness. Social Science & Medicine. 268, 113463. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113463.
  9. Mejia-Lancheros C, Lachaud J, Stergiopoulos V, Matheson F, Nisenbaum R, O’campo P, Hwang SW. (2020).The Effects of Housing First on traumatic brain injury in adults with experiences of homelessness and mental illness: Findings from the At Home/Chez Soi randomized trial, Toronto Site. BMJ Open. 10:e038443. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038443.
  10. Luong L, Lachaud J, Kouyoumdjian FG, Hwang SW, Mejia-Lancheros C. (2020).Health-related risk factors for incarceration among homeless adults with mental illness in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 112(2):270-279. DOI: 10.17269/s41997-020-00433-z.
  11. Liu M, Mejia-Lancheros C, Lachaud J, Nisenbaum R, Stergiopoulos V, Hwang SW. (2020). Resilience and Adverse Childhood Experiences as Protective and Risk Factors for Poor Mental Health Outcomes among Homeless Adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. S0749-3797(20)30042-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.12.017.
  12. Bamishigbin O, Wilson DK, Abshire D, Mejia-Lancheros C, Dunkel Schetter C (2020). Father Involvement in Early Infant Parenting in an Ethnically Diverse Community Sample: Predicting Paternal Depressive Symptoms. Frontiers in Psychiatry. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578688.
  13. Stergiopoulos V, Mejia-Lancheros C, Nisenbaum R, Wang R, Lachaud J, O’Campo P, Hwang SW. (2019). The long-term effects of rent supplements and mental health support services on housing and health outcomes of homeless adults with mental illness: outcomes of the At Home/Chez Soi randomized controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry. 6(11):915-925. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30371-2.
  14. Mejia-Lancheros C, Segurado R, Mehegan J, Murrin Celine M, Kelleher Cecily C for the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study Group (2018). Parental population exposure to historical socio-economic and political periods and grand-child’s birth weight in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study in the Republic of Ireland. SSM-Population Health.4:100-116. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.11.011.

Merali, Ali
Mehta, Firdosi Rustom
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Merali, Ali
Mehta, Firdosi Rustom