Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Apondi Judith Odhiambo

Research Interests

Dr. Odhiambo is a Manager and Senior Policy Advisor with the Office of the Chief Science Officer and the Office of the President at the Public Health Agency of Canada where is leading  the development and implementation of health policies including anti-Racism in Science Strategy.

Dr. Odhiambo is an innovator in applying critical science theoretical underpinnings and sociological foundations including intersectionality, anti-colonialism, critical race theories, transnationalism, and critical feminist theoretical insights and materialist research strategies such as Institutional Ethnography and implementation science to understanding health policies and systems, social justice, health equity, health access, and the social determinants of health.

Dr. Odhiambo’s research program centres on health equity and global health. Through an integrated approach to academic research, practice and activism, the program is committed to generating and advancing urgently needed knowledge to tackling social and structural inequities, improve individual and population health, and close the equity gap.

Research Focus Areas:

• Social and Structural Determinants of Health
• Health Law
• Public Health Policy
• Health Systems
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Sexual Behaviour, Sexuality and Health
• HIV and STI Prevention, Intervention and Health promotion and education
• Implementation Science
• Anti-Racism in Science
• Actioning Black Health
• Institutional Ethnography
• Intersectionality
• Critical Social Theory
• Social Inequality, Marginalized Populations, and Health Outcome
• Legislative Reform and Global Health

Education & Training History

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Health (2022) 

Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario.

Dissertation: Legislation of Structural Violence, Inequities, and Social Injustices? An Institutional Ethnography of the social organization of HIV Healthcare and Treatment for Black Canadians Living with HIV in Canada.

Master of Laws Specializing in Health Law (2020).

Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Ontario.

Master of Science in Organizational Psychology and Development (2013)

Walden University, USA

Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Communication (2007).

University of Nairobi, Kenya

Other Affiliations

Member and Co-Chair of the Toronto Police Service Race-Based Data Collection Advisory Panel.

Representative Publications

Book Chapter

1. McAuliffe, C., Abdillahi, I., Karima J., Escrig-Pinol, A., Odhiambo, A., and Monchalin. R (2023). Chronicles of Public Health Doctoral Students: Overcoming the Ivory Tower through a Revolution of “Self-Care” for a Better Future. Critical Perspectives in Public Health Feminism. Canadian Scholars (In Press)

 Published Peer-Reviewed Articles

1. Odhiambo, A.J., O’Campo, P., Nelson, L.R.E. et al. Structural violence and the uncertainty of viral undetectability for African, Caribbean and Black people living with HIV in Canada: an institutional ethnography. Int J Equity Health 22, 33 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01792-4
2. Odhiambo, A. J., Foreman, L., Nelson, L. E., O’Campo, P., & Grace, D. (2022). Legislatively Excluded, Medically Uninsured and Structurally Violated: The Social Organization of HIV Healthcare for African, Caribbean and Black Immigrants with Precarious Immigration Status in Toronto, Canada. Qualitative Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323221082958
3. Odhiambo, A.J., Forman, L., Nelson,L.E., O’Campo, P., & Grace, D.:Unmasking Legislative Constraints: An Institutional Ethnography of the Social Organization of HIV Healthcare and Treatment for Black Communities in Ontario, Canada. Submitted to PLOS Global Public Health
4. Ajiboye, W., Nelson, L., Odhiambo, A.J, Yusuf, A., Djiadeu, P., Turner, D. A., … & Williams, G. (2022). Decision conflict and the decision support needs of HIV PrEP-eligible Black patients in Toronto regarding the adoption of PrEP for HIV prevention. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC), 21, 23259582211073399.
5. Saara Greene, Apondi J. Odhiambo, Marvelous Muchenje, Valerie Nicholson, Krista Shore, Renata Hall, Sheila Nyman, Allyson Ion, Jasmine Cotnam, Peggy Frank, Kristen Dunn, Shelly Glum, Alison Symington, Rebecca Gormley & Angela Kaida (2021): “I shall conquer and prevail” – art and stories of resilience and resistance of the women, ART and criminalization of HIV (WATCH) study, Journal of HIV/AIDS & Social Services, DOI: 10.1080/15381501.2021.1994085
6. Guillaume G, Ramos SR, Abubakari GM, Turner DE, Ajiboye W, Yusuf A, Djiadeu P, Odhiambo AJ, Pedersen C, Lofters A, Williams G. Barriers and facilitators to providing human immunodeficiency virus pre-exposure prophylaxis decision support to black patients in Canada: a cross-sectional study. International Health Trends and Perspectives. 2021 Dec 1;1(3):345-67.
7. Abubakari, G. M. R., Turner, D., Nelson, L. E., Odhiambo, A. J., Boakye, F., Manu, A., … & Wilton, L. (2021). An Application of the ADAPT-ITT Model to an Evidence-Based Behavioral HIV Prevention Intervention (Nyansapo) for Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Ghana. International Health Trends and Perspectives, 1(1), 1-16.
8. Abubakari, G. M. R., Nelson, L. E., Ogunbajo, A., Boakye, F., Appiah, P., Odhiambo, A., … & Torpey, K. (2020). Implementation and evaluation of a culturally grounded group-based HIV prevention programme for men who have sex with men in Ghana. Global Public Health, 1-18.
9. Nelson, L. E., Ajiboye, W., Djiadeu, P., Odhiambo, A. J., Pedersen, C., Ramos, S. R., … & Williams, G. (2020). A Web-Based Intervention to Reduce Decision Conflict Regarding HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: Protocol for a Clinical Trial. JMIR research protocols, 9(6), e15080.
10. Djiadeu, P., Yusuf, A., Ongolo-Zogo, C., Nguemo, J., Odhiambo, A. J., Mukandoli, C., … & Nelson, L. E. (2020). Barriers in accessing HIV care for Francophone African, Caribbean and Black people living with HIV in Canada: a scoping review. BMJ Open, 10(8), e036885.
11. Djiadeu, P., Smith, M. D., Kushwaha, S., Odhiambo, A. J., Absalom, D., Husbands, W., … & Kaul, R. (2020). Social, Clinical, and Behavioral Determinants of HIV Infection and HIV Testing among Black Men in Toronto, Ontario: A Classification and Regression Tree Analysis. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC), 19, 2325958220934613.
12. Ramos, S. R., Nelson, L. R., Ajiboye, W., Turner, D., Lofters, A., Pederson, C., … & Odhiambo, A.J. (2020, May). Barriers and Facilitators to Providing HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Decision Support to Black Patients in Canada: A Cross-sectional Survey. In Nursing Research (Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. E89-E89).
13. Greene, S., Odhiambo, A. J., Muchenje, M., Symington, A., Cotnam, J., Dunn, K., … & Nicholson, V. (2019). How women living with HIV react and respond to learning about Canadian law that criminalises HIV non-disclosure:‘how do you prove that you told?’. Culture, health & sexuality, 21(10), 1087-1102.
14. Greene, S., Muchenje, M., Cotnam, J., Dunn, K., Frank, P., Nicholson, V., Odhiambo, A.J., Shore, K. and Kaida, A., 2019. Learning, Doing and Teaching Together: Reflecting on our Arts Based Approach to Research, Education and Activism with and for Women Living with HIV. Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-Engaged Research, Teaching, and Learning, 5(2), pp.263-273.
15. Djiadeu, P., Nguemo, J., Mukandoli, C., Odhiambo, A. J., Lightfoot, D., Mbuagbaw, L., & Nelson, L. E. (2019). Barriers to HIV care among Francophone African, Caribbean and Black immigrant people living with HIV in Canada: a protocol for a scoping systematic review. BMJ open, 9(1).