The RISE Centre hosts numerous researchers dedicated to understanding how increase positive health outcomes for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer (2S/LGBTQ) people globally.

Associated Faculty

Grace, Daniel - Dalla Lana School of Public Health Dr. Daniel Grace (he/him) is the Research Director of the RISE Centre. He is also Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Health and 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. Visit Dr. Grace’s faculty page to learn more.  Contact Dr. Grace: daniel.grace@utoronto.ca.
Gesink, Dionne - Dalla Lana School of Public Health Dr. Dionne Gesink is a Professor of Epidemiology with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto (since 2007), and has built an independent, externally funded research program generating new knowledge on restoring healthy relationships with a focus on the social epidemiology of sexual health. Dionne’s thinking and ideas are grounded in a transformative relational paradigm. She uses mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative, Western academic and Indigenous ways of knowing and doing) to investigate sexual health as a complex system, with connections to mental, emotional, spiritual, behavioural, economic, social, cultural, environmental, political, and spatial factors. Currently she is studying the geography of sex: www.geographyofsex.ca. Visit Dr. Gesink’s faculty page for more information. 
Ross, Lori E. - Dalla Lana School of Public Health Dr. Lori Ross is an Associate Professor in the Social and Behavioural Health Sciences Division of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. She is the leader of the Re:searching for 2SLGBTQ Health Team (www.lgbtqhealth.ca). Lori uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches in her research work, with a focus on integrating the principles of community-based research. Much of her research focuses on understanding the health and service needs of communities that experience discrimination, with a particular focus on Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (2SLGBTQ+) people. Lori also studies issues related to mental health and distress, with a focus on applying critical approaches, including Mad Studies and critical disability studies approaches, to these topics. Visit Dr. Ross’ faculty page for more information.

Staff

 

Mac Stewart (he/him) is the research coordinator for the RISE Centre. His primary research interest is examining how trans, Two-Spirit, and non-binary people advocate for themselves within health systems. He is also the coordinator of the CIHR-funded “Learning from Mpox” study, dedicated to understanding the public health concerns of gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) surrounding Mpox, which was declared a global emergency in July 2022. The “Learning from Mpox” study looks to understand how 2S/LGBTQ+ communities can prepare for future pandemics and outbreaks, as well as addresses what it means to queer pandemic preparedness.

For any inquiries or questions about the RISE Centre or the Learning from Mpox study, contact Mac: mackenzie.stewart@utoronto.ca
Profile photo for Anna Penner Anna Penner is the Program Manager for the 2S/LGBTQ Health Hub, a collaboration between over 50 community leaders, scholars, researchers, and healthcare providers from across Canada. Anna has worked within 2S/LGBTQ+ communities for the past twenty years, with a focus on facilitation, education, and improving health outcomes. Visit the Health Hub website to learn more.
About » AI4PH

Dr. Hanko Smith (she/her) is the administrative assistant for the 2S/LGBTQ+ Health Hub. Hanako has a PhD in Communication and Culture from York University and Toronto Metropolitan University, focusing on patient-centric virtual care innovation and health communication.

 
U of T Faculty members receive Inlight grants Dr. Sarah Smith (she/they) is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the RISE Centre. She completed her doctoral research in the Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s University in 2023, where she examined the experiences of people who engage in self-injury. Their work sits at the intersection of gender studies, mad studies, critical disability studies, and medical sociology, with a particular focus on institutional ethnography as a method for studying mental health care systems. Dr. Smith’s current work is focused on LGBTQ+ postsecondary student mental health at the intersections of gender identity, sexuality, race, culture, and socioeconomic status.

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Smith’s work, please contact her at sar.smith@utoronto.ca

Associated Researchers 

Tega Ubor (she/her) is a Master of Public Health Student specializing in Social and Behavioural Health Science at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her research interests include the social and structural determinants of health, Black and 2S/LGBTQIA+ health equity, and sexual and reproductive health.  
Winter Kraemer (he/him) is a scientific illustrator and designer whose work focuses on knowledge translation
and mobilization for trans and queer health. Winter is currently a master’s student at the University of Toronto’s
Biomedical Communications program. His research project involves creating an educational website for gender
affirming surgeries using community-informed qualitative research about the experiences and needs of the
trans community. To view more of Winter’s work, visit his website.

Dr. Joshun Dulai (he/they) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. They recently completed their PhD in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Joshun also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Public Health in Sociomedical Sciences with a certificate in Social Determinants of Health from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. They have over a decade of experience in 2S/LGBTQIA+ sexual and mental health, particularly among Black, Indigenous, and other people of colour. Their dissertation examined how intersectional stigma affected the health and well-being of South Asian gay, bisexual, and other queer men in Canada, with a particular focus on access to sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection prevention services, such as testing and treatment.

Henry Yang is a Master of Public Health Student in the Social and Behavioural Sciences program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto. Henry currently works on the Geography of Sex project. His research involves using social epidemiological methods to map sociosexual networks and evaluate access to sexual health services in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). He has worked as a research assistant at the RISE Centre examining the experiences of sexual and gender minority post-secondary students navigating on-campus mental health services.