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Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research

2025 Year in Review

Posted on December 18, 2025

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Published on December 18, 2025

Thank you for your continued support, engagement, and invaluable contributions to our global health research community here at the Dahdaleh Institute. Happy holidays and cheers to a new year!

In a panel event moderated by DI research fellow Syed Imran Ali, three experts Dr. Ahmad Abu Shaban, DI community fellow Dr. Reem Abu Shomar, and Dr. Mohammed Al Barayka highlighted that the international community including researchers and scholars in universities in Canada have an ethical responsibility to challenge misinformation around Israel’s genocide in Gaza by supporting Palestinian knowledge production efforts. Partnering with Palestinian academics and experts, empowering them, and amplifying their voices are essential efforts to help Palestinians rebuild their institutions.

Read the full recap and watch the panel recording

"We are proud and elated to support seventeen exceptional graduate scholars whose research will advance impactful scholarly and real-world contributions to global health across a diverse range of faculties and programs at 91ÑÇÉ«," said Professor Mary Wiktorowicz, Interim director of the Dahdaleh Institute.

Read about the recipients.

Led by DI faculty fellow Benedict Weobong, the Heat Exposure, Sleep, Cognition and MentAl Health: Mechanisms of Climate Change ImPacts on VulnErable Groups in Two Sub-Saharan Africa Countries (HEATSCAPE-Africa) is an international collaboration that explores the relationship between climate-related heat and mental-health. The Wellcome Trust-funded project also supports partners from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK) and community partners in Africa, including Navrongo Health Research Centre (Ghana), Kintampo Health Research Centre (Ghana), and Kgotso Development Trust (Zimbabwe). 

Read about the project 

The Safe Water Optimization (SWOT) team has been busy in 2025. Here are some of their humanitarian water engineering accomplishments:

This new pre-print by DI faculty fellow Martin Bunch and Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholars Nilanjana Ganguli and Brian Waters presents a comparative assessment of two international development projects in South Sudan that seek to improve access to and control over food, nutrition, income and resources, and to encourage families and communities to support gender equality: the Fortifying Equality and Economic Diversification for Resilience (FEED II) and Asset Creation and Livelihoods. 

SSHIFTB blue banner

The Social Science & Health Innovation for Tuberculosis (SSHIFTB) team had an impact-filled year. Here are some of their biggest accomplishments in 2025:

Following the sixth annual Critical Perspective for Global Health Research (CPGH) workshop, two 91ÑÇÉ« researchers were awarded $7,000 seed grants to initiate novel and innovative ideas that take a critical social science approach to global health research. The winning proposals were DI faculty fellow Rachel Silver's project on Reconfigurations and Refusals: Forging Futures Beyond Aid in Malawi', and DI research fellow Fawzia Gibson-Fall's project on 'Researching the Role of Security Actors in Global Health'.

Read about the 2025 CPGH awardees

The Dahdaleh Institute collaborated with a group of outstanding global health interns this year on research projects, studying maternal health and climate change in Guatemala, supporting social scientists in tuberculosis research, designing and implementing experiential learning initiatives, assessing the gendered impacts of tobacco control interventions, and more.

Learn more about our 2025 interns

Wellness Impact Lab Logo

The Wellness Impact Lab (WIL) released its first major academic publication in the Journal of Climate Change and Health, titled 'Climate Cafés as a Space for Navigating Climate Emotions: A Scoping Review' – a groundbreaking systematic review of the growing community-based approach to addressing the emotional impacts of the climate crisis. 

Read the full publication

Featured on the CBC, DI faculty fellow Stephanie Gora and Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar Caroline Duncan published a paper in Water Research that looked at contaminants in the water supply, and found issues predominantly with water in people’s tanks and taps. This new research in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, has found elevated levels of copper and lead in some of the community’s buildings.

The Biodiversity Integration in Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Actions for Planet, People, and Human Health (BioCAM4) Consortium's first official paper was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, titled 'Beyond Nature-based Solutions: The case for Integrated Nature-Climate Action.' It presents a broader framework to address the systemic drivers of the environmental crisis, the paper challenges the growing reliance on ecosystem-based solutions as a one-size-fits-all approach to integrating biodiversity into climate policy. 

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Theresa Dinh, Institute coordinator, was recognized with the 2024 Gary Brewer Emerging Leader Award– a distinction for an early-career professional who has demonstrated significant promise of leadership and has significantly contributed to 91ÑÇÉ«. Over the past seven years, she has been a foundational force behind the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research’s success by establishing the administrative & operational frameworks. Congratulations, Theresa!

Read the full blog

Our members worked on some incredible projects and had some impressive achievements this year; so many that we couldn't fit them all into one newsletter. Here's some news and updates you may have missed:

Planetary Health

Humanitarianism

Foresighting

Here is a preview of our exciting events for 2026 - register below:

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Themes

Global Health & Humanitarianism, Global Health Foresighting, Planetary Health

Status

Active

Related Work

Updates
N/A

People
Mary E. Wiktorowicz, Interim Director - Active
Tarra Penney, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Health (and former Interim Associate Director 25-26) - Active
Syed Imran Ali, Research Fellow, Global Health and Humanitarianism - Active
Stephanie Gora, Faculty Fellow, Lassonde School of Engineering - Active
Shital Desai, Faculty Fellow, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design - Active
Reem Abu Shomar, Community Fellow, Global Health and Humanitarianism - Active
Raphael Aguiar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Global Health & Humanitarianism and Planetary Health - Active
Rachel Silver, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Education - Active
Martin J. Bunch, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change - Active
Kirsten Lee, CIHR Health System Impact Fellow - Active
Ian Garrett, Faculty Fellow, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design - Active
Godfred Boateng, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Health - Active
Fawzia Gibson-Fall, Research Fellow, Global Health & Humanitarianism - Active
Eric Asempah, Community Fellow, Global Health Foresighting - Active
Chloe Clifford Astbury, Research Fellow, Global Food System & Policy - Alum
Chiara Camponeschi, Community Fellow, Environmental Health - Active
Cary Wu, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies - Active
Benedict Weobong, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Health - Active
Nilanjana Ganguli, Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change - Active
Caroline Diana Duncan, Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar, Lassonde School of Engineering [FW23-24; FW24-25] - Alum
Brian Waters, Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change - Alum
Ana Carolina de Almeida Cardoso, Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change - Active
Theresa Dinh, Institute Coordinator - Active

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