The event opened with remarks from 91��ɫ Interim-President and Vice-Chancellor Lisa Philipps, and was moderated by Global Strategy Lab Founder and DI faculty fellow Steven Hoffman.

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The presenters and their seminar titles are as follows, with time stamps to view their presentation directly:

• Rupsha Mutsuddi, Co-Designing Services to Address Loneliness for People Living with Dementia in Global Communities ()
• Tareq Al Khalaf, Exploring Collaboration in Healthcare and Community-based Support ()
• Farzana Khalid, My Work as a Tuberculosis Research Assistant in Social Science–Informed TB Research ()
• Mahnoor Shere, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research Priorities and their Considerations ()
• Jasneet Kaur Dhindsa, HEATSCAPE-Africa Wearables and Database ()
• Chelsea Williams Cleary, Mapping Child and Youth Engagement in Climate Change Governance: A Scoping Review of Access, Agency, and Wellbeing ()

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Dr. Hyunggu Jung began by sharing an overview of his past research, which focused on the early-stage development of innovative technologies through design and engineering to support people with disabilities and older adults. His work spans the intersection of artificial intelligence, human-computer interactions, and health informatics. For instance, some of his projects included the development of technology for supporting the daily lives of older adults, media engagement by people with visual impairments, and improving information accessibility for people with visual impairments.  

Furthermore, Dr. Jung reflected on the cascading effects of the design and use of AI systems. This includes AI reflecting real-world patterns of health inequality and discrimination, application injustices, biases in AI design and deployment practices, as well as discriminatory data, including sampling biases and a lack of representative datasets.  

Subsequently, Dr. Jung explained the concept behind human-centered AI, which is to create AI systems that “amplify and augment rather than displace human abilities” (IBM Research). Comparing AI-centered models to human-centered models, AI-centered models seek to emulate human behaviours, with AI engineering focused on replacing human performance. Conversely, human-centered models enhance human performance, making systems dependable, safe, and trustworthy. Human-centered AI can be applied to healthcare in multiple domains which can be divided by stakeholders, for instance, patients, clinicians, and researchers. Some applications of AI in healthcare include patient-facing technologies, wearables and devices, and drug discovery.  

Touching upon recent research efforts, Dr. Jung shared how AI drives his work through enhancement, not substitution, and emphasized the importance of AI-assisted models, as opposed to AI-based models. Currently, he is developing an AI-based platform to support multiple stakeholders for better healthcare, including clinical guidelines, disease predictions, and health behaviour changes. In the end, Dr. Jung discussed some recommended practices for developing effective human-centered AI systems, including identifying multiple metrics to assess training and monitoring, and directly examining draw data.  

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Osuoka began by contextualizing divestment as a strategy for climate change mitigation, assuming fossil fuel companies reduced investment in extraction and consumption and redirected capital toward renewable energy. While this approach has been pushed, in part to raise awareness about the climate impacts of fossil fuels, critics argue that divestment alone does not directly reduce fossil fuel demand.

In practice, international oil companies have increasingly divested from locations with significant environmental liabilities, such as the Niger Delta, while shifting extraction to deeper offshore waters. These offshore operations often involve weaker regulatory oversight, reduced liability exposure, and limited community participation. As Osuoka emphasized, moving extraction offshore does not reduce production or emissions; rather, it often enables their expansion under weaker oversight, highlighting the limits of market-driven climate strategies and the need for an energy transition that is historically grounded and socially just.

Osuoka also highlighted the broader historical and structural context of petroleum extraction. He noted that many contemporary transition frameworks leave colonial property regimes and extractive political economies intact, reproducing patterns of marginalization rooted in colonialism. In this sense, petro-capitalism continues to marginalize communities in extraction zones while concentrating wealth and power elsewhere.

Zalik then focused on the empirical findings of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, highlighting the extensive toxicological and public-health evidence gathered during the Commission’s investigation. Laboratory analysis of more than 1,600 blood samples collected from residents confirmed direct exposure to extremely high levels of industrial pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chromium, cadmium, nickel, and lead. These substances are associated with severe health consequences, including neurological damage, kidney failure, carcinogenic effects, reproductive disorders, and developmental problems in children.

Zalik also discussed the impact of gas flaring and air pollution in the region. Continuous flaring releases toxic gases and particulate matter that contaminate soils, crops, and water systems while exposing nearby communities to carcinogens such as benzene and other volatile compounds. These emissions contribute to respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic health conditions in surrounding populations.

Taken together, the Commission’s findings demonstrate that the scale of toxic exposure in Bayelsa has created a silent, population-wide public health emergency that has persisted for generations. Communities experience high rates of illness, malnutrition, and premature mortality linked to environmental contamination and the collapse of traditional livelihoods dependent on agriculture and fisheries.

Osuoka also addressed the financial implications of environmental remediation in Bayelsa State. The Commission estimates that approximately $12 billion would be required over a 12-year period to remediate contaminated land and water systems, restore ecosystems, and address the associated public health crisis. He emphasized that international oil companies and other responsible actors must bear the financial responsibility for this remediation under the polluter-pays principle.

The discussion concluded by emphasizing the importance of leveraging the Commission’s findings as evidence for legal, political, and policy action. While decarbonization remains essential in addressing climate change, the speakers stressed that climate action must also address the toxic legacies of fossil fuel extraction, ensure accountability for historical pollution, and center the rights and well-being of communities most affected by the global energy system.

Connect with Anna Zalik

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Keynote speaker Dr. Andrew Pinto invited participants to move beyond describing inequitable health outcomes and toward a more explicit analysis of the forces that produce them. Drawing on his work at the , Dr. Pinto situated health within the unequal distribution of money, power, and resources, reminding the audience that global health issues such as child mortality, maternal mortality, life expectancy, and pandemic outcomes are patterned by social and political conditions rather than biology alone ¹. He challenged global health researchers to ask not only what causes illness, but who benefits from existing arrangements, whose lives are valued, and whether research contributes to redistributing power or reinforcing inequity.

Dr. Pinto’s keynote emphasized global health as a contested field, shaped by colonial histories, institutional power, donor priorities, and unequal access to resources. He argued that ethics in global health requires more than good intentions; it demands humility, introspection, solidarity, and social justice ². Through examples ranging from pandemic inequities and vaccine access to precarious work, migrant health, and community-based research, Dr. Pinto demonstrated how social determinants of health must be understood as political determinants of health. His central message was clear: research alone rarely produces change unless it is connected to collective action, community priorities, and broader movements for social justice.

The 2025 Seed Grant recipient presentations, which came next in the line up for the day, extended this call to make systems of power more visible. Dr. Fawzia Gibson-Fall’s work examined the role of security actors in global health, raising questions about militarization, civilian capacity building, and the everyday presence of military logics in health protection. Her project convened a wide range of actors in London, Toronto, and soon Senegal, including those working in humanitarian delivery, epidemiology, peacekeeping, water, and international human rights law, to build a community of concern around civil-military relations in global health.

Dr. Rachel Silver shared updates on her research examining the impacts of global aid austerity, particularly following the dismantling of USAID and reductions in international development funding more broadly. Building on conversations and early research supported through the CPGH Seed Grant, Dr. Silver reflected on how the project has since expanded into a larger longitudinal initiative supported through Spencer Foundation funding, examining how communities and institutions are navigating uncertainty, donor dependency, and shifting global funding landscapes.

The symposium also featured several short presentations from current DI members preparing applications for the next round of Seed Grants including projects that spanned the core themes of the DI mission.  Across the workshop, presenters showed that critical global health research is not only about identifying health challenges but about tracing the systems that make those challenges possible. Whether examining social determinants, aid austerity, militarization, digital biodiversity governance, language inequities in rehabilitation, or air pollution exposure, the presentations collectively asked how hidden structures become visible and how visibility might lead to accountability.

This year’s workshop demonstrated the continued importance of critical social science approaches in global health. It affirmed that global health is never neutral, but instead shaped by history, politics, institutions, technologies, and power struggles. Most importantly, the workshop challenged researchers to move from description to action, and to consider how their work can support more just, accountable, and collectively imagined health futures.

1.         Sharma M, Pinto AD, Kumagai AK. Teaching the Social Determinants of Health: A Path to Equity or a Road to Nowhere? Acad Med. 2018;93(1):25-30.

2.         Pinto AD, Upshur RE g. Global Health Ethics for Students. Dev World Bioeth. 2009;9(1):1-10.

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The first set of speakers outlined the developments undermining global structures traditionally responding to protect civilians and the diminishing responsibility of duty bearers vis-à-vis right holders. Professor Heidi Matthews in her presentation defined the various elements of the “Gaza Playbook”, while noting how it represents a shift toward the normalization of large-scale civilian harm and the threat this poses to International Humanitarian Law and Crime of Genocide.  in her presentation analysedUnited Nations system’s strengths and limitations in protecting civilians in light of the Gaza conflict, including the not always constructive role being played by its member states.  in her presentation examined how the global humanitarian system was being dismantled and a new “re-making of the world order” was occurring through this conflict, as part of the “Gaza playbook”. 

The second set of speakers focused on the silver linings from this conflict for civilian protection, driven by people and not institutions or governments.  in her presentation high-lighted the robust engagement of global civil society in spot-lighting civilian harm in this conflict, through protests, advocacy campaigns, and pressure on institutions, etc.  in his presentation spoke about the work of health care workers and others in the Palestinian community inside Gaza, in documenting and advocating on the harm to civilians with a “People-Centred Accountability Approach”.

Resulting from discussions during the panel, a policy brief summarizing conclusions and recommendations for policy makers and the general public has been drafted and can be viewed and downloaded here:

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Congratulations and thank you to all the interns for contributing to another successful year!

2025–2026 Interns

Experiential Learning

Guided by faculty and research fellows, interns explored a broad spectrum of urgent global health challenges, learning how to approach them with effectiveness, equity, and excellence. The program, coordinated by Theresa Dinh, paired trainees with researchers and supported them throughout their experiential learning journey.

This year, seven interns shared their experience in the internship program at the 2026 Dahdaleh Institute Intern Symposium on April 22:

• Hanna Hemmati Roozbehani, Youth Voices in Climate Governance: Exploring Youth Perceptions and Participation in Global Climate Spaces –
• Mahnoosh Jalilzadeh and Yasmin Husen, Mapping Mediators and Moderators in the Relationship Between Extreme Heat Exposure and Mental Health in LMICs –
• Gordane Calloo, Shelter to Survival: Unpacking the Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity Across the Life Course –
• Esha Mahmood, Behind the Scenes: My Experience as a Global Health Special Projects Assistant –
• Lisa Freire, Knowledge Translation: The Science of Communication –  
• Kritnaaz Arora, Mapping Gendered Differences in Smoking Behaviors: A Global Intersectional Scoping Review –

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For the FW25-26 school year, the WHA Simulation had been converted into an undergraduate course where students had an opportunity to learn about the WHA process, including engaging in global health governance through diplomacy, negotiation and policy-writing throughout the semester. The 2026 theme for the Simulation was Global Health at a Crossroads: Building a Sustainable Future for Global Health in an era of Divestment. Students acted as member state delegates, representing select countries in the committee sessions. 

The event began with a Land Acknowledgement and African Ancestral Acknowledgement by course director and WHA SIM Coordinator, Dr. Donya Razavi, and an address by Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar and Master of Ceremony, Yvette Nkurunziza. A welcome address was delivered by Dr. Mazen J. Hamadeh, the associate dean for Students, Faculty of Health. This was followed by a keynote address by Emily Antze, associate director of policy and advocacy for Partners in Health Canada.  

Subsequently, member delegates, DAIS members, and technical experts divided into their respective committee sessions, which included debates and formation of resolution drafts. The three sub-committee themes were: WHO Reform and Global Health Governance, Sustainable Financing for Global Health Programs and Reversing the Resurgence – Safeguarding Core Global Health Gains. Every committee had a set of DAIS members, which included a chair, vice-chair and secretary that helped preside over the sessions. Each committee also included technical experts, Dr. Kerry Scott, Dr. Monica Malta and Dr. Jessica Vorstermans, who offered support during committee sessions through insights and expert perspectives on the issues being discussed.  

After the Committee Session Simulation, the lunch session began with two side events - a Global Health Careers and Networking event, and a Global Health Practicum Student Capstone and Global Mental Health Student Poster viewing. This allowed students, faculty and alumni to engage with the Global Health program at 91��ɫ and acknowledge the work done by upper-year Global health students. Community organizations, including The Canadian Red Cross, Partners in Health and CareFirst Ontario, also took part in the networking event, allowing participants to connect their learning with the broader global health community.  

Students of the Global Health Practicum Student Capstone and Global Mental Health course present their research posters.  

Lastly, final resolutions were presented by select representatives in the closing plenary through short presentations. The closing plenary included countries Canada, Germany, Nigeria, Switzerland, China, Republic of South Sudan, India, New Zealand, Republic of Cuba, Sri Lanka and Egypt. Final resolutions passed in the closing plenary session discussed topics on increasing accountability and reporting mechanisms, enhancing domestic retention though ethical sponsorships, investing in integrated healthcare systems and a focus on primary health care through coordinated financing.  

The event concluded with student closing reflections and a closing address by the course director and WHA SIM Coordinator, Dr. Donya Razavi. Overall, this event provided an opportunity for students and global health scholars to engage with global health governance and propose sustainable solutions to maintain Global Health in an era of divestment.  

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Dr. Romain began with an introduction to medical anthropology, including key elements of interpretive, critical, and ecological approaches. In addition, Dr. Romain discussed the integral need to understand positionality as it influences how individuals navigate and perceive systems.

Subsequently, Dr. Romain explained why understanding jurisdiction matters in global health, as it influences who is responsible for access, quality, continuity of care and clarity of roles. If these roles are unclear, it can contribute directly to gaps, delays, service fragmentation, and policy disputes.

Next, Dr. Romain discussed how poor health outcomes are the result of systemic, jurisdictional, and policy choices reflecting power and influence. Thus, jurisdiction also influences the rights of groups, which requires researchers to think critically on governance structures and equity-deserving groups, and the importance of a strengths-based perspective.

Further, Dr. Romain discussed the influence of jurisdiction on intergovernmental collaboration, engagement & governance, and policy implementation. Dr. Romain highlighted how Indigenous jurisdictional considerations can help to build conceptual tools and models of innovation that are applicable across global health systems, such as decentralization, sovereignty, and land-based healing.

Ultimately, research is political and can be an act of advocacy, whether it be through funding, methodology, quality of data or data sovereignty. Jurisdictional complexity can be attributed to a variety of elements and Dr. Romain discussed how understanding these complexities are important for researchers. For instance, this includes the recognition of the role of right-holders and acknowledgment of colonial systems.  

To conclude, Dr. Romain discussed the impacts of her research, which looked at the policy versus practice through a community-based qualitative study of the realities of pharmacy services in Nunavut, Canada. Dr. Romain also proposed a toolkit for navigating jurisdictional complexity, as seen below. 

Connect with Sandra Romain.

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Dr. Dewachi began by reflecting on his fieldwork trip to Mosul, Iraq, in 2023, six years after the war with ISIS. The aftermath of war, he argued is not only visible in ruined buildings, but in the slow transformations of everyday life. Hospitals and clinics–once sites of recovery– had been deeply disrupted, reshaping how illness is treated and how patients live with injury over time.  

Next, Dr. Dewachi showed a Cumulative Antibiogramme – a chart mapping resistance patterns across bacterial strains from patients in Mosul. Resistance exceeded 70% across most antibiotic classes. This was not simply a clinical finding, but a historical one: the antibiogram captured how war reshapes biology.  It reflected a healthcare system defined by interruption, fragmentation, and repeated exposure to antibiotics, where microbes adapt to the same conditions of instability as the patients they inhabit.

In such settings, care unfolds through repetitive circuits. Patients between hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, often receiving overlapping or uncoordinated treatments. Wounds return unresolved, Wounds return unresolved, and antibiotics are administered without coordination or continuity of care.

Furthermore, Dr. Dewachi shared that, in order to understand AMR as one of the afterlives of war, we need to follow the circuits through which knowledge about AMR travels. During the early years of the US invasion in Iraq, military hospitals began reporting unusual infections among wounded soldiers. Acinetobacter baumannii–later dubbed �������羱�������ٱ��– became a central object of concern. It was tracked, sequenced, and analyzed within US laboratories, triggering new regimes of surveillance and infection control.

Yet this recognition was uneven. In the United States, the bacterium was framed as a foreign threat, implicitly displacing responsibility onto Iraqi environments and bodies. In Iraq, however, the same phenomenon appeared differently—not as a named pathogen, but as wounds that failed to heal, infections that persisted, and treatments that no longer worked. Resistance was lived clinically before it was recognized scientifically.

In Iraq however, this epistemic disjunction was manifesting in a different way. Iraqi doctors did not encounter Acinetobacter; rather, it was exhibited as infections that were becoming harder to control, and wounds that were not healing, and patients dissatisfied by the recovery they expected. The use of antibiotics had already become routine clinical response; broad spectrum antibiotics were prescribed preemptively and repetitively.

From this, Dr. Dewachi introduced the concept of war biology – the ways in which prolonged conflict inscribed itself, not only in bodies and wounds, but also in microbes, infrastructure, and the everyday ecologies in which medicine operates. War does not simply destroy hospitals, it actively reshapes the terrain on which care takes place, producing new forms of risk that persists long after the war presides.

Antimicrobial resistance emerges through this reorganization: through the collapse and fragmentation of healthcare systems, the collapse of diagnostic and stewardship practices, environmental damage that contaminates urban space, and displacements of patients, clinicians and microbes across borders. Resistance, in this sense, is not an isolated biological event but the cumulative effect of these conditions.

Ultimately, stewardship, surveillance and new drugs are not enough. Efforts to address antimicrobial resistance will fail if they do not confront the political and ecological conditions that produce it.

War leaves behind more than destruction. It generates biological and institutional afterlives that continue to shape how medicine is practiced and how lives are sustained. Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most consequential of these afterlives: written in wounds that do not close, in microbes that resist treatment, and clinics that struggle to hold care together.

Connect with Dr. Omar Dewachi

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