By Jennifer Doodnauth

As demand grows for technologies that support independent living, a 91亚色 researcher will bring Canadian expertise and insights from community engaged research to the international standards that guide their development.

Through the appointment, Desai will contribute community-engaged research insights and subject matter expertise to Canada鈥檚 participation in the development of international standards for accessible assistive technologies.

The committee supports the development of standards for technologies, products and services that promote independent living, accessibility and quality of life for people of all ages and abilities, including older adults, people with disabilities and people living with dementia.

As a member, Desai will review standards documents, provide subject-matter expertise and help develop consensus based Canadian positions on international standards initiatives.

"This appointment is an opportunity for me to bring 91亚色's expertise and commitment to inclusive innovation into international standards development," says Desai.

"I look forward to collaborating with experts from Canada and around the world to help shape technologies and systems that are accessible, responsible and responsive to people's needs."

The appointment reflects Desai's longstanding research in accessible interaction design, inclusive and assistive technologies, aging and dementia, as well as participatory approaches that engage older adults and people with disabilities in the design process. Her participation on the committee will also create opportunities to bring emerging international standards into both her research and teaching.

She plans to incorporate insights from the committee's work into course content and experiential learning opportunities, giving students exposure to the standards and requirements that shape technologies from design through implementation. Desai says students will also be encouraged to explore how accessibility-focused innovations can be translated into socially responsible and commercially viable solutions that address community needs.   

"This role will allow me to introduce students to standards-informed design and show them how international standards influence the development, evaluation and adoption of accessible and assistive technologies," says Desai.

Beyond student learning, Desai sees the appointment as an opportunity to extend the global reach of her community-engaged research by helping to ensure accessibility and lived experience remain central considerations in standards development.

"Older adults, people with disabilities and people living with dementia often encounter usability and adoption barriers when technologies do not reflect their needs, abilities and everyday contexts," she says.

"When their perspectives and lived experiences inform standards, and standards subsequently guide the design and development process, technologies and services are more likely to be accessible, useful, interoperable and adopted in practice."

Desai hopes to help ensure that diverse perspectives are reflected in global standards development while demonstrating 91亚色's leadership in inclusive innovation.

"Ultimately, I hope this work contributes to technologies and services that support independence, participation and quality of life in Canada and around the world."

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Edited by Emina Gamulin

Global Strategy Lab鈥檚 AMR Policy Accelerator announces four-year strategic plan that will focus on global governance and national policies.

TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2026 鈥� In a global health environment where funding is increasingly tight, 91亚色 based (GSL) is launching a four-year for its initiative, the to drive progress against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Unveiled today by GSL Director Mathieu JP Poirier and Accelerator Managing Director, Genevi猫ve Boily-Larouche, the plan is supported by $9.6 million (拢5 million) from 鈥� a leading global health philanthropy.

鈥淭he threat of antimicrobial resistance is no less pressing today than when we launched the Accelerator in 2022, but we are determined to ensure that the recent adoption of a global scientific panel and action plan for AMR will mark a turning point in the global fight against this silent pandemic,鈥� says Poirier, also an associate professor in the Faculty of Health at 91亚色. 鈥淲e are proud that Wellcome has been with us since day one, and this renewal of funding signals the impact of our work and the significance of our strategic plan.鈥�

Started with support from Wellcome, the Accelerator catalyzes scientific research and evidence-informed policy to support governments to act on the ongoing crisis of AMR.

鈥淭here has been some important progress made against the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in the past decade. However, many countries are still facing challenges to develop and deliver impactful, evidence-based national action plans due to the complex, multi-faceted nature of AMR. Global Strategy Lab's work plays a vital role in supporting countries, particularly in the global south, to be better equipped to tackle AMR, including mobilisation of the international evidence panel,鈥� says Jeremy Knox, head of infectious disease policy at Wellcome.

To date, projects have included research to inform , the to support implementation of national action plans on AMR and providing to over 200 AMR policymakers, international organization staff and civil society partners in 75 countries. The work has also taken on a greater emphasis on making sure gender and equity provisions are in place when considering appropriate and effective AMR policies.

"This investment is a powerful endorsement of the talent and ambition of our researchers," says Lisa Philipps, interim president and vice-chancellor of 91亚色. "Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most urgent health threats of our time, and meeting it will take strong evidence, global collaboration and a real commitment to equity. The Global Strategy Lab brings all three. 91亚色 is proud to be the home of this work, and grateful to Wellcome for backing it over the long term.鈥�

GSL announced today that from 2026-2030, the Accelerator鈥檚 work will focus on two connected priority areas:

• Championing evidence-informed national policy decisions: Working with national and regional partners to create practical tools that help translate research and global policy guidance into context-appropriate, sustainable, and feasible national-level action
• Strengthening AMR global governance: Working with international organizations and global partners to support policy solutions and normative guidance that are grounded in evidence, equity, accountability, and a One Health approach.聽聽 聽聽

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By Alex Huls

91亚色 researcher Grace Grothaus is developing wearable technology and community-driven research tools to help people see the air pollution they encounter every day.

When Grothaus first set out during her PhD studies to make invisible air pollution visible, she envisioned wearable technology that could help people understand the pollutants they encounter while walking, cycling or commuting through their communities.

In 2025, that vision was realized in part through an experimental smart garment featuring illuminated lungs that respond to black carbon pollution, a combustion-related pollutant linked to vehicle traffic, aircraft emissions and wildfires. Using a laboratory-validated black-carbon sensor, the garment was an early proof-of-concept within a broader research project that has now evolved into a fully fledged program.

鈥淭he earlier prototype demonstrated that a wearable could sense pollution and translate it into a visual response,鈥� says Grothaus. 鈥淏ut it was an expressive garment rather than something a person would comfortably wear throughout an ordinary day.鈥�

That distinction prompted a significant redesign of the technology and a rethinking of the project as a whole.

As part of a broader initiative called We Are Air Aware, Grothaus set out to create a practical air quality monitor that people could easily wear or carry throughout their daily routines. The result is AirWear, a pocket-sized device that measures particulate pollution and records location-linked environmental data during everyday activities.

The project investigates particulate matter and black carbon, a harmful combustion-related component that is one of the largest contributors to global warming after carbon dioxide. The project, which also considers health risks for black carbon, aims to make pollution exposure and its potential sources perceptible at the scale people encounter them, such as beside traffic, at an intersection or while waiting for transit.

Working with collaborators through 91亚色鈥檚 Connected Minds program and Professor Shital Desai鈥檚 Social and Technological Systems (SaTS) Lab, Grothaus redesigned AirWear for everyday use. Nearly every element was reconsidered, including its electronics, enclosure, attachment system, screen interface, location logging and data storage.

The monitor can be clipped to clothing or a bag, carried as a keyring or worn as a pendant. It displays particulate readings through a simplified interface designed to be understood at a glance.

鈥淲e wanted AirWear to be lightweight, discreet, understandable at a glance and adaptable to different bodies and preferences,鈥� says Grothaus. 鈥淭he aim was not simply to make the electronics as small as possible. It was to create a device that could function as part of everyday life and as part of a participatory research system.鈥�

While AirWear has become the project鈥檚 everyday monitoring tool, its artistic roots continue through AtmoSpheres 鈥� a series of wearable artworks that raise awareness about air pollution through public performances and exhibitions. We Are Air Aware also includes MyAirWear.ca, where anonymized, location-linked measurements will contribute to community air quality maps.

Together, the three components explore how sensing, visualization, art and community knowledge can make localized particulate air pollution more understandable and ultimately support practical responses.

Perhaps the project鈥檚 biggest evolution, however, has been the growing role of community members.

In July 2026, Grothaus and her team held six co-design workshops: three at 91亚色 through Desai鈥檚 SaTS Lab and three with Bathurst Quay residents recruited through the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association. Desai鈥檚 expertise helped strengthen the project鈥檚 inclusive co-design methods, workshop structure, ethics process and attention to how different participants experience technology.

Rather than asking participants to test and approve a nearly finished device, the team invited them to help shape AirWear before key design decisions had been finalized. Residents invented possible forms, attachment methods and display ideas while reflecting on their experiences with air quality and wearable technology. The team analyzed comments, sketches, clay prototypes, rankings and dot-voting, and is now translating that feedback into the next round of fabrication.

One result was a pale-blue, cloud-shaped enclosure inspired by participants鈥� preferences for a form that felt approachable, recognizable and positively connected to air. Participants also favoured simple colour-based indicators, flexible carrying options and a design that balanced useful information with comfort and privacy.

鈥淭he residents made clear that a technically elegant wearable can still fail if it does not respect how people manage comfort, attention, privacy and social interaction,鈥� says Grothaus.

The workshops also produced a useful surprise. Some participants wanted a visible device that could spark conversations about air pollution; others preferred a small, concealable form that would allow them to decide when to discuss it. The responses challenged an underlying assumption that visibility is not always desirable, even in a project devoted to making pollution visible.

Those insights will shape the project鈥檚 next stage, a two-week wear study planned for later this year. Support from Connected Minds, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada's (SSHRC) Explore Grant and a Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research Seed Grant has helped make that phase possible by funding community participation, technical development and preparations for deployment.

Participants will use AirWear during their ordinary routines rather than along prescribed research routes. Grothaus is interested in the pollution people encounter while walking, cycling, commuting, waiting for transit, running errands, exercising outdoors and spending time near places they regularly use.

The devices will record particulate measurements with time and location information, while participants provide feedback about comfort, usability and whether the information affects their awareness or decisions. Public map layers will aggregate measurements and suppress patterns that could identify individuals.

Researchers hope the resulting data will reveal short-lived peaks or recurring exposure hotspots that regional air quality reports or fixed monitors may not capture at the scale of an individual journey. The longer-term goal is to create evidence that communities and decision-makers can use to consider targeted responses involving transit operations, traffic management, idling or street design.

In many ways, those conversations helped shape the project鈥檚 current direction.

鈥淧articipants did not treat AirWear only as a measuring instrument,鈥� says Grothaus. 鈥淭hey considered what it would feel like to carry, what conversations it might create, what information should come back to them and how individual readings could add up to something useful for the neighbourhood.鈥�

鈥淢aking pollution visible remains central to the project, but visibility is not an endpoint,鈥� she adds. 鈥淟ocalized information creates the possibility of connecting a reading to a place, time and activity.鈥�

Through AirWear, MyAirWear.ca and AtmoSpheres, Grothaus hopes to explore how sensing, visualization, art and community knowledge can make localized particulate air pollution more understandable and support practical responses to it.

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By Anesa Albert

Two recent Faculty of Graduate Studies alumni have received national awards from prestigious Canadian scholarly associations for research examining how systems and policies influence access, opportunity and equity in communities affected by global development challenges.

Patrick Abure (MA鈥�26), who graduated from the Development Studies (DVST) program, received the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID)  Institutional Membership Prize for his student essay Institutionalising Legitimacy: Gendered Gatekeeping, Women Refugee-Led Organisations, and the Limits of Localisation in Uganda.

The paper explores why women refugee-led organizations in Uganda are trusted by the communities they serve while continuing to face barriers to direct funding, partnerships and participation in decision-making processes.

Abure drew on interviews with leaders and community members served by three women refugee-led organizations in the Bidibidi and Imvepi refugee settlements, located in northwestern Uganda. His research examines how factors such as registration requirements, audits, reporting expectations, budgets, infrastructure, networks and gendered expectations can affect the recognition and support women refugee-led organizations receive.

鈥淩eceiving the CASID Institutional Membership Prize for my paper is a deeply meaningful honour,鈥� says Abure. 鈥淭his recognition affirms the importance of research that centres refugee knowledge, leadership, and lived experience, especially the work of women refugee leaders serving communities affected by humanitarian crises.鈥�

He hopes that more refugee-led research like his can help challenge assumptions about 鈥渨ho is seen as an expert, a leader and a legitimate actor in humanitarian response.鈥�

Valerie Lawson (MA鈥�25), also a graduate of DVST, received the 2026 Fraser Taylor Prize from the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS), which recognizes the best graduate student paper presented at the previous CAAS conference and supports publication of the winning paper in the Canadian Journal of African Studies.

Lawson was awarded for her research, Health Care Access: An Analysis of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Accra, Ghana, which investigates how people enrolled in Ghana鈥檚 public health insurance program can still face out-of-pocket health-care costs and how those expenses affect health-care-seeking behaviour and financial well-being.

Through interviews with National Health Insurance Scheme subscribers, Lawson examines how systemic inefficiencies, coverage gaps and socioeconomic factors influence access to care and public trust in health-care systems. By situating these challenges within broader policy and political-economic contexts, her research contributes to discussions on universal health coverage and the impacts of health reforms across Africa.

Lawson鈥檚 work was supported by 91亚色 through the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship from the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and the Greta Coger Travel Fund from the Harriet Tubman Institute. She also credits the Development Studies program for how it 鈥減layed a central role in shaping my academic foundation and professional direction.鈥�

鈥淭he program equipped me with a strong interdisciplinary understanding of global development grounded in equity, critical analysis and policy informed thinking,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hrough DVST, I developed essential skills in research, communication, coordination and stakeholder engagement.鈥�

Both Abure and Lawson were supervised by Associate Professor Mohamed Sesay from the Department of Social Science, who praises their recent recognitions, which will see their award-winning papers considered for publication in their respective associations' journals.

鈥淭heir achievements reflect the strength of graduate education and mentorship within the Development Studies program while demonstrating how 91亚色 researchers are contributing to conversations on refugee leadership, health equity and social justice鈥� says Sesay.

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By Ashley Goodfellow Craig

More than $9.3 million in new federal funding will support 42 91亚色-led research projects across the social sciences and humanities, including AI, health, equity and social change.

Awarded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's (SSHRC) Insight Grants program, the funding supports medium- and long-term research initiatives over four to six years.

The projects, led by 91亚色 researchers across multiple Faculties and research units, address issues affecting communities in Canada and around the world with research topics that explore a range of issues with local, national and global significance.

"SSHRC Insight Grants enable researchers to pursue ambitious, long-term programs of inquiry that deepen understanding of complex social issues and generate knowledge with real-world relevance," says Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. "This year's funded projects demonstrate the remarkable breadth of 91亚色's research strengths, spanning health and well-being, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, Indigenous knowledge and cultural resurgence, education, labour markets, environmental and climate challenges, social inclusion, governance and public policy. Together these projects will generate new insights that help inform policy, practice and public dialogue in Canada and around the world."

Among the largest grants is a six-year, $463,646 project led by Stephanie Ben-Ishai () examining the financial and psychological effects of insolvency. Ann Marie Murnaghan (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) received $459,784 for a six-year project focused on cultural resurgence in Witsuwit'en territories, while Michael Kalu () received $456,501 for research examining the needs of Black older adults and developing Afrocentric-informed strategies.

Other significant awards include Andrea Emberly's (LA&PS) six-year study exploring community connection and musical arts among young people, funded at $435,379, and Shital Desai's () six-year, $417,127 project investigating approaches to strengthening communication and relationships in dementia care. Enakshi Dua (LA&PS) received $411,890 for a five-year project that explores the changing landscape of diversity, equity, inclusion and decolonization initiatives.

Several funded projects examine the social implications of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Christo El Morr (Faculty of Health) received $396,562 for Mapping Workplace Racism in Canada: A Community-Driven AI Platform Grounded in Ontario, while sava saheli singh's (Faculty of Education) Machine Learning or Learning Machines: Critical AI Futures in Education received $111,678. Isha Sharma (LA&PS) received $123,659 to study the adoption and impact of agentic AI in financial crime compliance.

Health and social well-being are also prominent themes. Mary Fox (Faculty of Health) received $400,708 to develop an e-learning intervention aimed at disrupting ageism in social work education, while Nazilla Khanlou's (Faculty of Health) $390,389 project will examine supports for racialized families of children and youth with developmental disabilities. Kerry Scott (Faculty of Health) received $286,282 to investigate public trust and engagement with Ontario's health system.

Other projects, listed below, explore immigrant inequality, labour market barriers, disability and education policy, climate and energy transitions, Indigenous resurgence, entrepreneurship in the age of AI, anti-human trafficking and cultural heritage, and more, reflecting the breadth of 91亚色's research strengths.

Russ Patrick P. Alcedo, AMPD
Project: From Field to Stage: Choreographing for Theatre Philippine Folk Dance Practices through Ethnographic Research
Funding: $163,951

Lalaie Ameeriar, LA&PS
Project: We Inherit Each Other: Racialized Care Work and Reproductive Labour during and after COVID-19
Funding: $109,580

Ilya Archakov, LA&PS
Project: Measuring and Modeling Economic Correlations: Robust, Valid, and Large-Scale
Funding: $59,770

Godfred O. Boateng, Faculty of Health
Project: A Cross-Cultural Validation of Housing Insecurity Scale in Slums and Informal Settlements
Funding: $362,992

Rebecca Caines, AMPD
Project: Interfacing, Playtesting, Resetting: Reframing Technology Use Through Improvised Creative Technologies
Funding: $118,750

Barnali Choudhury, Osgoode Hall Law School
Project: Improving Modern Slavery Reporting in Canada: Legal Ripple Effects and Insights from Australia
Funding: $185,789

Elicia A. Clements, LA&PS
Project: Interventions in Early Twentieth-Century Opera: Gender, Race, Coloniality
Funding: $104,553

Matias Cortes, LA&PS
Project: The Role of Firms in Lifecycle Earnings Growth and Inequality
Funding: $109,052

David B. Goldstein, LA&PS
Project: Imagined Tables: Eating and the Articulation of Community
Funding: $111,875

Luann M. Good Gingrich, LA&PS
Project: Places and Spaces of Social Inclusion: A Contextual Analysis of Immigrant Inequality in Canada
Funding: $254,831

Philip A. Harland, LA&PS
Project: Criminalization of Minorities and Subject Peoples in Antiquity
Funding: $116,231

Robert J. Heynen, LA&PS
Project: Mediations of Anti-Human Trafficking: Technology, Securitization, and Policing at the Border
Funding: $218,627

Alice J. Hovorka, 
Project: Animal Performativity: 鈥楤ecoming Primate鈥� in Human Society
Funding: $207,650

Hong Kal, AMPD
Project: Grievable Images: Visualizing State Violence and Resistance in South Korea Since 1948
Funding: $115,556

Magdalena J. Kazubowski-Houston, AMPD
Project: Performing Eco-Grief: Youth, Theatre, and Climate Mourning in Canada and Poland
Funding: $217,657

脡tienne Lal茅, LA&PS
Project: Foot Traffic, Consumer Spending, and Employment: New Insights from Cell Phone Data
Funding: $105,346

Margaret E. MacDonald, LA&PS
Project: Governing Reproduction in Senegal: Discourses and Images in the Postcolonial Archive
Funding: $105,490

Raymond A. Mar, Faculty of Health
Project: Learning Social Content from Stories
Funding: $124,843

Yuka Nakamura, Faculty of Health
Project: Community and Connection: Understanding the Growth and Social Impact of Ethnic, Cultural and Religious Sport Organizations in Toronto
Funding: $172,229

Lilian K. Ng, 
Project: Giving Where They Operate: Biodiversity Governance and Corporate Philanthropy
Funding: $161,035

Ken Ogata, LA&PS
Project: Legitimacy and the Hierarchy of Artefacts Along the Entrepreneurial Journey: Evidence from the Introduction of Third-Party Certification Agencies into the Collectible Comic Books Industry
Funding: $101,646

Nathanael Ojong, LA&PS
Project: Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Age of AI
Funding: $286,219

Salewa Olawoye, LA&PS
Project: Towards An Inclusive Monetary Theory: African Entrepreneurship and Money Creation
Funding: $124,927

Oyemolade Osibodu, Faculty of Education
Project: Navigating Blackness: Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Parents' and Youth's Perspectives on the Racialization of Mathematics Education
Funding: $106,237

Gillian Parekh, Faculty of Education
Project: Constructing Disability in Education: Disability Identity, Policy Enactment and Academic Outcomes
Funding: $342,757

Jennifer R. Pybus, LA&PS
Project: Extracting Intimacy: FemTech, Surveillance, and Sovereignty
Funding: $98,892

Amanda Ricci, Glendon College
Project: At the Heart of the City: A History of the Garment Industry in Montreal, 1930鈥�1990
Funding: $81,855

Perry Sadorsky, Schulich School of Business
Project: Energy Transition Systemic Risk in Times of Uncertainty
Funding: $109,082

Akolisa Ufodike, LA&PS
Project: Gatekeeping Growth: Immigration, Credentialing, and the Hidden Drivers of Canada's Productivity Decline
Funding: $375,300

Daniel J. Wigfield, LA&PS
Project: Systemic Integrity: Institutional Logics and Misconduct in Federated Sport Governance
Funding: $242,431

91亚色 researchers are also directly involved as co-applicants for 15 other projects awarded a total of $3.85 million. See the  of projects and recipients.

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By Alex Huls

Seven members of the 91亚色 community have been appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country鈥檚 highest civilian honours, by the Governor General of Canada.

The 91亚色-affiliated recipients are among 61 new appointments announced this year. The Order of Canada recognizes individuals whose service and contributions have had a lasting impact on communities across Canada and beyond.

Officers

Niv Fichman, alumnus and honorary degree recipient
A film producer and founder of Rhombus Media, Fichman has helped shape Canadian cinema over nearly five decades. His body of work includes internationally recognized films such as The Red Violin, Enemy and BlackBerry, reflecting a career marked by innovation and mentorship in the screen industries.

Duke Redbird, alumnus
An Elder of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Redbird has spent more than 60 years advancing Indigenous arts and ways of knowing through poetry, visual art and performance. His work has influenced artists, educators and communities across the country, foregrounding the relationship between people and the land.

Mayann E. Francis, honorary degree recipient
Francis is a former lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and a long-standing advocate for human rights. In 2006, she became the first African Nova Scotian and the second woman to serve in the role, and has since continued her public service and writing, including publishing a memoir.

Members

Tim Whiten, professor emeritus
Artist and member of the  (AMPD), Whiten has built an influential career spanning five decades. Working across sculpture, drawing, performance and installation, his practice explores spirituality and transformation while his teaching has shaped generations of students.

Nancy Nicol, professor emerita and senior scholar
Nicol (AMPD), is a documentary filmmaker, researcher and writer whose work documents the history of 2SLGBTQIA+ activism in Canada and internationally. Through her participatory research project, Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights, she fostered international collaboration and advanced equity and human rights.

Duane D.O. Gibson, alumnus
Gibson is a hip-hop artist, author and educator who engages students through music and literacy-focused programming. Through his initiative Stay Driven, he has reached thousands of young people with messages centred on perseverance, leadership and positive decision-making.

Harvey Skinner, professor emeritus
Skinner, founding dean of the Faculty of Health, has made significant contributions to the study of behaviour change and addictions. He is known for developing the Drug Abuse Screening Test, a widely used tool that has informed clinical practice, policy and broader approaches to health innovation.

For more information about the Order of Canada or to view the full list of this year鈥檚 appointees, visit the聽.

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By Anesa Albert

A 91亚色 doctoral researcher will help inform international policy on equitable access to water and sanitation as part of an international advisory group.

Michael Davies鈥慥enn, a Faculty of Graduate Studies student in the Global Health graduate program, joins the Expert Group on Equitable Access to Water and Sanitation led by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

The three鈥憏ear appointment highlights the impact of 91亚色 researchers in addressing complex global health and environmental challenges.

The group brings together researchers, policymakers and practitioners and began its work earlier this year to guide the implementation of the World Health Organization鈥檚 Protocol on Water and Health. Its focus is on identifying marginalized populations and supporting their meaningful engagement in water and sanitation decision-making.

Davies鈥慥enn鈥檚 research synthesizes Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 鈥� Clean Water and Sanitation, equity, global health and environmental governance. His work examines how water insecurity and climate events, such as floods and drought, influence the risk of infectious diseases, including malaria, cholera and West Nile virus.

鈥淪everal diseases linked to climate change impacts relate to the excess or absence of water,鈥� Davies鈥慥enn says. 鈥淭his suggests water is a key driver of climate鈥憆elated health outcomes.鈥�

In his fieldwork, Davies-Venn focuses on basin鈥慳rea communities along the Orange鈥慡enqu River basin in Southern Africa, a transboundary freshwater resource that supports approximately 20 million people across Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa. Through participatory research, he studies how environmental and social factors shape disease risk.

鈥淚t is reasonable to argue that human life is impossible without fresh water,鈥� he says. 鈥淵et inequities in access to drinking water persist.鈥�

In some river鈥慴asin communities, open defecation remains common due to limited access to sanitation services which increases the risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera.

鈥淪ome people use the river as a latrine, while others collect water from the same river for domestic use, including drinking,鈥� Davies鈥慥enn says. 鈥淥pen defecation is a serious problem and cholera remains a global challenge. Research also links cholera outbreaks to floods and drought.鈥�

For Davies鈥慥enn, the work is both academic and personal. Having spent his childhood in similar conditions, and surviving malaria, gives him first-hand insight into the challenges these communities face.

Those experiences inform his commitment to global health solutions and his passion to make a difference.

鈥淚f, through working with basin communities, I raise awareness that contributes to saving even one child from cholera, that contribution to science and humanity will give meaning to my life and work,鈥� he says.

A member of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Davies-Venn's research is supervised by Associate Professor Godfred Boateng (), Professor Idil Boran (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) and Professor Philipp Pattberg (Vrije University-Amsterdam). In addition to his doctoral committee's guidance, he credits 91亚色 for fostering a collaborative environment that supports interdisciplinary research, helping him bridge his background in environmental governance with public health.

He is completing his doctorate through a cotutelle arrangement between 91亚色 and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, an international partnership that reflects 91亚色鈥檚 commitment to global research collaboration.

Through his work in the expert group, he hopes that by empowering vulnerable populations, and recognizing broader societal failures, critical improvements in equitable access to water and sanitation will lead to healthier communities.

"Micheal鈥檚 appointment reflects the type of globally engaged, interdisciplinary scholarship 91亚色 is cultivating," says Amrita Daftary, professor and graduate program director at the School of Global Health. "Grounded in equity and shaped by lived experience, his work demonstrates how graduate research can contribute to meaningful change beyond the University and Canada."

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Authored by Dahdaleh Research Associate James Brown

Providing safe drinking water is a core priority in humanitarian response.  (鈥淲ASH Standard 2.2鈥�) states that 鈥渨ater is palatable and of sufficient quality for drinking and cooking, and for personal and domestic hygiene, without causing a risk to health鈥�.

Meeting this standard in practice is not always easy. Water systems in humanitarian settings operate under highly variable conditions, including changing source water quality, intermittent pumping, and widely varying household water handling practices. In these contexts, applying fixed water quality targets can lead to outcomes that fall short of the standard鈥檚 intent^,.

Moving beyond fixed targets

Sphere guidance includes indicative targets for water quality, including for free residual chlorine (FRC) at the point of delivery. These targets provide an essential reference point, but they do not capture all the factors that influence whether water remains safe to drink at the point of consumption鈥攚here it most matters for public health.

In many humanitarian settings, even water that meets recommended FRC levels at the point of delivery can lose its protective residual during collection, transport, and household storage and use, which can extend for 24 hours or even longer in some situations. Numerous studies now show that recontamination of water is linked to spread of waterborne diseases^,,. Furthermore, greatly increasing chlorine doses to compensate for this decay can lead to taste and odour concerns that discourage people鈥檚 use of treated water supplies, often leading them to turn to unsafe sources in the surrounding environment. Water system operators are left having to balance water safety and user acceptability with limited evidence to guide their decisions.

The addresses this gap by using routine water quality data to model how water quality changes across the full water supply chain. This allows operators to set chlorination targets that are specific to their own systems, rather than relying on universal standards that do not reflect local conditions.

The SWOT has been implemented across a wide range of water system types common in humanitarian settings, including piped networks, water trucking systems, and institutional/healthcare facility water systems, using both groundwater and surface water sources. Field evaluations demonstrate that the SWOT can improve the efficacy of safe water programs by 50-200% or more, offering a powerful way to ensure the public health impact of safe water programs^,.

Experience from Uganda

Work in the Kyaka II refugee settlement in western Uganda illustrates how the SWOT approach can support WASH Standard 2.2 in practice. Kyaka II is served by a large surface water treatment system supplying water through a piped network to public tapstands. Source water quality varies, and long distribution times and high temperatures increase chlorine decay.

Using data already collected by the water supply team, the SWOT was applied to examine whether existing chlorination practices were sufficient to control microbial risks up to household use. The analysis showed that, under some conditions, higher chlorine doses at the treatment plant were needed to maintain protection through storage. At the same time, structured testing with water users highlighted that acceptability varied depending on water source and prior exposure to chlorinated water.

By combining these insights, operators were able to adjust chlorination practices in a way that improved public health protection while responding to users鈥� taste and odour concerns. This supported a more balanced and transparent approach to meeting Sphere鈥檚 water quality standard.

Supporting better operational decisions

The SWOT is designed to support day-to-day decision-making by water system operators. It helps answer practical questions such as:

• Are current water treatment practices likely to protect water all the way up to when and where it is consumed?
• Where in the system is the chlorine protection being lost most rapidly?
• What is the appropriate chlorine dose to balance water safety and user acceptability?

By focusing on outcomes rather than on fixed inputs, the SWOT helps achieve the Sphere standards by enabling evidence-based operational decisions that reflect local conditions.

Looking ahead

Current water quality monitoring relies heavily on proxy indicators such as chlorine residuals. While essential, these do not directly describe health risk. Ongoing research is exploring how the SWOT can be extended to estimate health risks directly from easy-to-measure water quality data by bringing together quantitative microbial risk assessment and machine learning techniques.

This work aims to further strengthen the link between water quality monitoring and the public health outcomes that the Sphere standards are intended to protect.

A practical way to contextualise Sphere

The Safe Water Optimization Tool does not change the Sphere standards. Instead, it gives field teams the means to achieve them in diverse and highly complex humanitarian settings. By moving beyond non-evidence-based, one-size-fits-all targets toward context-specific, data-driven decision-making, the SWOT offers a practical way to uphold WASH Standard 2.2 and ensure that safe, acceptable water reaches people where and when they need it most.

Contact the author: brownje@yorku.ca

See also: 

Safe Water Optimization Tool (SWOT): 

 Ali, S. I., Ali, S. S., & Fesselet, J. F. (2015). Effectiveness of emergency water treatment practices in refugee camps in South Sudan. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 93(8), 550鈥�558. 

 Ali, S. I., Ali, S. S., & Fesselet, J.-F. (2021). Evidence-based chlorination targets for household water safety in humanitarian settings: Recommendations from a multi-site study in refugee camps in South Sudan, Jordan, and Rwanda. Water Research, 189, 116642. 

 Swerdlow, D. L.; Malenga, G.; Begkoyian, G.; Nyangulu, D.; Toole, M.; Waldman, R. J.; Puhr, D. N. D.; Tauxe, R. V. Epidemic cholera among refugees in Malawi, Africa: treatment and transmission. Epidemiology and Infection 1997, 118 (3), 207鈥�214.

 Walden, V. M.; Lamond, E.; Field, S. A. Container contamination as a possible source of a diarrhoea outbreak in Abou Shouk camp, Darfur province, Sudan. Disasters 2005, 29 (3), 213鈥�221.

 Roberts, L.; Chartier, Y.; Chartier, O.; Malenga, G.; Toole, M.; Rodka, H. Keeping clean water clean in a Malawi refugee camp: a randomized intervention trial. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2001, 79 (4), 280鈥�287.

 Camille Heylen, Gabrielle String, Doreen Naliyongo, Syed Imran Ali, James Brown, Michael De Santi, Vincent Ogira, Jean-Fran莽ois Fesselet, James Orbinski, and Daniele Lantagne. (2024). Evaluation of the Safe Water Optimization Tool to Provide Evidence-Based Chlorination Targets in Surface Waters: Lessons from a Refugee Setting in Uganda. Environmental Science & Technology 58 (42), 18531-18540 

 Ali SI, De Santi M, Arnold M, Khan UT, Penney TL, Ali SS, et al. Proof-of-concept evaluation at Cox鈥檚 Bazar of the Safe Water Optimization Tool: water quality modelling for safe water supply in humanitarian emergencies. BMJ Global Health. 2025;10:e018631. 

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By Alexander Huls

Rachel Silver, associate professor in Faculty of Education, has received a $500,000 grant to study how Malawian schools and educational organizations are adapting to international aid cuts, with insights that could inform education policy and development strategies around the world.

From 2021-24, Silver was principal investigator on a project that explored how global discourse around gendered risk during the COVID-19 pandemic did 鈥� or did not 鈥� relate to the lived experiences of young people in Malawi. At that time, the small African country was also contending with the 2020 decision by the U.K. 鈥� one of several countries providing educational aid to Malawi 鈥� to cut a significant portion of its support as part of austerity measures.

Silver, is also a faculty affiliate in the Faculty of Graduate Studies Development Studies program and examines power dynamics in international development and humanitarian aid structures. She had the opportunity to observe how funding reductions ripple through relationships in schools and programs, which inspired a larger project: investigating how Malawians working in the education sector navigate shifts in austerity.

Silver and her colleagues also wondered what new possibilities for funding, partnerships and education might exist in the wake of these changes.

In December 2024, Silver returned to Malawi to meet with colleagues and explore research focused on post-aid futures. They piloted the study through interviews and discussions with local educators and then, something unprecedented happened, she says.

In March 2025, President Donald Trump shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development, the world鈥檚 largest bilateral funder of education, removing support accounting for more than 13 per cent of Malawi鈥檚 2024-25 national budget.

These events prompted a paper 鈥�  鈥� funded in part by the 2025 Seed Grants in Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research.

The study examined the emerging impacts of aid cuts and found that while aid can improve lives, it often reinforces unequal power dynamics rooted in colonial histories. Conducted by a transnational team, the pilot explored whether such cuts could open space to rethink international development and support more locally driven approaches.

Silver, however, wanted to take the project further and has now received funding from the Spencer Foundation. The U.S.-based organization that supports education research will provide more than $500,000 for a three-year study entitled Reconfigurations and Refusals: Forging Futures Beyond Aid in Malawi鈥檚 Education Sector, allowing Silver to expand on the 2025 paper.

鈥淲e were pretty shocked and elated,鈥� Silver says, noting that only nine projects out of 380 submitted for consideration received funding. 鈥淚t feels very meaningful to be able to do this.鈥�

The research will include three longitudinal case studies involving Malawian educational organizations: a girls鈥� education NGO, a university and a basic education NGO. Silver and her partners will conduct an extensive interviews with individuals across government and the non-profit sector, capturing a broad range of perspectives from Malawi鈥檚 education landscape. The funding will also support local collaborators and enable the hiring of graduate students from 91亚色 and Malawi-based institutions, ensuring the research remains collaborative and grounded in the communities it studies.

The goal is to further understand how educational organizations and communities in Malawi respond to evolving pressures from international donors. 鈥淭he consequences of aid cuts are very harmful,鈥� says Silver, 鈥渂ut there is also much to be learned from how people respond, as it presents a chance to reimagine possibilities.鈥�

New opportunities may emerge if organizations are no longer required to align closely with donor priorities. The project will examine how these changes create space for local actors to set their own agendas, explore new approaches and potentially redefine education in Malawi. Early insights point to several pathways, including shifting decision-making and funding power to local organizations, developing alternative financing models such as regional partnerships, diaspora support, and private capital and diversifying funding sources to reduce reliance on U.S. aid.

Silver hopes the work will amplify how Malawian organizations are navigating this period of uncertainty and that insights will inform responses from remaining funders, including the Canadian government and international NGOs.

She also aims for the research to reach Canadian, North American and global audiences, offering new perspectives on how education systems can be designed and delivered in times of change. She notes that this is especially important in the current moment of global uncertainty. 鈥淭hinking about aid, responsibility and power 鈥� and how our world operates 鈥� is always important, but it is particularly crucial at this moment of rupture and change,鈥� she says, noting that austerity measures are affecting countries beyond the U.S., including the U.K. Germany.

Despite the potential global reach of the work, for Silver there is also a personal dimension. She has conducted research in Malawi since 2012 and the country holds significance for her. Initially drawn to Malawi as a space to reconsider international development because of the high concentration of international interventions relative to its size, she has come to appreciate how those in the country navigate an inequitable playing field 鈥� with lessons that may now serve as a model for the world.

鈥淪eeing how people are navigating this period and the creative ideas they鈥檙e developing is both interesting and meaningful to me,鈥� she says.

Silver, Rachel, Menashy, F., & Morley, A. (2025). 鈥淎 Planet Shaker鈥�: Educational impacts of USAID鈥檚 dismantling. AERA Open, 11.

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By Alexander Huls

A new study by 91亚色 researchers reveals how tuberculosis (TB) can disrupt work, relationships and daily life, leaving lasting effects even after treatment ends.

鈥淔or many people, the experience of TB is debilitating physically, emotionally, socially and financially,鈥� says Nancy Bedingfield, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, who works with Associate Professor Amrita Daftary at the School of Global Health. The way these effects are typically studied is through a unifying framework. 鈥淨uality of life (QoL) is a single concept capable of capturing these wide-ranging impacts,鈥� she explains.

To measure QoL, researchers often use an internationally recognized questionnaire called the World Health Organization Quality of Life 鈥� BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). But while working on a larger study called MISSED OUTCOMES, which explores the causes and effects of high TB rates in South Africa鈥檚 Eastern Cape province, Bedingfield realized that standardized measures might miss something vital.

鈥淪tandardized questionnaires yield very valuable information, but cannot capture the cultural and individual complexity that really matter when it comes to an outcome as personal as quality of life,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 truly understand the impacts of TB unless we look at the experience holistically. We need a nuanced understanding in order to do that.鈥�

To address this, Bedingfield pursued a stand-alone study within MISSED OUTCOMES which has now been published in . The study was co-designed with Andrew Medina-Marino鈥檚 team at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, University of Cape Town, and engaged a recent graduate of 91亚色鈥檚 School of Global Health, Mahilet Girma.

The team conducted open-ended interviews with individuals at different stages of treatment, giving participants space to share their own experiences of how TB affects their daily lives.

Participants described how TB didn't just damage their lungs, but disrupted routines, limited their independence and reshaped how they saw themselves and their roles within families and communities. Many described a decline leading up to a diagnosis, as unmanaged symptoms made work and everyday tasks increasingly difficult. Treatment was not an automatic remedy. In fact, early treatment was often the most challenging stage, marked by medication side effects, fatigue and mounting financial strain. Even after treatment ended, many participants continued to experience those challenges.

Participants judged their well-being on what mattered most to them: the ability to work, support family or pursue personal goals. Physical recovery wasn鈥檛 enough; without income or social assistance, many still felt the quality of their daily lives was poor. Through those personal perspectives, the study will add nuance to how well-being is understood in TB patients and highlight gaps in social and economic services, pointing to the systemic changes needed to improve outcomes.

鈥淧eople experiencing TB, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as South Africa, require financial assistance and personalized counselling to achieve a fulfilling quality of life and recover from the setbacks imposed by TB,鈥� says Bedingfield.

The study recommends more support during early treatment, when well-being is often at its lowest, as well as after treatment ends when people are considered "cured." This could include income assistance, counselling, education and programs to help people return to work.

Recovery from TB is about eliminating infection as much as it is about restoring stability, independence and dignity 鈥� something medicine alone cannot achieve.

鈥淲e hope our study comes to the attention of international and national decision-makers who can increase prioritization and funding for social protection programs 鈥� such as cash transfers, nutrition programs and personalized counselling 鈥� for people affected by TB,鈥� Bedingfield adds. 鈥淭he needs of people affected by TB are great, but the resources available for person-centred supports are lacking.鈥�

Bedingfield, Nancy, Fiphaza, K.,听Girma, Mahilet, Majiza, L., De Vos, L., Olivier, D., Kipp, A. M., Medina-Marino, A., &聽Daftary, Amrita. (2026). Quality of life among people with tuberculosis in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: a qualitative study.聽BMC Global and Public Health,听4(1).听

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