Join us in advancing global health research and making a lasting impact!

Our Institute and DGHGS program are dedicated to promoting equity, excellence, and effectiveness in global health research, focusing on three core themes: planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting.

We are proud to support outstanding graduate researchers and innovative projects that are driving positive change around the world. Explore the inspiring work of our past recipients from 2024; 2025; and 2026.

This is your opportunity to become part of our dynamic community at 91��ɫ, where exceptional graduate students—both domestic and international—contribute to shaping the future of global health.

Scholarship Value: Ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 CAD.

For eligibility details and application instructions, visit our Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship page.

As Dahdaleh Graduate Global Health Scholars, DGHGS recipients will also gain access to:

• collaborative workspaces;
• support for research dissemination;
• invitations to exclusive Institute global health events;
• and many other professional development opportunities

Application Deadline: Friday, January 8, 2027, at noon p.m. ET

For questions or additional information, please contact us at dighr@yorku.ca

The post Announcement – Applications for 2027 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships Open! appeared first on Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.

The Dahdaleh Institute is delighted to announce this year's recipients of the 2026-2027 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships, and we extend our warmest congratulations to the following recipients.

"We are proud and elated to support fifteen 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 91��ɫ," said Professor Mary Wiktorowicz, interim director of the Dahdaleh Institute. "Their inspiring research pursuits build momentum for the vision of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research to enhance effectiveness, equity, and excellence in global health research through a critical problem-solving approach to 21st-century challenges."

Doctoral Level

Alexandra Scott

The myth of "good enough": lethal autonomous weapon systems and international law

Alexandra is a PhD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and Global Health Graduate Scholar. She also holds an LLM, a JD, and a BSc(Eng) in chemical engineering (First Class Honours) from Queen's University. Her doctoral work primarily focuses on two areas of legal uncertainty: (1) whether lethal autonomous weapon systems (or "killer robots" that are capable of operating with full autonomy) may be lawfully deployed under existing international law and (2) what legal, regulatory, and professional concerns may be implicated by the deployment of lethal autonomous weapon systems in contexts beyond international armed conflict.

Ana Carolina de Almeida Cardoso

Fighting for Tomorrows: (UN)Making the Future and International Climate Politics at the End of the World

Ana (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in environmental studies in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) at 91��ɫ, with a master’s degree in international relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC Rio) and a bachelor's degree in law from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV Direito Rio). Her research interests lie at the intersections between coloniality, modernity and "nature", with particular focus on alternatives to development, the Anthropocene and decolonial futures. Ana's doctoral research focuses on the concept of “colonization of the future”, the futuristic imaginaries of the climate crisis and their onto-epistemic implications to international climate politics. For this, she has been attending UNFCCC meetings since 2023 and engaging in negotiations with the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), having also collaborated with Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) and Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN).

Ayesha Shahid

Land, livelihood and the polycrisis: Political ecology of rural development in Pakistan

Ayesha is a doctoral student in geography studying rural-urban transformations with a focus on development and its related impacts on poverty and livelihoods. Her graduate project studies the political ecology of land and livelihoods in Pakistan to understand the drivers of deagrarianization in the countryside and its related impacts on community health and extra-human ecology. Focusing on the rain-fed northern districts of Pakistan, she also explores the potential of agroecological methods in mitigating some of these challenges through the strengthening of food security, and by creating more resilient agricultural livelihood opportunities.

Babatunde Odugbemi

Developing Context and Systems-Informed Evidence to Bridge the One Health Antimicrobial Resistance Governance Gap.

Babatunde Odugbemi is a PhD student in Global Health and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar at 91��ɫ. Babatunde’s doctoral research explores how to improve coordination and accountability for antimicrobial resistance plans among One Health actors, taking governance contexts and resource availability into consideration. He is carrying out this research under the supervision of Prof. Mary E. Wiktorowicz. Babatunde has an MBBS degree from the University of Lagos, Master of Public Health degree from the University of Sheffield, and a Master of Science degree in Aging and Health from Queen’s University. Professionally, he has contributed to strengthening the capacity of the health workforce as a public health specialist and working as a physician in Nigeria. He actively participates in collaborative research addressing infectious disease and their determinants and fortifying health system capacities. Babatunde is a recipient of the Canada Graduate Doctoral Research Scholarship awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Chelsea Williams

Child and Youth Engagement in Climate Change Governance

Chelsea Williams Cleary is a PhD student in Global Health at 91��ɫ and a Graduate Student Scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. Her doctoral research examines child and youth participation in climate change governance globally. Her current projects include two scoping reviews exploring young people’s participation in invited climate change governance spaces and youth-led or claimed spaces. In addition, she is currently working on a project reviewing existing theories and frameworks on how young people are engaged in climate change governance processes, examining how these approaches address different stages of participation - before, during, and after engagement - and where gaps remain in understanding the process as a whole.

Overall, this work is building to explore qualitatively who can access climate governance spaces, how agency and power are distributed within them, and how participation affects young people’s well-being.

Joanne Ong

Cross-national differences in the gender gap in self-rated mental health: the role of women’s political empowerment

Joanne Ong is a PhD student in Global Health at 91��ɫ and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar. Her doctoral research investigates whether women's political empowerment helps explain cross-national differences in the gender gap in self-rated health and mental health.

Kathirvel Soundappan

Systems Thinking Approach to Strenthen Antimicrobial Resistance Governance

Dr. Kathirvel S, MBBS, MD (Community Medicine), is an Additional Professor in the Department of Community Medicine and the School of Public Health at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. He is an alumnus of the World Health Organization's Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO) Summer School in Lyon, France.

As part of his graduate research, he aims to develop an enhanced antimicrobial resistance governance framework and strengthen AMR governance through comparative country case studies. His research seeks to generate evidence that can inform policy and improve governance mechanisms for addressing AMR at national and global levels.

Lathika Laguwaran

Women’s Smokeless Tobacco Use in South Asia: Implications for Policy and Intervention

Lathika is a PhD student in the Global Health Program at 91��ɫ and Director of Operations at the Global Strategy Lab. Her research examines smokeless tobacco use among women in South Asia. By integrating gender, intersectionality, and policy evaluation, her work identifies populations most at risk and generates actionable recommendations for more equitable tobacco control. Although centred on South Asia, her research will have relevance for Canada, where South Asian communities are large, and tobacco continues to impose a health and economic burden. Her doctoral work has been recognized through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Manulife Graduate Scholarship, and the Dahdaleh Scholarship.

Naeema Hassan

From principles to practice for equitable global health research partnerships: university, funder and journal perspectives

Naeema Hassan is a PhD candidate in Global Health at 91��ɫ and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar. Her research examines how institutional allyship can be established among research funders, academic journals, and research institutions to support more equitable global health research partnerships. Drawing on systems thinking, institutional theory, and co-design methodologies, her work explores how these institutions can collectively advance policies, practices, and accountability that are grounded in equity and informed by anti-colonial principles. As global health continues to evolve, her research seeks to inform more collaborative and accountable institutional approaches to the future of global health research. As a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar, Naeema contributes to the Institute's mission of advancing equitable global health through interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and knowledge exchange.

Olena Zinovatna

Integrating Data Quality and Standards into a Learning Mental Health System in Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use conditions for children and youth

Olena is a PhD student in the School of Global Health, Faculty of Health. She holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Information Systems, specializing in data analytics and information privacy. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she built extensive experience in the health sector, leading and delivering complex, high-impact projects while providing technical expertise across the full spectrum of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics solutions.

Her doctoral research focuses on establishing a Learning Health System for children and youth with mental, neurological and substance use conditions in Ghana. This work aims to create a foundation for a scalable, equitable, cost-effective, and culturally responsive model of care that improves health outcomes for children and youth. By integrating data-driven decision-making with continuous learning and system improvement, her research seeks to strengthen health systems and inform sustainable, evidence-based policies and practices in global mental health.

Rupsha Mutsuddi

Co-Designing a Service for People Living with Dementia to Preserve Rituals in Order to Address Loneliness

Rupsha is a Doctoral Researcher at the School of Global Health at 91��ɫ and a Graduate Scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, where her work focuses on Human-Centred Design to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia in global communities. She is a recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Program (CGS-D), and the Connected Minds Scholarship. Her Master of Design thesis focused on building supportive augmented-reality technologies to help people living with dementia with their daily rituals. Her doctoral research focuses on systemic service design for people living with dementia in global communities to address loneliness. Rupsha has worked for a diverse array of clients in government, healthcare, non-profit, and clean beauty sectors, including The Detox Market, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Public Health Association.

Tareq Al Khalaf

Exploring Programs Supporting Health and Wellbeing of Family Caregivers of Individuals on The Spectrum of Autism and Their Fit for Social Prescribing

Tareq is a PhD student in Health at 91��ɫ under supervision of Prof. Farah Ahmad. His research examines the lived experiences of family caregivers of racialized and minority children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Canada. His work focuses on how collaborative community-centered approaches can enhance caregivers’ health and well-being through equitable partnerships between healthcare providers and community organizations, particularly those aligned with Social Prescribing (SRx) models. His study aims to facilitate knowledge translation that informs and strengthens systems of care in Canada, with broader applicability in global/local context. His research interests include social prescribing, autism, caregivers’ health, interprofessional collaboration, primary health care, and healthcare quality improvement.

Yousef Albaba

ONE TABLE: Leveraging a Global One Health Approach for Food System Transformation To Promote Human, Animal and Environmental Health and Prevent Disease.

Yousef Albaba is a medical doctor and public health researcher whose work sits at the intersection of global health, humanitarianism, and systems thinking. Originally from Gaza, he earned his Doctor of Medicine from Al-Quds University before completing a Master of Public Health in Global Health at Queen's University Belfast, where he graduated with a First-Class equivalent and received the prestigious Copty Scholarship for Palestinian students. His path into public health has been shaped by direct experience of providing care in humanitarian and conflict-affected settings, where communities face prolonged food insecurity, environmental degradation, and health system collapse. These realities motivate his commitment to research that both strengthens the public health effectiveness of humanitarian response and interrogates the structural drivers of humanitarian crises.

As a doctoral researcher at 91��ɫ's Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Yousef's work focuses on developing a Gaza-focused case study examining food system fragility, health equity, and One Health interactions in a protracted humanitarian setting. His research is situated within ONE TABLE, an international initiative led by Dr Tarra Penney that leverages a global One Health approach to food system transformation. Using systems thinking, participatory systems mapping, qualitative methods, and policy analysis, he aims to identify leverage points where humanitarian and development actors can engage more effectively with the systemic drivers of vulnerability. In the long term, he aims to work at the interface of global health research, humanitarian policy, and systems innovation, advancing more effective and just humanitarian responses.

Yvette Nkurunziza

Assessing the Intersectional Association Between Socioeconomic Factors and Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes Among People Living With HIV Coinfected With Tuberculosis in Rwanda.

Yvette Nkurunziza is a second-year PhD student in Global Health at 91��ɫ. Her doctoral research assesses the intersectional association between socioeconomic status, intersectionality, and tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes among people living with HIV in Rwanda. The research explores how factors such as income, education, occupation, gender, and migration status intersect to shape TB/HIV treatment outcomes, with the aim of informing more equity-driven TB/HIV policy in Rwanda and similar settings. Yvette holds a Master's in Global Health Delivery, Gender and Sexual Reproductive Health track, from the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, and a Master of Public Health from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. She currently works as a research assistant for a project that explore gender based violence among people with TB. Yvette is a scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, where she contributes to the Institute's mission of advancing interdisciplinary, community-engaged research on the social and structural determinants of health, with a focus on infectious disease and health equity.

The Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship was also renewed for PhD student Michael Davies-Venn.

The Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship was created to attract exceptional incoming and continuing domestic and international graduate research students to the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. These scholarships will support graduate research and related scholarly and creative activities in line with the three themes of the Institute—planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting. The scholarship will be granted annually to graduate students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement in global health research. The scholarships will be granted to new or returning students based on research excellence or promise of excellence, and applications will be evaluated using the student’s past performance and potential in their graduate program.

Scholarship recipients will:

• be designated as “Dahdaleh Graduate Global Health Scholars” at the Dahdaleh Institute;
• attend and participate in the Dahdaleh Institute’s weekly global health graduate seminars;
• present their graduate work at least once per year, preferably at the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholars Symposium, or at other suitable venues;
• receive occasional invitations to participate in workshops and special events at the Dahdaleh Institute; and
• have access to the Dahdaleh Institute open workspace.

For more information, please visit the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship Program webpage.

The post Fifteen Exceptional Scholars Awarded 2026-2027 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships appeared first on Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.

Amrita Daftary

Freedom To Breathe: Anchoring the Isolation of People With Tuberculosis in Human Rights and Equity

Tuberculosis (TB), an airborne infectious disease, affects 10 million people each year. Public health measures require those diagnosed to physically isolate, to curb transmission. These measures are institutionalized in health systems and normalized in societies. By contrast, evidence confirming TB non-infectiousness soon after treatment begins, and the ability for people to be free to resume contact–or stop isolating (i.e., de-isolate)–is vastly hidden in health communication and public discourse.

Drawing on rights, stigma, and equity lenses, wherein individual protections juxtapose collective interests, this research interrogates the dearth of policy dialogue supporting the restoration of freedom for people subjected to TB-related isolation. Our goal is to inspire equitable policy, empower communities, reduce stigma, and support recovery processes.

Ravi de Costa

Governing the Digital Turn in Biodiversity: Broken Incentives and Planetary Health

This project addresses a critical problem at the intersection of planetary health and biodiversity governance caused by massive and rapid technological change. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol were designed for a world of physical specimens, in which access and benefit-sharing (ABS) obligations arise when biological materials are physically accessed. Digital sequence information (DSI), that is the genomic and molecular data derived from biological materials in digital form, has seriously undermined the ABS system. Biodiversity data now circulates freely in global repositories, detached from origin, consent, and any obligation to the communities whose stewardship generated the underlying biodiversity. Every major international regime governing biodiversity and biological resources is now contending with this problem, in a context of fragmented coordination and diverging priorities.

Shital Desai

AirWear: Co-Designing Participatory Wearable Sensing for Urban Air Pollution Awareness

AirWear is a seed-grant phase of We Are Air Aware, a participatory citizen-sensing research project exploring how urban residents perceive and respond to localized particulate air pollution during everyday mobility. The project centres on AirWear, a custom wearable device that combines real-time particulate sensing, GPS-linked environmental logging, and interactive visual feedback. Through participatory co-design workshops with residents in Toronto’s Bathurst Quay neighbourhood, the project will examine how people interpret wearable environmental data, evaluate the comfort, visibility, and social acceptability of the device, and reflect on issues such as trust, uncertainty, anxiety, and environmental awareness in public space. Rather than treating sensing as a neutral technical solution, AirWear asks how environmental data becomes meaningful through embodiment, lived experience, and place-based knowledge.

The purpose of the CPGH Seed Grants is to support 91��ɫ–based critical social science perspectives in global health research that contribute to the research themes of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research: planetary health; global health and humanitarianism; and global health foresighting. The Seed Grants are also meant to encourage faculty to develop fuller grant proposals for Fall Tri-Council and other grant deadlines. Recipients will present the progress of their research at next year’s Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research Workshop. 

The Dahdaleh Institute and the CPGH Steering Committee would like to thank all the applicants this year and congratulate the 2026 CPGH Seed Grant recipients!

The post Announcing the Winners of the 2026 Seed Grants in Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research appeared first on Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.

Join us in advancing global health research and making a lasting impact!

Our Institute and DGHGS program are dedicated to promoting equity, excellence, and effectiveness in global health research, focusing on three core themes:planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting.

We are proud to support outstanding graduate researchers and innovative projects that are driving positive change around the world. Explore the inspiring work of our past recipients from 2023; 2024; and 2025.

This is your opportunity to become part of our dynamic community at 91��ɫ, where exceptional graduate students—both domestic and international—contribute to shaping the future of global health.

Scholarship Value: Ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 CAD.

For eligibility details and application instructions, visit our Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship page.

As Dahdaleh Graduate Global Health Scholars, DGHGS recipients will also gain access to:

• collaborative workspaces;
• support for research dissemination;
• invitations to exclusive Institute global health events;
• and many other professional development opportunities

Application Deadline: Friday, January 16, 2026, at noon p.m. ET

For questions or additional information, please contact us at dighr@yorku.ca

The post Announcement – Applications for 2026 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships Open! appeared first on Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.

"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 91��ɫ," said Professor Mary Wiktorowicz, interim director of the Dahdaleh Institute. "Their inspiring research pursuits build momentum for the vision of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research to enhance effectiveness, equity, and excellence in global health research through a critical problem-solving approach to 21st-century challenges."

Master's Level

Francis Kolawole

Afro-Centric Conceptualization of Frailty Among Older Adults in Sub Saharan Africa: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Francis is an international student from Nigeria and he holds a Bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy from the University of Benin, Nigeria. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Kinesiology and Health Science at 91��ɫ. Under the supervision of Dr. Michael Kalu at 91��ɫ, Francis overarching research interest will focus on strengthening capacity for the care and management of frailty among older adults in Nigeria and SSA more broadly. His research aims to explore the conceptualization of frailty in Sub-Saharan Africa and how it intersects with mobility to shape the experiences and health outcomes of community-dwelling older adults. Through this work, he intends to inform policy and intervention strategies that enhance quality of life and promote healthy aging among older adults in the region. At the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Francis will collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to advance global health research that emphasizes equity, resilience, and evidence-based care for older populations.

Doctoral Level

Ana Carolina de Almeida Cardoso

Fighting for Tomorrow: Colonization of the Future(s) and International Climate Politics at the End of the World(s).

Ana (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in environmental studies in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) at 91��ɫ, with a master’s degree in international relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC Rio) and a bachelor's degree in law from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV Direito Rio). Her research interests lie at the intersections between coloniality, modernity and "nature", with particular focus on alternatives to development, the Anthropocene and decolonial futures. Ana's doctoral research focuses on the concept of “colonization of the future”, the futuristic imaginaries of the climate crisis and their onto-epistemic implications. For this, she has been attending UNFCCC meetings since 2023 and engaging in negotiations with the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), having also collaborated with Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) and Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN).

Babatunde Odugbemi

The AMR GAP: A comparative analysis of governance, contextual issues, strengths and limitations of implementing One Health national antimicrobial resistance action plans in high income (Canada) and low to middle-income country (Nigeria) settings.

Babatunde is a PhD student in Global Health and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar at 91��ɫ. He is committed to advancing research that aims to enhance the global response to antimicrobial resistance using a One Health lens, with the guidance and mentorship of Professor Mary E. Wiktorowicz. Babatunde earned his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos, followed by a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Sheffield, and a Master of Science degree in Aging and Health from Queen’s University. His professional background encompasses working as a physician and strengthening the capacity of the health workforce as a public health expert in Nigeria. He has actively participated in collaborative research addressing infectious diseases and fortifying health system capacities.

Gaurav Bhardwaj

The transport, fate and impacts of microplastics in wastewater treatment systems.

Gaurav is a PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering at 91��ɫ whose research explores how microplastics behave in wastewater treatment systems and how this knowledge can inform safer, more resilient water infrastructures. As a Graduate Scholar in the Dahdaleh Institute’s Planetary Health program, he collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to translate laboratory findings into interventions that advance global water security.

Hillary Birch

The Governance of Surplus and Scarcity: Water quality and the possibilities of urban life in Lusaka, Zambia.

Hillary is a PhD student in Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at 91��ɫ, supervised by Professor Roger Keil. She holds a master’s degree in urban governance from Sciences Po in Paris, France, where she studied the urban governance of Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia. She also holds a master’s degree in political science from McGill University. Hillary has worked in various roles in global health related to sexual and reproductive health and early child development. Her PhD explores how projects of global health intersect with processes of urbanization that shape flows of water in a city and change its quality. Hillary is a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar in Planetary Health, and her research is supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and an International Doctoral Research Award by the IDRC.

Joanne Ong

Contextualizing women’s health as a driver of population wellbeing.

Joanne's doctoral research explores how political empowerment—both at the individual and national levels—can reduce gender-based health inequalities and serve as a critical pathway toward global health equity. At the national level, she examines women’s access to political decision-making roles, legislative representation, and leadership positions. At the individual level, Joanne studies indicators such as social independence, domestic decision-making, and attitudes toward gender norms. This macro–micro approach allows her to investigate how women’s political empowerment can influence the development, implementation, and enforcement of health-related policies and gender norms, while also being shaped by national, regional, and international commitments to gender equality. Joanne's research is grounded in equity-driven and community-engaged approaches, with a continued focus on rural and Indigenous health contexts through partnerships with the Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia and the Rural Doctors Network in Australia, advancing the broader goal of socially accountable global health research.

Michael Davies-Venn

Global Health and Environment Governance Regime Restructuring: Protecting Health and Environment Protection in a Transboundary Resource Setting.

Michael focuses research at the intersection global public health and environmental governance. Michael is also an environmental policy analyst and communication professional. He holds an MPP in policy analysis, an MA in communication, and was awarded BSc (Hons) in mass communication and rhetoric. He is the recipient of numerous academic awards from institutions in Europe and North America. Earlier he was Junior Fellow in Ethics of the Anthropocene, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is also a fellow, Earth System Governance Network. At 91��ɫ, Michael's project responds to epidemiological developments on certain diseases associated with climate change impacts. Considering climate change impacts as persistent stimuli to societies, an aim is to develop policy recommendations to reduce local vulnerability to impacts specifically linked to human health. Outputs will include, identification of factors to reduce health vulnerability and policy interventions relevant to local communities. Results will also inform recommendations for anticipatory actions to climate change impacts. Results will contribute to broadening scientific knowledge at the nexus of global environmental and public health governance.

Naeema Hassan

Reimagining Institutional Roles in Advancing Equitable Global Health Partnerships.

Naeema is a PhD student in Global Health and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar. Her research focuses on institutional policies and practices that support more equitable global health partnerships. She is particularly interested in addressing systemic barriers faced by researchers across the Global South and North as global health systems continue to evolve. Through systems thinking and design thinking methodologies, Naeema aims to develop practical resources that help institutions build inclusive and collaborative research environments, especially in areas such as digital health and global research governance. With a background in policy and management consulting, Naeema supported cross-sector initiatives in digital health, artificial intelligence, and international health strategy. She brings these experiences into her academic work, using them to inform her research on inclusive policy development, stakeholder collaboration, and the reimagining of institutional approaches to global health research.

Nilanjana Ganguli

Transactional Sex as Climate Adaptation: Exploring its impacts on resilience, health and well-being on vulnerable communities in Malawi.

Nilanjana (Nell) is a Doctoral Candidate at 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and a Graduate Scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research. Her research employs participatory and systems-thinking approaches to examine how climate-related shocks and stressors influence transactional sex dynamics in rural fishing communities in Malawi, with implications for sexual and reproductive health. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Studies and a Bachelor’s in Biotechnology from 91��ɫ, and brings eight years of corporate experience in mining and executive search. Beyond her doctoral studies, Nell has contributed as a project manager, graduate research assistant, and grant writer with multiple Dahdaleh Institute teams focused on the intersections of climate change and health.

Romeo Joe Quintero

Building Liveable Futures in Camps: Everyday Placemaking Practices of Internally Displaced Persons in the Southern Philippines.

Romeo Joe is a PhD candidate and SSHRC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change. His dissertation examines the experiences of those living in resettlement and transitory sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the areas of the southern Philippines affected by armed conflicts.

Rupsha Mutsuddi

Designing Technologies Which Mitigate Social Isolation and Loneliness in Partnership with People Living with Dementia and those in their Care Circle.

Rupsha is a Doctoral Researcher at the School of Global Health at 91��ɫ and a Graduate Scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, where her work focuses on Participatory Design Methodologies to improve experiences of loneliness and social isolation through technology in partnership with people living with dementia and those in their care circle in global communities. She is a recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Program (CGS-D), one of Canada’s most prestigious and competitive doctoral awards, granted to top-ranked applicants across the country. She is also a Connected Minds Scholar, part of an interdisciplinary research initiative supporting innovative work at the intersection of technology, society, and equity. Her Master of Design thesis focused on building supportive technologies in augmented reality to help people living with dementia with their daily rituals. Rupsha has worked for a diverse array of clients in government, healthcare, non-profit, and clean beauty sectors, including The Detox Market, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Public Health Association. With an interdisciplinary approach and an empathetic mindset, she develops meaningful solutions and strives to shape a better future through design education, research, and practice.

Tareq Al Khalaf

Caregiving and Pathways to Resilience among Family Caregivers of Racialized and Minority Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Tareq is a PhD student in Health at 91��ɫ under supervision of Prof. Farah Ahmad. His research examines the lived experiences of family caregivers of racialized and minority children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Canada. His work focuses on how collaborative community-centered approaches, particularly those aligned with Social Prescribing (SRx) models, can enhance caregivers’ health and well-being through equitable partnerships between healthcare providers and community organizations. His study aims to facilitate knowledge translation that informs and strengthens systems of care in Canada, with broader applicability in glocal context. His research interests include social prescribing, autism, caregivers’ health, interprofessional collaboration, primary health care, and healthcare quality improvement.

Yuliya Chorna

Moral, Conceptual and Practical Considerations of Resource Allocation for the Global Tuberculosis Response.

Yuliya is a PhD candidate in social anthropology at 91��ɫ. Her research supervisor is Dr. Margaret MacDonald, a medical anthropologist and Associate professor in the Department of anthropology at 91��ɫ. Dr. Alexandra Widmer and Dr. Amrita Daftary serve on her dissertation committee as faculty members in anthropology and global health. Yuliya's PhD research is aimed to advance understanding on how the allocation of financial resources for the global Tuberculosis (TB) response is conceived, organized and delivered. She hopes that knowledge produced by the research can be applied for a better understanding and reforming global health philanthropy and international aid/development for the global TB response and global health. Yuliya has an academic background in social work, with a Master of Social Work degree from Syracuse University. She has extensive work experience in the field of global health policy and practice, including senior leadership positions for not-for-profit NGOs focused on social equity and rights in the fields of TB and HIV/AIDS. She has been serving as a contributor of the Social Science and Health Innovation for Tuberculosis (SSHIFTB) since its inception in 2020. During 2019-2023 she served on the WHO Civil Society Taskforce for TB.

Yvette Nkurunziza

Assessing the association between socioeconomic status, intersectionality and Tuberculosis treatment outcomes among people living with HIV in Rwanda.

Yvette is soon joining 91��ɫ as a PhD student in Global Health. Her research will assess the association between socioeconomic status, intersectionality and Tuberculosis treatment outcomes among people living with HIV in Rwanda. Yvette has a Masters in Global Health Delivery, Gender and Sexual Reproductive Health track from the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom. Her previous work involve clinical work in Rwanda, and served Rwanda Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance in areas of women cancer screening. Her prior research experience includes a research that explored socio-ecological factors that contribute to intimate partner violence among people living with HIV in Kayonza district, Rwanda, and another done with Partners In Health which assessed the effect of nurturing care intervention provided by expert mothers on maternal depression and parenting confidence in rural Rwanda.

Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships were also renewed for PhD students Alexandra Scott, Brian Waters, and Kathirvel Soundappan.

The Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship was created to attract exceptional incoming and continuing domestic and international graduate research students to the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. These scholarships will support graduate research and related scholarly and creative activities in line with the three themes of the Institute—planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting. The scholarship will be granted annually to graduate students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement in global health research. The scholarships will be granted to new or returning students based on research excellence or promise of excellence, and applications will be evaluated using the student’s past performance and potential in their graduate program.

Scholarship recipients will:

• be designated as “Dahdaleh Graduate Global Health Scholars” at the Dahdaleh Institute;
• attend and participate in the Dahdaleh Institute’s weekly global health graduate seminars;
• present their graduate work at least once per year, preferably at the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholars Symposium, or at other suitable venues;
• receive occasional invitations to participate in workshops and special events at the Dahdaleh Institute; and
• have access to the Dahdaleh Institute open workspace.

For more information, please visit the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship Program webpage.

The post Seventeen Exceptional Scholars Awarded 2025-2026 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships appeared first on Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.

Rachel Silver

Reconfigurations and Refusals: Forging Futures Beyond Aid in Malawi

In March 2025, President Trump shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), cutting more than $40 billions of dollars of promised funding. In Malawi, the U.S. alone contributed over 13% of the country’s overall 2024/2025 budget. While aid can meaningfully impact lives, the global aid architecture—the organizations, funding mechanisms, policies, and programs that scaffold development activities worldwide—is deeply flawed, often reproducing power hierarchies rooted in colonial histories and relationships. This pilot study conducted by a transnational research team (1) considers if and how aid cuts might catalyze decolonization of Malawi’s education and health sectors and (2) begins to reimagine possibilities for humanitarian engagement. Our project centers how local development workers theorize alternative arrangements for education within highly inequitable systems. Situated between international funders and community-based recipients, Malawian policymakers, NGO staff-members, and fieldworkers are uniquely positioned to reconceptualize aid mechanisms and forge new resourcing futures. 

Fawzia Gibson-Fall

Researching the Role of Security Actors in Global Health

This project examines the expanding role of security actors in global health at a time of intensifying global crises and shrinking aid budgets. Using qualitative methods such as interviews, archival and media analysis, the study explores the historical, everyday, and geopolitical dimensions of this engagement. It offers timely insights into the health-security nexus and informs future global health governance. The programme of work includes a field visit to Senegal and four in-person workshops: a policy workshop at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, three research expansion meetings in Canada and the United Kingdom, linking colleagues at King’s College London and 91��ɫ. These activities are designed to co-develop policy tools, build networks, and advance this research agenda. Key outputs include visual material for an upcoming scholarly book, Health Warriors: The Global Politics of Military Health in Africa (Johns Hopkins University Press), peer-reviewed articles, and the development of international grant proposals.

The purpose of the CPGH Seed Grants is to support 91��ɫ–based critical social science perspectives in global health research that contribute to the research themes of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research: planetary health; global health and humanitarianism; and global health foresighting. The Seed Grants are also meant to encourage faculty to develop fuller grant proposals for Fall Tri-Council and other grant deadlines. Recipients will present the progress of their research at next year’s Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research Workshop. 

The Dahdaleh Institute and the CPGH Steering Committee would like to thank all the applicants this year and congratulate the 2025 CPGH Seed Grant recipients. 

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The Wellness Impact Lab at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research is proud to announce its first major academic publication: “Climate Cafés as a Space for Navigating Climate Emotions: A Scoping Review”, published in the Journal of Climate Change and Health. 

This groundbreaking study marks a significant milestone — it is the first peer-reviewed journal article to systematically review evidence on Climate Cafés, a growing community-based approach to addressing the emotional impacts of the climate crisis. Authored by Anna (Andy) De Jong (DI Research Assistant), Susan Harris (DI Community Fellow), Dr. Christy Costanian (DI Adjunct Faculty), and Dr. Harvey Skinner (DI Senior Fellow), the publication underscores the Wellness Impact Lab’s commitment to mental wellness and community resilience in the face of climate change. 

As climate change intensifies — bringing with it floods, wildfires, and rising eco-distress  — the psychological toll is becoming harder to ignore. Climate Cafés have emerged as safe, informal spaces where people can gather to express their fears, hopes, and frustrations about the climate crisis in a supportive environment.  

The review, which examined literature from 2015 to 2024, found no academic studies meeting inclusion criteria but uncovered 41 relevant grey literature sources. These described Climate Cafés as flexible and community-driven, often reducing participants' sense of isolation and increasing emotional resilience. However, the review also identified key challenges, including barriers to participation among marginalized communities and a lack of standardized evaluation tools. 

“This publication is an important first step in bridging the gap between practice and research,” says co-author Dr. Harvey Skinner, professor emeritus of Psychology and Global Health. “We hope it encourages further study and investment in Climate Cafés as an important mental health resource.” 

At the Wellness Impact Lab, Climate Cafés are central to our mission: healing ourselves, healing others, healing our world. These sessions — co-facilitated and open to all —offer space to explore the emotional dimensions of climate change, cultivate hope, build community and support for climate action. 

To read the full article, visit:  
To learn more about our work at the Wellness Impact Lab or join an upcoming Climate Café visit:  

De Jong, Anna, Harris, Susan, Costanian, Christy, & Skinner, Harvey. (2025). Climate cafés as a space for navigating climate emotions: A scoping review. The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 24, 100466.

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Edited by Ashley Goodfellow Craig

When he was asked to explain his anxiety around police, one Black youth in the Toronto area said even the sight of a cruiser in his neighbourhood triggers fear the officers are coming for him.

“I'm like, ‘Is this for me?’ ‘Is this for anybody I know?’” he told a 91��ɫ researcher’s focus group on how encounters with criminal justice and child welfare systems affect his mental health and well-being.

“You know, it's always on my mind, in my head. The police don't ever come for anyone else but me and my friends, right? That's how I see it.”

School of Global Health Professor , director of the Global & Environmental Health Lab and a Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Humanitarianism, is leading a project to help connect Black youth and their families in Canada with tools to help them cope with  anxiety resulting from experiences with the justice system.

“The goal is to ensure that Black youth who have challenges with anxiety or depression, or some other mental health issue, can reach out to these organizations and seek help at any point in time,” Boateng says.

Research conducted in 2021 by Justice Canada and the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat found that over-policing in schools and in Black communities – particularly in economically marginalized neighbourhoods – as well as police reliance on child welfare agencies, have increased the number of encounters Black youth have with the criminal justice system. Of all youths taken into custody, 19 per cent were Black males and 11 per cent were Black females.

Boateng says there is anxiety for Black youth around criminal justice even if they haven’t encountered it directly.

Vicarious trauma can result when people around you are exposed to negative experiences. Those indirect encounters can evoke a sense of insecurity among entire neighbourhoods, resulting in conflicts and strained relations in the community, Boateng says.

Community beliefs can be passed down through generations. “Repeated exposures can re-enact and affirm stereotypes that maybe the police are biased against Black communities and Blacks, which culminates in fear, anxiety and hesitation about the police.”

Boateng has created an online resource, , that directs Black youth and their families to a series of community supports. , for example, offers a range of holistic mental health and addiction services for racialized communities as well as a free psychotherapy program.  offers legal services at no charge.

There are also seminars on healthy responses to anxiety and information sessions on why stigmas exist. Educational campaigns promote restorative justice over punishment, and help Black youth understand what it means to be party to an offense or accessory to a crime.

“Our main goal is to reduce the number of Black youth who have negative encounters with the criminal justice system, to help them have an understanding of what crime is, and maybe reach a sense that the police are here to protect,” Boateng says.

He is also a beacon for hope. He partners with community groups to ensure Black youth are aware of the opportunities that exist for them in their own neighbourhoods – paths toward a positive future.  

Boateng believes that given the right environment, everyone has the capacity to succeed.

“That’s what really drives me,” he says. “It’s a quest to bridge the inequality gap that currently exists and what better way to do it than to empower those who are more vulnerable in our society. You do it by addressing one problem at a time.”

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The paper looks at preventing zoonotic spillover as a complex system problem and uses archetypes to examine unintended consequences of policies — fixes that fail. 

Some key findings:

• A systems perspective was used to illustrate how system adaptation may lead to the failure of prevention policies focused on wildlife.
• The ‘fixes that fail’ archetype emerges from actors with different goals unknowingly working at cross-purposes within a system, which can drive unintended consequences or policy failure. 
• Considering three case-study countries—China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Philippines—they identify how this adaptation may impact zoonotic risk and food system outcomes.

Tension was found between the:

policy goals of conservation and sustainable resources management;

profit-seeking goals of local and global actors who exploit these resources, and

 goals of some local community members to maintain access to area that have cultural and religious meaning.

Led by Chloe Clifford Astbury and Tarra L Penney of , this collaborative research would not have been possible without our local and global colleagues including Kirsten Lee, Mary Wiktorowicz, Shital Desai, Valentina De Leon, Dr. Marc Yambayamba, Helene Carabin, Eduardo Gallo-Cajiao, Russel Aguilar, Mala Ali Mapatano, Angran Li, Kathleen Chelsea Tongo, Zhilei Shi, Zhuoyu Wang, Cary Wu, Janielle Clarke, Krishihan Sivapragasam.

Astbury, Chloe Clifford, Demeshko, Anastassia, Aguilar, R., Mapatano, M. A., Li, A., Togño, K. C., Shi, Z., Wang, Z., Wu, Cary, Yambayamba, M. K., Carabin, H., Clarke, J., De Leon, Valentina, Desai, Shital, Gallo-Cajiao, E., Lee, Kirsten M., Sivapragasam, K., Wiktorowicz, Mary, & Penney, Tarra L. (2025). Wildlife policy, the food system and One Health: a complex systems analysis of unintended consequences for the prevention of emerging zoonoses in China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Philippines. BMJ Global Health, 10(1), e016313.

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Join us in shaping the future of global health.

The Dahdaleh Institute and our scholarship program are dedicated to effectiveness, and to advancing equity and excellence in global health research across our three research themes: planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting.

We take pride in nurturing remarkable global health researchers and supporting groundbreaking projects through our scholarship program. Please see the inspiring work of recent recipients in 2023 and 2024.

The Dahdaleh Institute is a vibrant community at 91��ɫ, where exceptional graduate students—both domestic and international—make a significant impact in global health research.

Scholarships range from CAD $5,000 to $25,000. Scholarship recipients gain exclusive access to additional valuable resources, including:

• Collaborative workspaces;
• Support for conference travel for research dissemination;
• Invitations to exclusive Institute events;
• & many more opportunities.

For eligibility criteria and the application process, visit our Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship page here.

Submit your application by Friday, January 10, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

If you have any questions, please contact us at dighr@yorku.ca.

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