Born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) also known as “brittle bone disease,” is a rare genetic condition that makes my bones very fragile and prone to fractured easily in numerous times, from my bath until my age of 20th in rural Somalia, I have faced significant challenges, including systemic discrimination, insecurity, and physical barriers.

Despite these obstacles, my determination and resilience have enabled me to achieve numerous personal and professional milestones. Becoming a journalist in 2014 was a dream come true. It opened a new world where disability rights could be explored and championed.

This journey has allowed me to advocate not only for myself but also for my fellow disability community, including my youngest daughter, who shares the same condition as I do.

I recently immigrated to Canada from Somalia with my family after spending nearly seven years as a refugee in Uganda.

Barrister, Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, London, UK; Human Rights Chair, Massey College, University of Toronto; former UN prosecutor at The Hague

Payam Akhavan, LLB (Osgoode) LLM SJD (Harvard), LLD Honoris Causa (Law Society of Ontario) OOnt FRSC, is the inaugural holder of the Massey Chair in Human Rights. Professor Akhavan is also Senior Fellow at Massey College, former Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Associate Member of the Institut de droit international, and the former Special Advisor on Genocide to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. He was previously Full Professor at McGill University Faculty of Law (2005-20), Distinguished Visitor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, with other appointments at Yale Law School, Leiden University, Oxford University, Université Paris Nanterre, and Sciences Po École de Droit.

He has published extensively on human rights and international criminal law in leading academic journals and is on the Editorial Review Board of Human Rights Quarterly. In 2017 he delivered the CBC Massey Lectures In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey. The companion book became the top non-fiction bestseller in Canada and the subject of a CBC documentary film.

Professor Akhavan was the first Legal Advisor to the Prosecutor's Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1994-2000) at The Hague. He has also served with the UN investigating atrocities in conflict zones - including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, and Timor Leste - and defended genocide survivors throughout the world - including the Bahá'ís of Iran, the Yazidi of Iraq, and Myanmar's Rohingya minority.

He has served as counsel and advocate in notable cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He also serves as Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Global Affairs of Canada and member of the Advisory Panel on the Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 Tragedy, Counsel to the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law, Honourary Canadian Co-Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and Co-Founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre. He is recipient of the 2021 Human Rights Award and an Honourary Doctor of Laws from the Law Society of Ontario. His human rights work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC HARDtalk, CBC Ideas, Maclean's, TV Ontario, and other media.

Francesca Albanese is an international lawyer, specialised in human rights and the Middle East. Since May 2022, she has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.

An affiliate scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, Albanese is the author of prestigious publications, including Palestinian Refugees in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2020), considered by many as a landmark in the literature on the subject, as well as other academic works on the legal situation in Israel/Palestine and Palestinian refugees.

Since 2018, Albanese has taught and lectured at various universities in Europe and the Middle East. She is also responsible for the research and legal assistance program on migration and asylum seekers in the Arab world for the think tank Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), and is a co-founder of the Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP), a coalition of prominent regional and international experts and scholars engaged in the issue of Israel/Palestine.

Prior to her scholarly engagement, she has worked with international organizations, including the United Nations (2003-2012) in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). As Special Rapporteur, she has published numerous legal opinions and four major reports: on self-determination (2022), deprivation of liberty (2023), violated childhood (2023), and genocide (2024).

From local initiatives to international endeavours, Fariborz dedicated his career to advancing immigration, refugee support, diversity, equal rights, and the cultural arts. A former refugee himself, Fariborz Birjandian fled his home country of Iran with his family, finding temporary refuge in Lahore, Pakistan. There, he began his impactful work with refugees under the auspices of the UNHCR. After settling in Canada, Fariborz volunteered with the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society and soon became a Settlement Counsellor. His dedication and leadership led to a remarkable 29-year tenure as CCIS’s Chief Executive Officer. Today, he continues to make a difference as the organization’s Strategic Advisor. Fariborz also serves as the Co-Chair for the National Afghan Resettlement Program, contributing his expertise to critical resettlement efforts. His outstanding contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Government of Canada’s Citation for Citizenship, the Alberta Centennial Medal, and the Queen’s Gold, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilee Medals

Dr. Paul Caulford, BSc’72 MSc’75 MD’78, is a family physician in Scarborough and founder of the Canadian Centre for Refugee & Immigrant HealthCare. He has received the 2017 Ontario College of Family Physicians Regional Family Physician of the Year Award, and is recognized for his advocacy, medical care and health equity initiatives on behalf of refugees, new immigrants and other vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Patricka is a social scientist and public health practitioner. She currently serves as the Regional Vaccination Support Officer for International Organization for Migration, Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia as technical lead for the Vaccine Demand and Confidence initiative, applying rapid qualitative inquiries and Human-centered approaches to inform public health interventions tailored to the needs of marginalized populations.

Her recent work focuses on Karen Sgaw refugee communities along the border of Thailand-Myanmar, Ukrainian mothers displaced in Moldova and Poland and Sudanese and Syrians refugees in Egypt. Prior to the current role she contributed to humanitarian and development programming in disaster response, social protection, health systems strengthening in conflict-affected areas.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic she conducted digital ethnographic research on vaccine hesitancy among Thai-language online discussion platforms and collaborated the Thai Ministry of Public Health to examine of influenza vaccine hesitancy among health care workers. During her time as Technical Officer for the Health Emergency Response at WHO Thailand, she led the establishment of an inter-agency infodemic management taskforce consisting of governmental counterparts and UN agencies. This team pioneered the use of big data analytics and social listening tools for national vaccine communications strategies. A fellow of Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Nhial Deng is an award-winning youth advocate, storyteller, and community activist with extensive professional experience in policy advocacy, communications, international development, external relations, youth leadership, and corporate social responsibility.

Growing up in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, Nhial became a youth leader and community activist at age 17, initiating impactful projects like the Refugee Youth Peace Ambassadors and SheLeads Kakuma. By the end of 2023, his community work in Kakuma had empowered over 20,000 young people through peacebuilding, education, sports, and entrepreneurship programs.

Now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and Communications at Huron University in Canada, Nhial leverages his powerful voice, personal story, and expertise to drive systemic change and inspire global action. His advocacy work focuses on refugee issues, education, aid localization, peace, gender equality, and climate justice.

In recognition of his community work and advocacy efforts, Nhial has received numerous accolades, including the World Vision Hero for Children: Courage Award 2023, Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Award, and, most recently, the prestigious Global Student Prize 2023.

Currently, he is working on the Kakuma Leadership and Innovation Centre, a community hub in the Kakuma refugee camp designed to help young people heal, connect, learn, and innovate solutions for a brighter and more hopeful future.

Dr. Rageshri Dhairyawan is a doctor, researcher and writer. She qualified in 2004 and is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, UK. She is Deputy Director of the SHARE Collaborative for Health Equity, Queen Mary University of London. Her clinical work, research and advocacy focus on improving health equity, particularly at the intersections of gender and ethnicity. She has held numerous national charity and policy positions and regularly works with patient organisations. Rageshri was named as a ‘Woman Changing the World’ on International Women’s Day in 2019 by iNews, for her work advocating for the needs of racially minoritised women in sexual health. Currently, she chairs the British HIV Association's Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Group, the steering group of 4M mentor Mothers CIC and is a medical board member of NAZ. Rageshri’s own experiences of being unheard as a patient and her work with minoritised communities, have inspired her to speak up about injustice in healthcare. She is an inaugural Wellcome Collection x Spread the Word awardee 2022 where she was supported to write her debut non-fiction book Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing, published by Trapeze in 2024. She writes regularly for medical journals including The Lancet and British Medical Journal.

Dr. Shatha Elnakib, PhD, MPH has over a decade of experience working at the intersection of sexual and reproductive health and humanitarian assistance. As an Assistant Scientist in the International Health Department at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, she leads several mixed-methods research projects focused on generating evidence to improve the quality of sexual and reproductive health services and policies in humanitarian settings. Prior to starting her faculty appointment, Shatha worked for the Population Council, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. She holds an MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia University and a PhD in International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Yipeng Ge is a primary care physician and public health practitioner based on the traditional, unceded, and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg. In his clinical practice, he works in family medicine practice and refugee health at a community health centre. He has worked on and studied the structural and colonial determinants of health in both the settler colonial contexts of so-called Canada and occupied Palestine.

J.D., Advisor on Human Rights, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Olger I. Gonzalez is an international lawyer, advisor, and academic with over two decades of experience in international law and human rights, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. His diverse career spans multilateral institutions, foreign affairs, diplomacy, private sector, and civil society engagement.

He served as Ambassador of Costa Rica, Permanent Representative alternate to the Organization of American States (OAS), where he served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chief of Mission a.i. holding diplomatic efforts on democracy, human rights, international law, and political crises. Previously, he was Senior Legal Officer at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, coordinating one of its Secretariat’s working groups and contributing to cases on serious human rights violations, transitional justice, health, and groups in situation of vulnerability. He also has contributed to environmental crime prosecution and international electoral observation.

Olger holds a JD from the University of Costa Rica, and a European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization, with studies in Venice and Strasbourg. As a lecturer and trainer, he’s lectured and conducted capacity-building activities, on a variety of topics in human rights and international law, at Universities, national institutions, NGOs and academic environments across the Americas and Europe, including the UN University for Peace and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. He has authored publications on international law and human rights.

Currently based in Washington, DC, he serves as Advisor on Human Rights to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO), guiding Member States and the Organization on public health and human rights intersections.

Tropical Medicine Fellow, Tropical Disease Unit, Toronto General Hospital
Family Physician, HQ Health Hub and Casey House Hospital

Greg Hawley is a Family Physician with an interest in tropical medicine, HIV care, and sexual health. He completed his enhanced skills fellowship in Global Health and Vulnerable Populations at the University of Toronto, followed by a one-year fellowship in Tropical Medicine in the Tropical Disease Unit at Toronto General Hospital. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree at the Institute of Medical Science with a focus on emerging travel-related infections, while working as a sexual health physician and hospitalist. He has also participated in the Toronto Addis-Ababa Academic Collaboration as a faculty teaching lead.

Rachel Kronick is a researcher and child psychiatrist. She is co-director of Outpatient Child Psychiatry Services at the Jewish General Hospital and child consultant with the Cultural Consultation Service. She completed her residency training and masters in Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University. Her clinical and research Fellowship in child and youth psychiatry was based at the University of Toronto and focused on trauma, homelessness and refugeed families.

Her primary research is on the social determinants of mental health for refugee, asylum-seeking and precarious migrant children and families, with a specific focus on migration policies and practices in Canada. Since 2018, Dr Kronick has been awarded 19 grants as Principal Investigator, totalling more than 2.5 million dollars, including five Tri-Agency grants.

Her work has focused on the immigration detention of children and preventative community- and school-based ecosocial interventions for refugee claimant and newcomer families. Her current CIHR and SSHRC research-to-policy projects address the present public health crisis of mass arrivals of asylum seekers with the resultant need for temporary accommodation sites in Ontario and Québec and the stressful context this creates for children and families during the first months after arrival Canada. Her research uses qualitative and mixed-methods methodologies, including Critical Ethnography, Visual and Arts-Based Methodologies and Participatory Action Research.

Dr. Carmen Logie, is the Canada Research Chair in Global Health Equity and Social Justice with Marginalized Populations, Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Adjunct Professor at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, & Health, and Adjunct Scientist at Women’s College Hospital. Her research advances understanding of hazardous social and physical environments associated with HIV vulnerabilities, including intersecting stigma, extreme weather, and resource insecurities. Her current studies focus on HIV prevention and care cascades in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Canada with people with HIV; refugee youth; LGBTQ communities; sex workers; and Indigenous youth.

Michael Lynk taught at the Faculty of Law, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada from 1999 until his retirement in 2022. He taught courses in labour, human rights, disability, constitutional and administrative law. He served as Associate Dean of the Faculty between 2008-11. He became Professor Emeritus in 2023.

Professor Lynk serves as a labour arbitrator and mediator. He presently is an arbitrator with the Ontario Grievance Settlement Board. He has published widely on Canadian labour law and human rights law. He is the co-author of Trade Union Law in Canada (Carswell) and Employment Law in Canada (5th ed.) (Lexis Nexis).

In March 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously selected Professor Lynk for a six-year term as the 7th Special Rapporteur for the human rights situation in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. In his capacity, he delivered regular reports to the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council on human rights trends in the OPT. He completed his term in April 2022.

He has written about his UN experiences in a 2022 book co-authored with Richard Falk and John Dugard, two of his predecessors as UN special rapporteurs: Protecting Human Rights in Occupied Palestine: Working Through the United Nations (Clarity Press).

Professor Lynk’s scholarship and UN reports have been widely cited by courts, tribunals, scholars and human rights organizations, including the Supreme Court of Canada, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations General Assembly.

Professor of Law and Chair in Human Rights, at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law

Professor Audrey Macklin is Professor of Law and Chair in Human Rights, at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. From 2017-2023, she was Director of the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies. She teaches, researches and writes in the area of migration and citizenship law, counter-terrorism and human rights, business and human rights, and administrative law. Professor Macklin began her career at Dalhousie (now Schulich) Law School, and has held visiting positions at a number of institutions, most recently the European University Institute. She is co-author of the Governance Gap: Extractive Industries, Human Rights, and the Home State Advantage (London: Routledge: 2014), the Canadian text, Immigration and Refugee Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary, 2nd Edition (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2015), as well as dozens of published journal articles and book chapters.

Through her scholarship and personal engagement, Professor. Macklin’s body of work engages with transnational interdisciplinary scholarly networks, civil society and legal actors. Prof. Macklin frequently comments in Canadian and international print, radio and television media, and appears in the documentaries Continuous Journey and The Secret Trial Five. Her op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Washington Post. She has also represented public interest interveners before the Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada. From 1994-96, she was a member of the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Prof. Macklin was named a Trudeau Fellow in 2017, awarded the Ludwik and Estelle Jus Human Rights Award and Caroline Tuohy and is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).

Gabor Maté (pronounced GAH-bor MAH-tay) is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of five books published in 43 languages, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. For his ground-breaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times and international bestseller.

Representative in Canada
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Tracey Maulfair is the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Representative in Canada. Prior to this role, she has held numerous significant positions within the organization, including Deputy Representative in Lebanon, Senior Policy and Guidance Coordinator in Geneva, Senior Policy Advisor in New York, and Assistant Representative in Pakistan. Her career with UNHCR began in 2001, and she has since served in various capacities across the globe, including in Namibia, Liberia, and Türkiye.

Before joining the UN, she practiced law in the U.S., with early career experiences at Human Rights Watch in Zimbabwe and the Center for Reproductive Rights in Kenya. Ms. Maulfair has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctor in International Human Rights Law from New York University.

Dr. Myinti is a physician with more than a decade of experience in IOM health assessment programmes (HAP) with special interests in quality and risk management, travel health, vaccinations, and tuberculosis management. Dr. Myint started his IOM career as a panel physician for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States of America. In his current role as Senior Health Operations and Compliance Officer at IOM Headquarters in Geneva, Dr. Myint coordinates various aspects of HAPs with the annual caseload of almost a million health assessments for refugees and immigrants worldwide, contributes to the programme growth, development, monitoring, and implementation of HAP standards, and innovations in different programmatic areas. In his previous roles with IOM in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Myint has led many joint pilot projects on the public health interventions within the resettlement health frameworks and has set up several new IOM panel clinics aka Migration Health Assessment Centres in various countries.

Dr. Gili Adler Nevo trained as a child psychiatrist in Israel before immigrating to Canada in 2003, where she completed a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Anxiety at the Hospital for Sick Children under the supervision of Katharina Manassis. She apprenticed in trauma therapy at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Dr. Edna Foa, adapting Prolonged Exposure Therapy for pediatric populations. Currently, she leads the Michael Garron Hospital Child and Adolescent Anxiety Clinic and serves as an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University.

With over two decades of experience working with anxious youth, Dr. Adler Nevo views anxiety as a pivotal precursor to other psychiatric disorders and a root cause of life challenges, including social isolation and disruptions in education and work. She passionately believes that early intervention not only alleviates immediate distress but has the power to transform a child's life trajectory, fostering resilience and long-term well-being.

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Nwadiuko is an internal medicine physician, health economist, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. My focus involves global health and US health systems with a focus on immigration and incarceration, with a particular focus on immigration detention. He has been published in JAMA, JAMA Network Open, The Lancet, and Health Affairs, and has spoken at the State Department, USAID, the Department of Homeland Security, and has been a consultant for the World Bank. He completed his BA at Amherst College, MD at the University of Pittsburgh, MPH and residency at Johns Hopkins, and General Internal Medicine fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD in Health Policy and Management (Economics Cognate) at UCLA.

In 2013 the Australian federal government enacted a law sending all unauthorised boat arrivals to remote Pacific islands indefinitely and then disbanded the only medical body overseeing their care.

In response, Sydney GP Dr Barri Phatarfod formed Doctors for Refugees (D4R), a group of volunteer Australian doctors who reviewed the medical records of those held there, and advocated for appropriate treatment. These doctors enabled several critically ill and injured people to be successfully brought to the Australian mainland for life-saving care.

In 2016 D4R took the federal government to the High Court to challenge its Border Force Act (ABF2015) which could see doctors jailed if they spoke out about detention conditions or events. The government was forced to repeal this law.

Dr Phatarfod will discuss the power of doctors to effect change, and the obligation health professionals have to uphold human rights in the face of domestic political agendas.

Dr. Umashanie Reddy is the Manager of the Resettlement Assistance Program National Coordinating Body. Umashanie works collaboratively with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the resettlement service providers nationally to support the resettlement and integration of government-assisted refugees.

Her experience spans over 2 countries and 3.5 decades working with equity seeking populations in diverse diasporas in multisectoral contexts in South Africa and Canada. In 2024 Umashanie obtained her doctorate in education from the University of Western Ontario. Her experience in health emanates from South Africa and includes her work on the enactment of the first HIV Aids library in Southern Africa at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine and later in Canada as the Tom Baker cancer librarian at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary.

From a personal perspective Umashanie is a stage IV cancer survivor of 34 years. She is the recipient of several awards for her service to humanity including, Immigrants of Distinctions, RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants, Graduate of the Last Decade, and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Gabriel Schirvar (pronouns: they/them) is a leading non-binary policy analyst, researcher, and educator focusing on international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) and migrant rights, health, and well-being. Gabriel has designed and led in-person and online trainings for over 1,000 humanitarian professionals around the world on a wide range of anti-oppression issues impacting migrants. They are an LGBTIQ+ Focal Point for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), where they are also a lead contributor to the foundational training package, “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) and Migration,” co-authored with experts from IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). To date, this training has been provided to over 1,500 people in more than 30 countries and remains one of only two trainings on LGBTIQ+ considerations in the humanitarian field. Gabriel has also served on the United Nations system-wide Task Team on LGBTIQ+ considerations and the UN-GLOBE board. They hold a master’s degree in Global Public Health from the George Washington University.

Dr. Jennifer Seo is an orthodontist based in Toronto with a background in interdisciplinary and hospital-based dental care. She completed her Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree at the University of Sydney, followed by a General Practice Residency at the University of British Columbia, where she focused on managing medically complex patients. She later pursued her orthodontic residency and clinical masters at Western University.

Dr. Seo has served as a staff hospital dentist at CAMH and as an instructor at the University of Toronto’s dental school. Her professional interests include public health, health policy, trauma-informed care, and global oral health. Passionate about advancing equitable access to care, she is actively involved in health policy advocacy through multiple non-profit organizations, including Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and the American Association of Orthodontists.

Eduardo Vides is an experienced public health physician, playing a leading role as a project and research manager for top-tier health organizations. With a career spanning over 20 years, he is committed to addressing the priorities and unique needs of diverse populations and communities. Eduardo specializes in health strategy, performance measurement, policy analysis, and research, with a particular focus on Indigenous health over the past 15 years, collaborating closely with Indigenous populations and organizations across the Americas. His extensive experience extends to public health service, nonprofit and private organizations, Indigenous governments, and ethnic communities. Eduardo actively participates in various advisory, directorial, planning, and networking committees. His expertise in global health is evident in leading knowledge exchange capacity development for international organizations through Multi-Sectoral Analysis (MUSA) Additionally, Eduardo is the Director of Multi- Sectoral Expertise Group (MSEG) in Canada and leads  the Inter- Sectoral Action Group ( ISAG) a think tank dedicated to shaping the future of healthcare aligned with the international development agenda. This initiative addresses the evolving landscape marked by rapid advancements in virtual care, advanced analytics, medical technologies, new treatments, healthcare reform, regulatory changes, quality assurance, and the impact of climate change on health. Eduardo utilizes tools such as a Multi-sectoral Analysis (MUSA) approach  which is grounded in core approaches such as Health in All Policies (HiAP), Health and Environmental Impact Assessment (HEIA), equity in social determinants of health, inter-sectoral action, policy analysis, and ethical public governance.

Dr. Vides is an internationally graduated physician, holding a medical degree from the UAG, Autonoma University of Guadalajara (Mexico). His academic achievements also include a Master of Public Health with a specialization in Environment from the University of London (UK), a Master in Health Administration from Xaveriana University, and  Postgraduate Diplomas in Health administration and  Health Services Audit and Quality Assurance from EAN University (Colombia).

Amidst his accomplished career, Eduardo finds his most profound role to be that of Fabiana’s father.

Sahar Zohni is a physician and senior healthcare leader with over 25 years of experience advancing equity in health systems across Canada and internationally. She is a recognized leader in health workforce integration, knowledge mobilization, and policy reform for internationally educated health professionals (IEHPs). At CHEO’s National Newcomer Navigation Network (N4), she led pan-Canadian initiatives supporting credential recognition and culturally responsive care. Dr. Zohni currently serves as Manager of Operations, Planning & Performance at BORN Ontario (Better Outcomes Registry and Network), where she is leading strategic initiatives to embed equity, social determinant data, and inclusive engagement across maternal-child health data systems. Her work has shaped national reports, training programs, and public health strategies, including Canada’s TB Elimination Strategy. She is committed to transforming systems through inclusive design, stakeholder engagement, and data-driven solutions that center marginalized communities and improve health outcomes.

Ehiremen Adesua Azugbene, Ph.D., MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Maternal and Child Health Equity in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Her research addresses key maternal and child health aspects, focusing on community-engaged and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches. She explores the application of Public health conceptual theories and models, health literacy, health disparities, healthcare utilization, health policy, health services, and global health to promote equity and improve outcomes for underserved populations. With a dedicated focus on underserved populations, Dr. Azugbene is particularly committed to advancing maternal healthcare for refugee and immigrant communities. Learn more about her work here https://search.asu.edu/profile/4600017.

Wilfrid Laurier University

Bree Akesson is the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Global Adversity and Wellbeing, Associate Director of the Centre for Research on Security Practices, and Associate Professor of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. She has worked for 25 years with children and families impacted by war and displacement in settings such as Chechnya, Northern Uganda, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Her program of research ranges from micro-level understandings of the experiences of war-affected populations to macro-level initiatives to strengthen global social support systems. Her ongoing research projects include the perinatal experiences of Rohingya refugee families in Bangladesh, the impact of climate change on refugee families displaced by war, and integrated service access for temporary and precarious status migrants in Canada.

Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services

Akm Alamgir has earned a Ph.D. degree in evaluation research, a Master’s degree in epidemiology, and a Bachelor’s degree in medicine. He is the Director of Knowledge and Learning at Access Alliance (Toronto). He teaches at York University (Toronto) as an Adjunct Professor and as a guest teacher at the University of Toronto. He is an Academic Editor of the journal PLOS One. He is a mixed-method (quantitative, qualitative, and art-based) community-based researcher on social determinants of health intersecting with health, diseases, and well-being of refugees and other equity-deserving populations in Canada. His area of research and advocacy focuses on developing a resilience model and a population-based Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Framework for residents made vulnerable by the system and poverty. He generates evidence, creates KMb materials in a co-design lab, and builds the capacity of peers to utilize synthesized proof to make a change. His collaborative research with academics and community partners is funded by PHAC, CIHR, SSHRC, and other funders amounting to nearly $2 Million. He reviews peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of International Migration and Integration, PLOS One, and Health Promotion International. He wrote three post-secondary textbooks on public health and has over 50 peer-reviewed publications.

University of Western Ontario

Dr. Allana is a nurse academic and researcher. Her program of research is underpinned by a health equity and disparity lens, uncovering the health disparities and inequities faced by the immigrants and refugees. Through her research, she plans to develop and evaluate novel, ground-breaking, culturally and contextually relevant disease management programs and telehealth interventions for these groups of patients.

York University

Hania Amir is a first-year master’s student at York University, specializing in Historical, Theoretical, and Critical Studies of Psychology. She received her Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto, Mississauga, where she specialized in Forensic Psychology. Hania has completed research pertaining to social determinants of health in criminal justice system intersecting populations, and has examined well-being, personality development, and experiences with social structures in racialized undergraduate populations. She is currently interested in political ecology, migration studies, and justice.

School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Centre de Recherche en Santé Publique (CReSP), QC, Canada

Tevfik Bayram is a Public Health (Health Promotion option) PhD candidate at the University of Montreal, Canada. He completed his medical education and his Public Health Residency at the Marmara University (Istanbul, Turkey) in 2012 and 2019 respectively. He completed his Master of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel in 2016. His main areas of interest are health inequities, power, oppression and empowerment. His master's thesis was on health behavior inequalities between various ethnic/religious groups in Jerusalem; and his Residency thesis on migrant women’s access to healthcare services in Switzerland. He has also led research about the impact of oppression and internalized oppression on access to healthcare among the Kurdish population in Turkey. His current doctoral thesis focuses on the structural determinants of empowerment, using the case of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors.

Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services, Toronto Metropolitan University

Cristina Catallo is a Registered Nurse and an Associate Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her program of research relates to use of technology for health services. Cristina's research has examined how healthcare organizations use social media to support patient uptake of evidence and how vulnerable populations use technology and social media to support their healthcare decisions. Within this broader program of research, she has investigated various issues that cross into: a) health informatics such as virtual care, immersive virtual reality, social media; and b) support various populations such as refugee and immigrant older adults, women exposed to violence, health policymakers, and healthcare decision makers.

HBA Queen's University, MPH Candidate at University of Toronto
University of Toronto, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Mariam Farooq is a Research Analyst at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where she contributes to the Canadian Poverty, Health Equity, and Climate Change Initiative (CPHECC) led by Dr. Sean Kidd. She is currently a first-year medical student at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Prior to this, she completed her Master of Public Health at the University of Toronto and her Bachelor’s degree in Health Studies at Queen’s University. Mariam is passionate about bridging her public health expertise with clinical practice to advocate for stronger health outcomes and equity-focused policies, especially for underserved communities.

Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services

Kasia Filaber (she/her) has dedicated her entire professional life and many years of volunteer service to building healthier and more resilient communities. As manager of the Open Door Program in the Mid-West Toronto Ontario Health Team led by Access Alliance MHCS, she has collaborated with partners from multiple sectors (community, CHC, hospitals, mental health/substance services) to solution around identified system barriers and navigation needs in a way that is agile, pragmatic, and connected. The program has been very successful in increasing access to preventive and primary care, raising awareness of chronic diseases and connecting priority populations, including refugees and immigrants to needed services. It has proven to be a blueprint for the MWT-OHT as an “Open Door”, both an on-the-ground program and a concept that connects partners to come around the needs of community members in ways that are relevant and accessible to them and that builds community strengths.

Karen Frensch has worked in research project management for over 20 years as the project manager for the Partnerships for Children and Families Project and the Global Adversity and Wellbeing Research Group in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. Specializing in qualitative research methods, her collaborations with scholars and professionals in children’s mental health, child welfare, and family studies have focused on social service system improvements to better meet the needs of children and families. She has co-authored two books Creating positive systems of child and family welfare: Congruence with the everyday lives of children and parents and Necessary but not sufficient: Improving community living for youth after residential mental health programs.

I am Dr. Eric Gyampoh, a Research Fellow and lecturer at the University College of Management Studies in Accra, Ghana. I hold a PhD in Migration Studies from the Centre for Migration Studies and a Master’s in Population Studies from the Regional Institute for Population Studies, both at the University of Ghana. I have extensive research experience in social and business research. Institutional wise I have worked extensively with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on key national research projects, including the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and the 2010 and 2021 Population and Housing Censuses, where I served as a field supervisor, trainer, and Municipal Census Officer. My research focuses on migration and development, migrant integration, environmental migration, diaspora and transnationalism, and forced migration. I bring strong expertise in project management, monitoring and evaluation, and advanced research methodologies. Additionally, I am a founding member of the African Mobility Scholars Association.

Keren Herrán leads global health research focused on health disparities, nutrition, and maternal and child health. She is earning her PhD in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior from the University of South Carolina. Her dissertation explored how Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers in Costa Rica form social connections to acquire and manage food.

With expertise in qualitative research methods, Ms. Herrán has studied adolescent pregnancy in Ecuador, neurofibromatosis type 1 patients in Iran, and COVID-19 impacts on Latino farmworkers in the U.S. She has earned distinctions such as achieving Finalist in the Young Investigators Underrepresented in Nutrition 2024 competition at the American Society of Nutrition conference and earning the Presidential Fellowship at the University of South Carolina.

As a Latina of Salvadoran and Puerto Rican heritage, she is fluent in Spanish and passionate about serving vulnerable populations.

Michaela Hynie, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Interim Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, and an Honorary Professor in the College of Medicine in the University of Rwanda. Michaela collaborates with communities, community-serving agencies and activist groups on the development and evaluation of social, institutional and policy interventions that can improve health, mental health and well-being by addressing structural and social exclusion, both locally and globally. This includes exploring longitudinal pathways of refugee integration, gaps in services for newcomers with disabilities in Canada and Germany, access to COVID care for asylum seekers in South Africa, and maternal mental health services in Rwanda. Michaela currently leads an NFRF-funded project focused on climate change displacement and dispossession among coastal communities in Bangladesh, Ghana, India and Philippines. Michaela is the past president of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies.

Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services

Ezza Jalil holds a Master’s in Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, both from McMaster University. At the Centre for Health Economics and Policy (CHEPA), she led quantitative research on tobacco and vaping tax evasion and played a pivotal role in driving COVID-19 surveillance initiatives in Hamilton. She has also developed impactful health promotion materials, helping local community centers and clinics navigate and communicate essential COVID-19 guidelines. With a strong foundation in data collection, analysis, health promotion, and policy implementation, Ezza brings a results-oriented approach to her work. Currently, she serves as a Research Assistant at Access Alliance, where she drives community-based research, program evaluation, quality management, and knowledge mobilization initiatives that advance health equity and positively impact vulnerable communities, including immigrants and refugees.

Saint Louis University

Ajlina Karamehić-Muratović is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, where she teaches health-related and research methodology courses. Her interdisciplinary research is health- and community-focused, with an emphasis on issues facing refugees and immigrants. Her research interests also include mental health beliefs and stigma among Arab youth in the Middle East.

Michaela Keogh, MPNL, is the Senior Program Manager on the Prevention and Promotion Initiatives Team at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, leading the access to quality mental health care portfolio and supporting health-care workers’ psychological health and safety. Michaela previously worked at Carleton University working in student mental health strategy and initiatives.

Independent Researcher

Mohammad Ajmal Khuram has approximately ten years of professional experience in the public sector, education, in Afghanistan, Japan. He contributed to implementing the Ministry of Education project in Afghanistan. While pursuing his Ph.D. in international cooperation studies, he worked part-time as a research assistant at Hiroshima University. He also worked as a historian for about one year with the UREAG in the USA.

Mohammad Ajmal Khuram is an active member of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), the Japan Comparative Education Society (JCES), and the Japan Society for International Development.

Khuram holds a Bachelor's degree from Kabul University and a Master's in International Development and Cooperation from Hiroshima University, Japan. He pursued a Ph.D. Program in International Cooperation Studies at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hiroshima University, Japan. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as The Education Review and Economics.

Dr. Kubica is an OB-Gyn resident. She earned her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she was the client outreach coordinator for the HEAL Refugee Health and Asylum Collaborative, co-directed the Physician for Human Rights Student Advisory Board, and was an active member of the Refugee Health Partnership student group. Her work has focused on domestic asylum medicine as well as curricular reform to increase structural competencies within undergraduate medical training.

Leanne Lacap is a research analyst at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, supporting the Canadian Poverty, Health Equity, and Climate Change initiative. In addition to her research role, she is involved in community organizing within the Filipino community, focusing on advocacy for issues relevant both in the Philippines and among Filipinos in Canada.

University of Toronto

Susan Law completed her PhD at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK and is currently an Associate Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation. She is a qualitative researcher and co-Director of Health Experiences Research Canada - a national network of scientists, clinicians and patient partners - to gather and share patient/caregiver narratives regarding their experiences of illness using video/audio recording. Results are posted on https://healthexperiences.ca where you can see and listen to excerpts from interviews in participants’ own voices about their experiences. Study results have been posted on a wide range of topics including immigrant mental health, amputee experiences, Long COVID, breast cancer and perinatal mental health. This work is part of an international collaboration of qualitative researchers conducting narrative research in 14 countries, https://dipexinternational.org.

Associate Professor
Department of Health Promotion and Policy
School of Public Health and Health Sciences
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Daniel López-Cevallos is an Associate Professor of Community Health Education in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Dr. López-Cevallos works on the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, class, migration, and other socioeconomic and sociocultural constructs, and their relationship to health and educational issues. Furthermore, he is invested in the development and implementation of community, institutional, and policy-level strategies to better serve Latinx and other marginalized communities in the United States and Latin America.

School of Public Health - University of Montreal

Laila Mahmoudi is a doctoral candidate in public health at the University of Montreal's School of Public Health. She is a recipient of the Dean's Award and multiple scholarships for excellence. Her doctoral thesis explores the healthcare trajectories of pregnant migrant women without health insurance and their socio-economic consequences. Her research aims to influence public policies that promote the sexual and reproductive health of women in vulnerable situations.

Maegan McConnell (MSW, MSc, PhDc) is a clinical social worker who specializes in mental health in emergency and humanitarian contexts. She has over 10 years working experience in emergency mental health and psychosocial programming in disaster and conflict areas. Based out of Queen’s University in Canada, she is currently completing her PhD in public health, specifically looking at the mental health impacts of forced migration on women.

Dr. Alexis McGill is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick. She has been a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner working in New Brunswick for over 22 years. She has over five years of experience applying the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM), a systems-thinking method, to health and social care systems. As an Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick, she has led several studies, including a project funded by the NB Government’s Post-Secondary Education Training and Labour branch to examine healthcare services for newcomers (refugees and immigrants) in Fredericton. This highlights her capacity to secure funding, engage stakeholders, and translate findings into actionable policy initiatives. Her research interests center on leading the FRAM-based modeling work, overseeing research design, and collaborating closely with academic and community partners to ensure research outcomes align with real-world needs.

Dr. Kateryna Metersky is an Assistant Professor in Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and maintains her nursing practice in General Internal Medicine at Toronto Western Hospital - University Health Network (UHN). Dr. Metersky's program of research focuses on: 1.) international and cross-national collaborations and partnerships; 2.) persons with social, economic and health challenges; 3.) nursing and interprofessional practice and education; and 4.) intersectionality and positionality in population-centred care. Dr. Metersky is an Affiliate Scientist with the Centre for Immigration and Settlement at TMU as well as with The Institute of Education Research at UHN.

Jeanne F. Nizigiyimana, MSW, MA, leads the Valleywise Center for Refugee and Global Health and supports the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic (RWHC) at Valleywise Health in Phoenix, AZ. She also chairs the Refugee Health Community Advisory Coalition (RHCAC), working to empower refugee communities through culturally grounded health education and community-driven research. Originally from Burundi, Ms. Nizigiyimana draws on her refugee journey to inspire impactful work for underserved women globally. As a co-founder of the RWHC in 2008, she developed a robust and innovative team of Cultural Health Navigators, a model of care that is nationally recognized and a first of its kind in Arizona to ensure a seamless transition for refugees in navigating the health care system. Her expertise in refugee health and integration has earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as a Healthcare Hero and one of Becker’s Black Healthcare Leaders to Know. Learn more about her work here https://valleywisehealth.org/post-authors/jeanne-f-nizigiyimana-msw-ma/

Ms. Rezwana is a registered nurse engaged in health policy work and a PhD student in Urban Health at Toronto Metropolitan University, specializing in research on intergenerational caregiving experiences among second-generation Canadian immigrants. Her work explores the intersection of caregiving, immigration, and policy, with a specific focus on how immigrant families navigate multi-generational care responsibilities. She has experience in community-based research and health equity, with a strong interest in how social determinants and social structures shape access to care and settlement experiences. Through her work, she aims to bridge research and policy to improve caregiving support systems and the availability of tailored resources for diverse communities.

Creighton University College of Nursing

Dr. Falah Nayif Rashoka, PhD, RN, MS, MPH, CPH, is an Assistant Professor at Creighton University College of Nursing and a researcher specializing in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in public health and healthcare. His recent research focuses on using AI to improve physical activity among refugees and leveraging AI-driven technology for early detection of diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Rashoka’s expertise includes AI integration in healthcare research, chronic disease management, and refugee health disparities. He has presented at national and international conferences, highlighting innovative AI applications in healthcare and population health interventions. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Health Equity and Transcultural Psychiatry. As a dedicated educator and researcher, Dr. Rashoka is committed to advancing AI-driven solutions to enhance healthcare accessibility, preventive care, and health outcomes in vulnerable populations.

Mustafa Rfat came to the US as a refugee with disabilities in 2011 and completed his BA and MA in Social Work with an emphasis on mental health at West Virginia University. He began working at the Center for Excellence in Disabilities as a passionate community advocate. Mustafa then pursued an MPA with an emphasis on healthcare policy and community work.

In 2021, Mustafa was admitted into the Social Work PhD program at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and was awarded the McDonnell Academy Scholar that same year. At the Brown School, Mustafa’s research focuses on exploring the needs and barriers refugees/immigrants with disabilities experience.

Université Laval, Faculté de Médecine, Département de Pédiatrie; CHUL et Centre Mère-Enfant Soleil

Lydia Saad is a fourth-year resident in the Pediatrics Residency Program at Université Laval and an incoming fellow in the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) program at SickKids Hospital. She is dedicated to delivering high-quality care to children from vulnerable backgrounds and is an ardent advocate for promoting equitable healthcare access for families across diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts.

Dr. Vahid Salehi is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of New Brunswick. He is a multidisciplinary researcher at the intersection of systems thinking, resilience engineering, and healthcare. He has contributed to the public understanding of systemic challenges in healthcare through applied systems-thinking research. He has 6+ years of experience using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) to address complex socio-technical challenges in healthcare. He has been an author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications. His research mainly focuses on modeling healthcare systems, visualizing care, and improving the overall quality of care by applying systems-thinking methods. His current research focuses on modeling and analyzing the delivery of healthcare services for newcomers (immigrants and refugees) in New Brunswick's settlement communities.

Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School

Dr. Snyder is a clinical trauma psychologist, health equity researcher, and Part-Time Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at Cambridge Health Alliance and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Snyder holds a doctorate from Long Island University and two global health degrees from Columbia University. Broadly, Dr. Snyder’s work focuses on equitable mental healthcare access, capacity building, and measurement adaptation. Prior global work focused on community reintegration for former child soldiers, psychosocial case management, and normative data collection. She worked in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Jordan. Domestically, she studies police brutality, healthcare access for refugees, vicarious trauma/resilience, and forensic mental health evaluations for asylum applicants.

WeBridge CommunityServices, University of Windsor

Massah Tarawalley is a dedicated Social Worker and the co-founder and Executive Director of WeBridge Community Services, a non-profit organization that aims to fill service gaps for African, Black, and Caribbean communities in Southwestern Ontario. She has extensive experience in various roles, including Director of Client Services, Employment Counselor, Second Career Application Expert, Mental Health Counselor, Youth Coordinator, and Research Assistant for multiple projects.

Currently, Massah is co-leading a research study that seeks to understand the challenges faced by Black women in leadership positions. Her primary interests lie in the mental health of immigrants, refugees, the effects of war trauma, social and health equity, anti-racism, oppression, and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI).

Research Assistant at Toronto Metropolitan University

Kristina Tsvygun is a Registered Nurse with a clinical background in Critical Care, currently working as a Patient Care Coordinator in the MSNICU at Toronto Western Hospital. She is also pursuing a Master of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University, with a focus on Leadership in Healthcare Policy and Education. Kristina’s research interests center on the quality and accessibility of care, with a particular emphasis on refugee and migrant health. Kristina also serves on the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization that supports integration of recent refugees and forcibly displaced people in Canadian society.

UVM Children's Hospital

Stanley Weinberger is Division Chief of Pediatric Primary Care at UVM Children's Hospital and a general pediatrician specializing in immigrant and refugee care in their Pediatric New American Program. He also has an interest in children with special health care needs and quality improvement and is on faculty at the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM.

Rosanra (Rosie) Yoon's (she/her) research area focuses on health services evaluation with a particular focus in integrated care for people experiencing structural vulnerabilities, substance use and mental health challenges. Rosie employs participatory and collaborative evaluation methods for system improvement through her Better Together Research Hub and as an embedded evaluation researcher with the Mid-West Toronto Ontario Health Team. As a nurse practitioner, her clinical area of expertise is in the areas of substance use, concurrent mental health conditions, trauma and gender-informed care.

University of South Australia

Professor Tahereh Ziaian, is a Community Health Psychologist (PhD, 2000) at the UniSA Justice and Society, University of South Australia, and a Visiting Professor at the University of NSW. Her excellence in research is recognized by her securement of significant research grants including ARCs and her comprehensive research outputs in the field of Transcultural mental health, numerous successful PhD student completions, and her many sustained and productive interdisciplinary partnerships. Her research has influenced national policies in relation to multicultural mental health with research impact both nationally and internationally. She is a member of several journal editorial boards and government committees, including her key appointment by Governor of South Australia to serve the Health Performance Council (HPC), to play a key role in advising the Minister for Health on the effectiveness of the health system and health outcomes for South Australians. She is currently affiliated to UNESCO as UNESCO RILA companion.

Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University; Azienda Socio-Sanitaria Territoriale Rhodense.

Dr. Letizia M. Affaticati is a consultant psychiatrist at Azienda Socio-Sanitaria Territoriale Rhodense in Milan, Italy. She recently completed her specialist training in psychiatry with a thesis on the mental health impact of Australian immigration detention on asylum seekers and refugees. This research was conducted in Melbourne, where she worked as a visiting research fellow at Monash University and Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub. Dr. Affaticati currently holds an affiliate researcher role at Monash University, focusing on the physical and mental health impacts of immigration detention. She also participated in clinical activities as an observer in Melbourne and has field experience in refugee mental health in Lesvos, Greece. In addition to refugee health, her research interests include LGBTQIA+ mental health. These experiences inform her approach to integrating clinical practice with academic research to shape mental health care and policy for marginalized populations.

Toronto Metropolitan University

Dr. Areej Al- Hamad, is an Assistant Professor in Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).Dr. Al-Hamad's program of research focuses on women's health, migration and health, social justices, food and housing insecurity and the intersections of aging ,gender and health and arts based research. Dr. Al-Hamad is a board Member at Community-Based Research Canada and TMU's Research Ethics Board reviewer.

Cedar Centre

Brenton Diaz: Brenton Diaz is the Coordinator & Therapist of the Newcomer Health and Wellbeing Trauma Joint Program between Cedar Centre and the Canadian Mental Health Association of York Region and South Simcoe. He holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and has been working in the trauma field since 2006. He also teaches in the Social Work departments at York and Lakehead Universities in Ontario, Canada. Brenton has taught about trauma and mental health in Ukraine, Lithuania, Kenya, Slovakia, Guyana and the Dominican Republic, and has consulted with and offered training for local services in Malawi and Ethiopia regarding sexual violence and recovery from war.

Teresa Dremetsikas is presently a program manager at the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT).  She graduated as a Medical Doctor from the Faculty of Medicine in Monterrey Nuevo Leon in Mexico and has worked for the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture since the late 80’s . She has worked at the CCVT in different positions including starting as a volunteer and thereafter hired in 1987 to do frontline work including one on one assessment and counselling of clients she also worked with survivors organizing support groups. Other activities along the years have included: facilitation of training sessions for staff, internally and externally for other settlement service providing organizations.  She has also provided training sessions to Immigration Department (Refugee Board, enforcement branch and even External Affairs and Visa officers.)  She has been active doing presentations at conferences locally, Nationally and Internationally on the issue of Torture.  Presently she oversees the Anti-human trafficking, the Gender Base Programs and the Medical Services at the CCVT. In collaboration with staff and other managers as well as network of professionals and volunteers, she has been involved in the design, implementation on and evaluation of several Services at the Centre throughout the years.

Lara Gautier is an Associate Professor at University of Montreal’s School of Public Health and research affiliate at Centre de Recherche en Santé Publique. Trained in public health and political science, her research interests lie at the intersection of implementation science, health policy and systems research, and migrant health. She has scholarly expertise in participatory health services evaluation using qualitative and mixed-method research approaches.

Kylee Goldman is a Registered Psychotherapist and has been practicing in the field of mental health for over 17 years. She has a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology and has worked primarily with families and children that have experienced violence/trauma and mental health challenges. Kylee is the author of two children’s therapeutic books, aimed at supporting children through some of life's toughest challenges. Kylee also works as a professor in Toronto, supporting the knowledge and skill development of many new incoming mental health professionals to the field. Currently, Kylee is a Director of Services at Canadian Mental Health Association York Region, overseeing the operations of a number of community clinical programs.

Canadian Red Cross

Puspita Hossain is a physician and public health researcher with over eight years of experience in health systems, specializing in vulnerable populations in resource-limited settings. She is pursuing her PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University, with research focused on developing inclusive strategies for the healthcare of refugees and exploring the inclusion of their perspectives in the health policy-making process. Her work at the Canadian Red Cross focuses on developing ethical guidelines for closing humanitarian programs.

Blue Door Clinic located at Casey House

Sarah Ionson is a Registered Nurse living in Toronto, Canada. Her professional background includes experience working in STI/ HIV case management, public health, harm reduction and community health. She is currently the Clinic Lead for Blue Door Clinic- a free primary care clinic that serves precariously insured people living with HIV in the Greater Toronto Area.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Queen's University and a Professional Diploma of Tropical Nursing from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In 2023, Sarah was the recipient of the National Award of Excellence in HIV Advocacy issued by the Canadian Association of Nurses in HIV/AIDS Care (CANAC).

Ethnic Support Council, UNHCR

Kamil Khan is a Pakistani-born first-generation immigrant to the United States who has dedicated his professional life to the human rights sector. Kamil brings eight years of experience from the refugee sector including in camp management, status determination, and refugee resettlement. After obtaining a Master's of Public Administration from Indiana University, Kamil provided educational capacity building to refugee leaders in Myanmar, worked as an Interpreter in UNHCR Thailand, and provided 4 years of resettlement services to refugees in Texas. In 2020, Kamil earned his Community Health Worker Certificate from the University of Houston. In recent years, Kamil has served as the Executive Director of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and Beaverton Downtown Association. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Ethnic Support Council of Cowlitz County. His training experience earned him a contract with the Coalition for Racial & Educational Justice where he taught anti-racist frameworks of program management to federally-appointed civic volunteers in the United States.

Dr. Nathaniel Kratz, an Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine physician, serves as the Director of Adult Community Health at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Kratz has a strong background in community health and addiction medicine, with a focus on addressing the health disparities faced by marginalized populations, including immigrants and refugees. He serves as the Medical Lead for Targeted Outreach and also has extensive experience in performing forensic evaluations and documenting abuses in the US immigration detention system.

Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services

Courtney Kupka is a health program evaluation professional and a mixed-method community-based researcher focused on addressing health inequities using evaluation and research to support evidence-informed decision-making. She is a graduate of the Master of Health Evaluation program at the University of Waterloo with an Honours Bachelor's Degree in Biological Science (Minors in Neuroscience and Psychology) from the University of Guelph. Currently, she works within the Community-Based Research Department of Access Alliance supporting and implementing agency-wide evaluation and research projects. At a provincial level, with the Alliance for Healthier Communities, Courtney enjoys leading a health promotion community of practice. Additionally, she serves as a Board Member for the Canadian Evaluation Society - Ontario Chapter. In both these roles, she is focused on building the profile and competencies of Health Promoters and Evaluators across the province.

Reba Lichtenstein is an organizer with Bushwick Ayuda Mutua (BAM), a mutual aid coalition in Bushwick, Brooklyn, that distributes groceries and essential goods, and provides social service enrollment support. BAM's mission is to be a network of neighbors helping neighbors, to create alternatives to capitalism, and to empower, prioritize, and give space to long-time residents. Reba's work focuses on developing shared accountability frameworks and building a network of community organizations that can react to policies that put vulnerable community members at risk.

Irene Maeri is a first-year PhD student in Health at Dalhousie University, originally from Kenya. Her background is in public health and population studies, with a strong foundation in qualitative research and a deep commitment to community-based interventions. Irene's research interests include mental health, substance abuse, and HIV treatment and prevention, with a focus on cognitive behavioural interventions. Passionate about lived experiences and the co-construction of knowledge, she aligns her research with interpretivist and constructivist paradigms. Outside academia, Irene enjoys walking in nature and listening to music of any genre that speaks to her soul.

May Massijeh is the Hub Development and Partnerships Manager at TNO – The Neighbourhood Organization, where she leads integrated service initiatives, cross-sector collaboration, and collective impact efforts at the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub (TPCH) in Toronto.

Previously, she served as Community Engagement Coordinator at Health Access Thorncliffe Park (HATP), focusing on health and social service partnerships and community-driven strategies. May was a User Representative on the RÉAC! research project (2022–2024) and served on its Ontario Advisory Board. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Studies from York University.

Dalhousie University

Ifeyinwa Mbakogu (PhD) is Associate Professor at Dalhousie University School of Social Work, and Chair of the Diversity and Equity Committee (DEC). Her interests include human trafficking, child labour, disasters, home, forced migration/displacement, health/mental health and displacement, reintegration, African Diaspora studies, health, rage, retention and racism, explored within anti-racist and anti-colonial lenses.

Yajaira Saavedra, an indigenous activist and organizer from San Miguel Ahuehuetitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico, is deeply committed to fighting for the rights of undocumented immigrants and marginalized communities in the United States. As a DACA recipient, Yajaira has been instrumental in the undocumented youth movement and is a co-founder of La Morada, a restaurant in The Bronx that doubles as a space for resistance and mutual aid. During the pandemic, Yajaira led the effort to transform La Morada into one of New York City's first sites responding to food insecurity, cooking and delivering an average of 1,000 meals per week. Her work underscores how migration is a form of resistance and how maintaining cultural traditions can be an act of activism.

Ms. Bafreen Sherif is a PhD candidate at Monash University's Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences. Her research focuses on the impact of post-migration immigration detention on the physical and mental health of refugees and asylum seekers in the Australian context. As a clinical pharmacist, Bafreen combines her expertise in medication management with her passion for addressing the unique health challenges encountered by displaced populations. Her interests span qualitative and mixed-methods research, psychiatric and clinical morbidity, quality of life, and humanitarian and conflict medicine. Bafreen is dedicated to advocating for policy changes and practical solutions to enhance the well-being and integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia. Her work seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications, ensuring that her findings contribute to meaningful change.

Professor Suresh Sundram is Chair and Head, Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University; Director of Research, Mental Health Program, Monash Health; and Clinical Director and Director of Research, Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub, Cabrini Outreach in Melbourne, Australia. He has been involved in asylum seeker and refugee mental health for over two decades and has established two pro bono health services for asylum seekers in Australia and conducted research on the mental and physical health of asylum seekers in immigration detention and in the community. He has advised on asylum seeker and refugee mental health to UNHCR, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Australian Human Rights Commission, multiple national governments including the US, Australia and Canada and numerous non-government organizations.

Dr. Kate Sugarman, a family physician and activist, is a co-leader of Doctors for Camp Closure, an organization of healthcare professionals opposed to the inhumane detention of migrants and refugees. Dr. Sugarman’s work focuses on migrant health, particularly in advocating for the rights and well-being of migrants and refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border and beyond, and she has extensive experience in performing forensic evaluations, documenting evidence of torture on behalf of asylum seekers, and advocating for immigrants in ICE jails who are being denied medical and mental health treatment.

An organizer from DC Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid (MSMA) will share insights from the organization's grassroots efforts to support migrants arriving in Washington, D.C. MSMA is a network of community organizations and volunteers committed to providing vital resources and services to migrants, emphasizing solidarity and direct action.

Ana is a Settlement Counselor at the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT), a leading organization in trauma-informed care for survivors of war, torture, and persecution. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a post-graduate certificate in Addictions and Mental Health, which inform her work at the intersection of mental health, resettlement, and youth development.

At CCVT, Ana supports refugee and asylum-seeking youth through culturally responsive, client-centered approaches that acknowledge the lasting impacts of trauma while nurturing resilience. Her practice focuses on dismantling systemic barriers to care and advocating for holistic, community-based healing models. Through her work, Ana brings both academic insight and frontline experience to the evolving conversation on refugee health equity.

Empowering Communities Globally, Community College of Denver, University of Colorado, Colorado Spring

Deborah Young, PhD is a Professor, Senior Researcher, and Executive Director of ECG. She has been involved human rights, child protection, and social/ecological justice with a focus on education and early childhood issues for over 35 years. Her work focuses on refugees and immigrants; gender discrimination and empowerment; and parents and children who have been impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences. Her work in early childhood, teacher education programs, parenting education, community led participatory action research, and maternal/newborn child health has strengthened government health systems, service delivery innovations, and quality improvement. She co-developed the 5-Step Empowering Communities community development model. This model is founded in participatory action research, change theory methodologies, informed by raciolinguistics, contemplative critical pedagogy, and decolonizing frameworks. Languages: English, Spanish.