Calling for Participants The Black Health Equity Lab is conducting research to understand the health service gaps that the African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) community is experiencing in the Scarborough and Peel Region. You voice matters! We want to hear your experiences, recommendations and opinions on accessing health care services.

Department of Health & SocietyAllied Health Speaker SeriesSpeaker: Shainah Adolphe HBSc, BASc, MSW, RSW

A team of University of Toronto students have released a research project, evaluating COVID-19 vaccine clinics in hotspots and have found the policies weren’t equitable. The preliminary study looked at how vaccines were distributed in the neighbourhoods of Rexdale and Jane and Finch, where infections were disproportionately higher than in other Toronto neighbourhoods.

The Black Health Equity Lab in Collaboration with Scarborough Health Network and Centennial College hosted Dr. David R Williams. Dr. Williams is the Norman Professor of Public Health and Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. He is also a Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.

In 2001, I traveled to Durban, South Africa, to participate in the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. My role was to lobby government officials and ensure that the language of Racism as a Determinant of Health was included in the final declaration.

The BHEL Director Dr. Notisha Massaquoi has been named one of the 2023 YWCA Women of Distinction award winners. Dr. Massaquoi is being recognized for her 30 year career fighting for health equity for Black and racialized communities.

For the past three decades, Notisha Massaquoi has advocated for the health of Black communities across Canada. In March, the renowned expert in health equity was awarded $250,000 as the inaugural recipient the Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black ResearchersOpens an external site and may open a new window to advance this work.

Notisha Massaquoi talks about the importance of culturally-appropriate care for African, Caribbean and Black communities, especially when it comes to HIV prevention and treatment. Learn more at CANFAR.com/WorldAIDSDay

Why do we need video evidence of a beating to accept anti-Black racism in policing?

The BHEL Director Dr. Notisha Massaquoi has been named one of the 50 most influential Torontonians for 2022.Dr. Massaquoi was recognized for her role leading the advisory board that developed Toronto Police Service's new race-based data collection policy, the first of its kind in Canada.

On September 15, UTSC announced the Black Health Equity Lab (BHEL). Housed at the Department of Health and Society at UTSC, BHEL is a community-based research lab that examines the health disparities faced by Black people and provides primary health-care access to Black communities in Scarborough.

Why is Canada's response to HIV not meeting the needs of African, Caribbean and Black people? A talk conducted by CATIE with BHEL Director Notisha Massaquoi

Roger Antabe wanted to understand what was making straight Black men in Canada vulnerable to HIV. He knew from previous research that they were not using the drop-in centres that provided services such as testing, counselling and information about preventative medicines like PReP. But he wasn’t entirely sure why.

Canada's premier medical journal says it's eager to address the role it plays in perpetuating anti-Black racism in health care and spark the broader change needed to dismantle structural barriers to equitable care.

Dr. Notisha Massaquoi has spent the last 30 years helping shape community-level health care programs that have impacted thousands of Black and racialized people in Canada. And this year, she is being recognized as a recipient of the YWCA Toronto’s Women of Distinction Awards. She sits down with Kim Parlee to discuss her career journey in health equity.