Scientific Committee
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health addresses health disparities observed among people from Black communities, deficiencies in training for health professionals and research, and gaps in care and public health policy concerning them.
Members of the Scientific Committee
Dr Josephine B. Etowa
Dr. Josephine B. Etowa is a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing. Dr Etowa completed her BSc. N and MN degrees from Dalhousie University and her PhD in Nursing at the University of Calgary. She completed a Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) Post-Doctoral Fellowship focusing on diversity within Canadian nursing at the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa. Her research program which is grounded in over twenty-three years of clinical practice is in the area of inequity in health and health care as well as maternal-newborn health. Her research projects have been funded by international, national, provincial and local agencies and these projects are guided by the tenets of qualitative research and participatory action research (PAR). In an effort to explicate the complexities of the social realities often embedded in nursing research, she also uses mixed research methods including integration of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Her employment history spans across international boundaries and as a registered nurse (RN), a midwife, a lactation consultant, a researcher and an educator, Dr Etowa has worked in various capacities within the Canadian health care system. Prior to her present appointment she worked as an Associate Professor of Nursing at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Health Professions. She holds an honorary appointment with the IWK Health Centre, Halifax Nova Scotia.
Publications by Dr. Josephine B. Etowa
Etowa, J & Hyman, I. 2022. Leadership and System Transformation: Advancing the Role of Community Health Nursing. Witness The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse. https://witness.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/default/article/view/101
Etowa, J, Vukic, A., Aston, M., Iduye, D., Mckibbon, S., George,A., Nkwocha C.,Thapa, B., Abrha, G., Dol, J.(2022). Experiences of nurses and midwives in policy development in low- and middle-income countries: Qualitative systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2022.100116
Dr. Marie-Hélène Chomienne
Dr. Marie-Hélène Chomienne is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Investigator at the Department of Family Medicine as well as a Scientist and founding member of the Institut du Savoir Montfort. Dr. Chomienne is an accomplished interdisciplinary researcher with interests in primary mental health care, determinants of health, global health, and the health status of Francophone minority populations. Dr. Chomienne is also interested in primary health care services, the organization of primary care and improving primary care delivery through interprofessional collaboration. In 2020, Dr. Chomienne was awarded the Chaire de recherche en francophonie internationale et santé de l’immigrant ou du réfugié d’Afrique francophone subsaharienne, an international Francophonie research chair that will focus on the health of immigrants and refugees from Sub-Saharan Africa. As a family medicine hospitalist based at Hôpital Montfort, Dr. Chomienne oversees training for University of Ottawa family medicine residents and medical students on rotation in the wards. She works in family medicine outpatient clinics at Hôpital Montfort, and conducts home visits with a number of patients in Quebec.
Publications by Dr. Marie-Hélène Chomienne
Richard, A. E., & Chomienne, M. H. (2021). Review of Referrals Sent to the Emergency Department for Management of Hypertension. Cardiology research, 12(3), 156–160. https://doi.org/10.14740/cr1233
Cénat JM., Noorishad PG., Bakombo, SM., Onesi, O., Mesbahi, A., Darius, WP., Caulley, L., Yaya, S., Chomienne, MH., Etowa, J., Venkatesh, V., Dalexis, RD., Pongou, R., Labelle, PR. (2022). A systematic Review on Vaccine hesitancy in Black Communities in Canada: Critical Isssues and Research Failures. Vaccines, DOI:10.3390/vaccines10111937
Dr. Monnica Williams
Dr. Monnica Williams, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities, and Director of the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities. She is also the Clinical Director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic, LLC in Tolland, Connecticut, and she has founded clinics in Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on ethnic minority mental health and psychopathology research. She completed her undergraduate studies at MIT and UCLA and received her doctoral degree from the University of Virginia.
Publications by Dr. Monnica Williams
Williams, M. T., Faber, S., Nepton, A., & Ching, T. H. W. (2023). Racial justice allyship requires civil courage: A behavioral prescription for moral growth and change. American Psychologist, 78(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000940
Williams, M. T., Osman, M., & Hyon, C. (2023). Understanding the psychological impact of oppression using the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale (TSDS). Chronic Stress, 7, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/24705470221149511
Dr. Cary Kogan
Research Interest: Classification of mental and behavioural disorders.
Visiting Scientist: The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Care Group
Publications by Dr. Cary Kogan
Kogan CS; Noorishad PG; Ndengeyingoma A; Guerrier M; Cénat JM. (2022). Prevalence and correlates of anxiety symptoms among Black people in Canada: A significant role for everyday racial discrimination and racial microaggressions. J Affect Disord. 308: 545-553. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.04.110
Kogan, CS., Grenier J., Paterniti, S., Rebello, Khoury ,B., Lovell, AM., Stona, AC., Reed, GM. (2022). Innovations et modifications clés des descriptions cliniques et exigences pour le diagnostic du chapitre sur les troubles mentaux, comportementaux et neurodévoppementaux de la CIM-11 de l'OMS. L’Information psychiatrique ; 98 (6) : 419-25https://www.cairn.info/revue-l-information-psychiatrique-2022-6-page-419.htm
