Meet DLSPH’s new 2SLGBTQ+ Health Lead
February 4/2022
By Elaine Smith
Daniel Grace, an associate professor at DLSPH, has been named the School’s new 2SLGBTQ+ Health Lead, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Daniel Grace
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to support the advancement of education and research in 2SLGBTQ+ health,” says Grace, Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Health. “We have such incredible researchers, staff, and students who are committed to intersectional and community-engaged health equity research and the creation of an inclusive educational and training environment.”
Grace plans to start off by organizing training workshops on 2SLGBTQ+ health as well as a monthly seminar series. He is also eager to hear from anyone who has ideas for supporting innovative 2SLGBTQ+ research and training initiatives at DLSPH. “I am so excited for what we can build collectively,” Grace says.
In the coming months, Grace will establish an interdisciplinary and intersectoral committee to advise on 2SLGBTQ+ health research and training at the School.
“This committee will play a central role in shaping priority areas to address and will include representatives from faculty, staff, students, Elders, and public health and health system leaders,” adds Grace, who is also the Director of DLSPH’s new Centre for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research.
“I look forward to opportunities for collaboration and bold initiatives to advance the health of diverse queer communities across axes of systemic oppression,” he says. “I also believe that cultivating opportunities for the mentorship of 2SLGBTQ+ faculty, staff, and students to be extremely important.”
Grace is also eager to collaborate with the other health leads at DLSPH.
“I was thrilled to see the appointment of my colleagues Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle and Dr. Roberta Timothy into key Health Lead positions in Indigenous and Black health, and I value opportunities for collaboration on joint issues of concern across health issues and populations,” Grace says.
In addition to his new position, Grace is an internationally recognized medical sociologist who leads a mixed methods program of community-engaged research to advance the social, mental, physical, and sexual health of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
His research into the everyday understandings of biomedical HIV prevention and public health interventions has informed community programs, health policy, and legislation at provincial, national, and international levels. Grace’s current CIHR-funded research examines multiple, intersecting pandemics, including the impacts of HIV, mental health, and COVID-19 for gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men across Canada.