Directors
The Collaborative Specialization in Women’s Health Director and Associate Director are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Specialization. Some of these responsibilities are shared with or delegated to the Executive and Specialization Committees including: administration and management, admission and academic oversight, partnership building, teaching and student interaction, and specialization building.
Director, Dr. Janice Du Mont
Professor, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Dr. Du Mont is also a Senior Scientist at Women’s College Research Institute at Women’s College Hospital with a particular focus on the study of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee meets once a year, at minimum, and works with the Director and Associate Director of the Specialization to make decisions relevant to operations, including human resources, admissions, and growth.
| Member | Position/Department/Faculty |
| Eleanor Fish |
Senior Scientist, University Health Network; Director, Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Centre; Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto; Associate Chair, International Initiatives & Collaborations, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto; Canada Research Chair in Women’s Health & Immunobiology |
| Margaret MacNeill | Associate Professor, Department of Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto |
| Gillian Einstein | Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging, University of Toronto; Guest Professor, Neuroscience and Gender Medicine, Linköping University, Sweden |
| Robin Mason | Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; Scientist, Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital; Scientific Lead, Women’s Xchange |
| Charmaine Williams | Vice Dean, Students, School of Graduate Studies; Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto |
Specialization Committee
The Specialization Committee meets annually to aid in the development of the Specialization. This committee includes representation from the biomedical and social sciences as well as the humanities and also includes student representatives.
| Member | University of Toronto |
| Holly Wardlow | Anthropology |
| Sonica Singhal | Dentistry |
| Andrea Charise | English |
| Margaret MacNeill | Graduate Department of Kinesiology |
| Carmen Logie | Faculty of Social Work |
| Eleanor Fish | Immunology |
| Paula Braitstein | Institute of Medical Science |
| Kelly Metcalfe | Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing |
| Joanne Kotsopoulos | Nutritional Sciences |
| Catherine Sabiston | Rehabilitation Sciences Institute |
| Peter McPherson | Pharmacology |
| Suzanne Sicchia | *Health Studies (UTSC) |
| Connie Guberman | *Historical & Cultural Studies (UTSC) |
| Shelley Wall | *Biomedical Communications (UTM) |
| Amy Mullin | *Philosophy |
| Judith Andersen | Psychology |
| Lori Ross | Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Pamela Klassen | Religion |
| June Larkin | Women and Gender Studies Institute |
| Ramya Kumar (student representative) | Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Member | Other Universities |
| Stuart J. Murray (English) | *Carleton |
| Carla Rice (Family Relations & Applied Nutrition) | *Guelph |
*Departments with mentors, but are not officially collaborating units.
Mentors
The following is a list of faculty members who provide mentorship to graduate students in the Specialization:
| Name | Department/Faculty (At U of T unless otherwise stated) |
| Izzeldin Abuelaish | Public Health |
| Catherine Amara | Exercise Sciences |
| Geoff Anderson | Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation |
| Michele K. Anderson | Immunology |
| Michael Atkinson | Exercise Sciences |
| Patricia Armstrong | Sociology, York University |
| Anne-Emanuelle Birn | Critical Development Studies and Public Health |
| Laura Bisaillon | Anthropology and Criminology & Sociological Studies |
| Paula Braitstein | Public Health and Medical Sciences |
| Hilary Brown | Interdisciplinary Centre for Health and Society, UTSC |
| Audrey Campbell | Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| An-Wen Chan | Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation |
| Andrea Charise | English |
| Angela Colantonio | Occupational Sciences & Occupational Therapy and Public Health |
| Cindy-Lee Dennis | Nursing |
| Janice Du Mont | Public Health and Applied Psychology & Human Development |
| Shannon Dunn | Immunology |
| Sheila Dunn | Family & Community Medicine |
| Gillian Einstein | Psychology and Public Health |
| Eleanor Fish | Immunology |
| Kymm Feldman | Family & Community Medicine |
| Alison Fleming | Psychology and Neuroscience |
| Sarah Flicker | Environmental Studies, York University |
| Denis Grant | Pharmacology & Toxicology |
| Sophie Grigoriadis | Psychiatry |
| Connie Guberman | Historical & Cultural Studies |
| Elizabeth Harvey | English |
| Paula Harvey | Medicine, Cardiology |
| Gillian Hawker | Medicine, Rheumatology and Health Policy, Management & Evaluation |
| Melissa Holmes | Psychology |
| Susan Jaglal | Physical Therapy |
| Pamela Klassen | Religion |
| Patrick Keilty | Information Studies |
| Joanne Kotsopoulos | Public Health |
| Meng-Chuan Lai | Psychiatry |
| June Larkin | Women & Gender Studies |
| Janelle LeBoutillier | Psychology |
| Sally Lindsay | Social Work |
| Lorraine Lipscombe | Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation |
| Carmen Logie | Social Work |
| Mona Loutfy | Medicine |
| Margaret MacNeill | Exercise Sciences |
| Robin Mason | Public Health and Psychiatry |
| Flora I. Matheson | Public Health |
| Gail McVey | Public Health |
| Kelly Metcalfe | Nursing |
| Peggy McDonough | Public Health |
| Amy Mullin | Philosophy |
| Steven Narod | Public Health |
| Pat O’Campo | Public Health |
| Tomáš Paus | Psychiatry |
| Jennifer Poole | Social Work, Ryerson University |
| Sonica Singhal | Dentistry |
| Susan Rappolt | Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy |
| Anne Rhodes | Public Health |
| Carla Rice | Family Relations & Applied Nutrition, Guelph University |
| David Riddick | Pharmacology and Toxicology |
| Paula Rochon | Institute of Health Policy, Management, & Evaluation |
| Lori Ross | Public Health, Nursing, and Psychiatry |
| Catherine Sabiston | Exercise Sciences |
| John Semple | Medicine, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery |
| Dan Sellen | Anthropology and Public Health |
| Ze’ev Seltzer | Dentistry and Neuroscience |
| Suzanne R. Sicchia | Interdisciplinary Centre for Health & Society and Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Carol Strike | Public Health |
| Brenda Toner | Medical Sciences |
| Shelley Wall | Biomedical Communications and Medical Sciences |
| Holly Wardlow | Anthropology |
| Charmaine Williams | Social Work |
| Thomas Wolever | Anthropology |
| Blake Woodside | Psychiatry |
| Karen Yoshida | Rehabilitation Sciences and Public Health |
| Stanley Zlotkin | Paediatrics, Public Health, and Nutritional Sciences |
| Simone Kaptein | Chronic Disease & Injury Prevention, Region of Peel, York University |
| Jennifer Blake | Obstetrics/Gynecology |
| Peter Smith | Institute for Work & Health |
| Notisha Massaquoi | Health and Society |
| Rohan D’Souza | Obstetrics and Gynaecology |
Mentorship Information for Faculty
Expectations for Mentors in the Specialization
A mentor is a faculty member who agrees to interact with students in the Specialization in the context of women’s health research and student projects. Such interactions might include:
- Providing cross-disciplinary perspectives (i.e., the perspective of your discipline to their projects which will most likely be from another discipline, one to two meetings a year);
- Being a discussant on a student’s presentation of their project at the student seminar (a 10 to 20 minute commentary on the student’s work as presented at the seminar);
- Interacting with students and other faculty in the specialization at the student seminar and/or informal gatherings (once or twice a year, at your discretion); and
- Giving a lecture on the methodologies you use in your work in the core course (a standard talk with time for discussion afterward).
In addition to specific mentors, all Specialization faculty and staff make a commitment to offer mentorship and advice to students. This includes helping students choose courses appropriate for their disciplinary course of study that will also be relevant to women’s health. Many of the Specialization’s participating graduate units have courses and seminars relevant to students from other faculties with an interest in women’s health. Mentors will work with students to examine the list of available courses for topics relevant to their course of study.
What are the Benefits of being a Mentor?
- Opportunities to interact with a diverse and vibrant group of students and faculty from across the University of Toronto and the affiliated hospitals who conduct women’s health research and/or engage in relevant clinical practice;
- Building collaborations with others at the University of Toronto in different departments and faculties who work on the same intellectual question but approach it from a different methodology; and
- Being known as a formal participant in this innovative Specialization.
*If you are a member of the University of Toronto faculty interested in being a mentor in the Specialization, please submit a copy of your current CV to, or contact Specialization Director, Dr. Janice Du Mont for further details.