Sepali Guruge, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
Project Director
Sepali Guruge is a Full Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing. For the past 25 years, Sepali has demonstrated a solid commitment to increasing the visibility and highlighting the resiliency of marginalized populations. Her program of research focuses on immigrant health, with particular attention to the complex intersections between health, immigration, gender, violence, and aging. She has led related projects in several countries.
Eva Soom Ammann, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
Eva Soom Ammann is a full professor at Berner Fachhochschule Bern University of Applied Sciences in the Department of Health Professions. She is also Head of the Research Innovation Field Psycho-Social Health at BFH and an Associate Researcher at the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Eva’s primary areas of research are diversities and inequalities in health, with a specific focus on aging and migration, as well as end-of-life care.
Mohammed Baoboid, Western University, London, Canada
Mohammed Baobaid has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Erlangen Nuremberg in Germany. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration in Canada (MRCSSI) and an Adjunct Professor at Western University. For 30 years Mohammed has conducted research on families and youth at risk of violence in Yemen and Canada. Based on the outcome of his research, a culturally integrative model of family violence responses has been developed and implemented.
Ruxandra Oana Ciobanu, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Oana Ciobanu is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Geneva where she leads the research group “Diversities in Ageing Societies” in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability. Her research focuses on older migrants, international migration, the welfare mix, transnational processes and qualitative and mixed methods. Oana is the recipient of the European Commission for Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship and has twice received research funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Tineke Fokkema, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Netherlands
Tineke Fokkema is a Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute in the “Families and Generations” group, and is endowed Professor of Ageing, Families and Migration at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Within IMISCOE, Europe’s largest academic network in the area of migration and integration, she is coordinator of the “Older Migrants” Standing Committee. Fokkema is an internationally regarded specialist on ageing, intergenerational solidarity, loneliness, migration, and their intersection. Tineke has published widely in leading academic journals in sociology/gerontology, migration and demography/geography.
Maribel Javier, Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary, Canada
Maribel Javier has more than 20 years of professional experience in various capacities in Canada, the Netherlands, and in the Philippines. She coordinated different programs with
ActionDignity (formerly Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary) for 8 years and worked for 7 years as Volunteer Development Coordinator of the Centre for Newcomers. She also served as Senior Secretary at Bethany Care Society. In 2019, she joined the core group of progressive Filipinos
and founded Filipinos Rising for Inclusion and Equity to nurture Democracy (FRIENDS).
Parvathy Kanthasamy, Vasanatham, Toronto, Canada
Parvathy Kanthasamy is a Sri Lankan Tamil Activist living in Canada. She has a PhD from Monash University, Australia and was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at Stanford University. She is the key founder of the Vasantham Tamil Wellness Centre in Toronto. Throughout her career, she has combined a background in Linguistics with a love of theatre and mental health advocacy. She is the recipient of the Mayor’s Community Safety Award and Constance E. Hamilton’s Equity and Human Rights Award by the City of Toronto. Parvathy is a tireless advocate for marginalized and traumatized women and seniors of all cultures.
Daniel Lai, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Daniel W.L. Lai is Chair Professor of Social Work and Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences in the Hong Kong Baptist University. His expertise includes health and aging, culture and immigration, and outcome evaluation. One of his funded research projects is on social capital and integration of South Asian and Chinese older adults in Hong Kong. Daniel serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society on Aging, is Vice-President of the Hong Kong Association of Gerontology, and is on the editorial board of Research on Aging and Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology.
Kim Turcotte, FCSS Liaison Consultant, Edmonton, Canada
Kim Turcotte has an MA in Health Promotion from the University of Alberta. She has been employed at the City of Edmonton for over 12 years and has spent the past 7 years supporting not-for-profit organizations delivering programs to Edmontonians as an Edmonton FCSS Liaison. Prior to joining the City of Edmonton, Kim held a variety of positions from front-line service delivery through to Executive Director within the not-for-profit sector. Kim is passionate about community work.of non-profit leadership experience.
Guida Man, York University, Toronto, Canada
Guida C. Man is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at York University. As a faculty associate at York Centre for Feminist Research, and Centre for Asian Research, her research explores Chinese immigrant families and communities, gender and work, and im/migration and transnationalism in the context of global economic restructuring. Currently, Guida is the PI of two SSHRC projects: 1) COVID19: Exploring the Experiences of Anti-Chinese/Asian Racism in the GTA, and 2) Transnational Migration and Social Reproduction: Eldercare Work of Chinese Immigrant Women Professionals in Canada.
Annie Pontbriand, Integrated Health and Social Services Center of Montreal, Canada
Annie Pontbriand has been coordinating the research activities of the Sherpa Research Institute on Migration, Health and Social Services since 2015. Annie has more than 18 years of experience in coordinating various research projects, particularly in connection with the organization of Aboriginal youth mental health services and intervention in the transition to adulthood.