Dr. Nicole D’souza is an Assistant Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. She holds an MSc and PhD in Psychiatry from McGill University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
Dr. D’souza is an applied health systems researcher whose work focuses on redesigning youth mental health systems through community-engaged and equity-oriented approaches. She leads the Social Health Innovation for Future Thriving (SHIFT) Lab, which collaborates with youth, researchers, and community partners to co-design and evaluate upstream models of care that address the social and structural determinants of mental health. Her research program spans social prescribing, peer support, and culturally grounded mental health promotion, with particular attention to advancing equity in access, delivery, and system design. She brings expertise in implementation science, participatory evaluation, integrated knowledge translation, and co-production to support the uptake and impact of community-based innovations across diverse systems and settings.