Leadership 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 Leadership Committee
Dr. Jude Mary Cénat, Director
Jude Mary Cénat, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, Chair of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health, and Director of the Vulnerability, Trauma, Resilience & Culture (V-TRaC) Research Laboratory at the University of Ottawa. His research program explores factors associated with vulnerability, trauma, and resilience, with a particular interest in the role of cultural factors. Dr.Cénat conducts research on racial disparities in mental health and social services, the impact of natural disasters and infectious diseases on mental health, interpersonal and non- interpersonal trauma, and global mental health.
Publications by Jude Mary Cénat
Cénat JM., Kogan CS, Kebedom, P., Ukwu, G., Farahi, SMMM., Darius, WP., Bakombo, S., Dalexis, RD.,Ndengeyingoma, A., Noorishad, PG., Labelle, PR. (2022). Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Psychostimulant Use among Black Individuals: a Meta-analysis and Systematic Review. Addictive Behaviors, DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107567
Cénat JM., Dromer, E., Darius, WP., Dalexis, RD., Furyk, SE., Poisson, H., Bekarkhanechi, FM., Shah, M., Diao, DG.,Gedeon, AP., Lebel, S., Labelle, PR. (2022). Incidence, factors, and disparities related to cancer among Black individuals in Canada: A scoping review. Cancer. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.34551
Dr. Chibuike Udenigwe
Dr. Chibuike Udenigwe is a Professor and University Research Chair at the School of Nutrition Sciences, University of Ottawa, and a Faculty Affiliate at the Institute for Science, Society and Policy. Dr. Udenigwe obtained a PhD in Food and Nutritional Sciences from the University of Manitoba, and held an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Guelph prior to his first faculty position at Dalhousie University. His research takes the chemical sciences approach in exploring food, nutrition and health, with a focus on sustainable processing, functional foods and nutraceuticals, and their beneficial effects on human health. Dr. Udenigwe is a member of the Global Young Academy.
Publications by Dr. Chibuike Udenigwe
Chibuike C. Udenigwe (2023). From Waste to Wealth: Practical Considerations for Food Waste and Byproduct Upcycling to Biofunctional Components. ACS Food Science & Technology, 3 (1), 15-16 DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00379
Asen ND, Okagu OD, Udenigwe CC., Aluko RE. (2022) In vitro inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity by yellow field pea (Pisum sativum) protein-derived peptides as revealed by kinetics and molecular docking. Front. Nutr. 9:1021893.doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1021893
Dr. Sharon Whiting
Dr. Sharon Whiting is the Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and a member of the leadership team of the interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health (ICBH).
Dr. Whiting, an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, is a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
She received her medical degree from the University of the West Indies, Royal College of Canada certification in Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa and in Neurology from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Whiting was past president of the Canadian Association of Pediatric Neurology, the Canadian League against Epilepsy and the founding President of the Canadian Pediatric Epilepsy Network.
She is a co-director of the epilepsy research (EpLink) programme of the Ontario Brain Institute and involved in research in the ketogenic diet and patients with epileptic encephalopathy.
The ICBH will be Canada’s first academic research centre dedicated to the study of the biological, social, economic occupational and cultural determinants of health in the country’s Black communities. Addressing gaps in research, care, training and public policies, ICBH will change the landscape for Black communities.
Publications by Dr. Sharon Whiting
Wondwossen Fantaye, A., Kitto, S., Hendry, P., Wiesenfeld, L., Whiting, S., Gnyra, C., Fournier, K. & Lochnan, H. (2022). Attributes of excellent clinician teachers and barriers to recognizing and rewarding clinician teachers’ performances and achievements: A narrative review. Canadian Medical Education Journal / Revue canadienne de l'éducation médicale, 13(2), 57–72. https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.73241
Fantaye, A.W., Gnyra, C., Lochnan, H., Wiesenfeld, L., Hendry, P., Whiting, S., Kitto,S. (2022). Prioritizing Clinical Teaching Excellence: A Hidden Curriculum Problem. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions 42(3):p 204-210,| DOI: 10.1097/CEH.000000000000044
Dr. Emmanuelle Bernheim
Dr. Emmanuelle Bernheim is a full professor in the Civil Law Section of the Faculty of Law and holds the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Access to Justice. Her research focuses on the role of law and justice in the production and reproduction of inequalities. Over the past five years, she has been involved in a variety of research activities, developing a research program around the issue of access to justice and its implementation for marginalized citizens. She is developing this problematic under three main axes: 1- mental health, 2- youth protection and 3- self-representation in court.
Publications by Dr. Emmabuelle Bernheim
Bernheim, E. (2022). The Triumph of the "Therapeutic" in Quebec Courts: Mental Health, Behavioural Reform and the Decline of Rights. Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice.https://wyaj.uwindsor.ca/index.php/wyaj/article/view/7779
Bernheim, E. (2022). L’internement psychiatrique au Québec. Du Grand Renfermement à la gestion des risques, l’histoire d’une sur-judiciarisation. Revue Interdisciplinaire d'Études Juridiques, Volume 88(1), 135–160. https://doi.org/10.3917/riej.088.0135
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
