IWH welcomes new post-doc researcher
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) welcomes Dr. Robyn O’Loughlin, who has been named the Mitacs Elevate post-doctoral fellow at the Institute. O’Loughlin recently earned her PhD in legal studies at Carleton University. Working with IWH Scientific Co-Director Dr. Monique Gignac and under the supervision of IWH Adjunct Scientist Dr. Vicky Kristman at Laurentian University, O’Loughlin will study workplace bullying behaviours experienced by Indigenous people in Canada and the legislative and legal responses to them. She will use qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the experiences of federal workers around bullying and harassment, the way negative behaviour is labelled in the workplace, and the circumstances under which an investigation occurs under new Canada Labour Code amendments that came into force in January 2021. To see O’Loughlin’s bio, go to: www.iwh.on.ca/people/robyn-oloughlin
IWH announces Mustard post-doctoral fellowship recipient
The Institute has awarded the 2021 Mustard Fellowship in Work and Health to Reena Shadaan, who finishes up her PhD in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University this spring. Shadaan’s doctoral dissertation concerns nail technicians’ occupational health, including their exposure-related hazards, musculoskeletal concerns and stress-induced health outcomes. Her research, conducted in partnership with Toronto’s Nail Technicians’ Network and Healthy Nail Salon Network, uses an innovative technique called occupational health mapping—a worker-led methodological tool that identifies hazards, their resulting health harms, their implications beyond the worksite and worker-defined solutions. For information about the Institute’s fellowship programs, go to: www.iwh.on.ca/opportunities
Announcing four recipients of the 2021 S. Leonard Syme Fellowships
Since 2002, the S. Leonard Syme Fellowships have been awarded by the Institute for Work & Health to support early-career researchers at the master's or doctoral level who intend to study work and health. This year's recipients are:
- Kathleen Dobson, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto (U of T)'s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her thesis explores the prevalence and economic consequences of depression among Canadian labour force participants.
- Siobhan Saravanamuttu, PhD candidate at York University's Department of Politics, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. Her PhD dissertation examines the transition from sheltered work to supported employment for workers with intellectual disabilities in the province of Ontario.
- David Kinitz, PhD candidate at U of T's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. His thesis is on poverty, social welfare and work among sexual minority men, as well as intersecting forms of marginalization among LGBT+ workers within labour market and employment settings.
- Jennifer Ritonja, PhD candidate at Queen's University's Department of Public Health Sciences. Her thesis examines adverse health effects of circadian disruption in women who work the night shift, including the impact of night shift work on breast cancer precursors and biomarkers such as melatonin and circadian gene methylation.