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Department of Health and Society

Notisha Massaquoi

Notisha Massaquoi
Assistant Professor
Telephone number
647-601-4684
Building HL 242

Biography

Dr. Notisha Massaquoi is an Assistant Professor in Health Education and Promotion with the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC).  She also holds cross-appointments to the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) and the Dept of Family & Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine . She holds a BA in Psychology from Western University, an MSW from FIFSW and a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in Social Justice Education.  In 2020-2021, Dr. Massaquoi was a Provost Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at FIFSW, where her research focused on violence as a determinant of health in Black communities with an emphasis on health services for survivors of homicide victims in Canada. 

Dr. Massaquoi is a community-based researcher utilizing mixed methods to interrogate anti-Black racism and highlight the experiences of Black communities navigating institutional structures and systems in Canada, with a primary focus on the social determinants of health and health disparities. Dr. Massaquoi is also the founding director of the Black Health Equity Lab (The BHEL) which conducts community-based health research and works with Black communities to develop advocacy tools, strategies and programs to improve health outcomes, wellbeing and success in Canadian systems.

In her early social work career, Dr. Massaquoi initiated several organizations serving Black communities in Canada — including Africans in Partnership Against AIDS, the African Resource and Communications Centre and TAIBU Community Health Centre. She also developed and served for two decades as the Executive Director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre in Toronto — the only Community Health Centre in North America to provide specialized primary healthcare for Black and racialized women.

Education

  • BA, Psychology (Western University)
  • MSW, Master of Social Work (Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work)
  • PhD, Social Justice Education (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)

Affiliations

  • Graduate Cross-Appointment, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto

Research Interests

  • The Impact of Anti-Black Racism on Black Communities in Canada
  • Health Equity, Health Disparities, and Critical Health Theory
  • Critical Race Theory, Methodologies, and Pedagogies
  • African, Caribbean and Black Diasporas
  • Anti-Oppressive Practice
  • African Queer Theory
  • Canadian Black Feminist Thought