Sepali Guruge, Ryerson University
Dr. Sepali Guruge obtained her education in Sri Lanka, the former Soviet Union, and Canada. She focused her doctoral dissertation in Nursing at the University of Toronto on the influence of gender, racial, social, and economic inequalities on the production of and responses to intimate male partner violence in the post-migration context. Her post-doctoral work at the University of Western Ontario examined the effects of intimate partner violence on women’s health. Both her doctoral and post-doctoral studies were supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowships.
Dr. Guruge’s nursing experience includes practice, teaching, research, and consultation at several major hospitals in Toronto. Her teaching interests include women’s health, mental health, diversity and equity issues, global health, and qualitative research methods. She currently teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs, and supervises graduate students in Nursing and in Immigration and Settlement Studies at Ryerson University.
Dr. Guruge has published in nursing and interdisciplinary refereed journals and books, and presented papers and posters at national and international conferences. She is also co-editor (along with Dr. Enid Collins) of the book, Working with Immigrant Women: Issues and Strategies for Mental Health Professionals (published by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, 2008).
Using a number of approaches, including social determinants of health, ecosystemic frameworks, and feminist theoretical perspectives, Dr. Guruge conducts research focused on immigrant women’s health. In particular, she examines violence against women throughout the migration process (i.e., pre-migration, border-crossing, and post-migration contexts). She also co-leads the Nursing Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Ryerson University.
Presently, Dr. Guruge is engaged in community-based health research on violence against women with colleagues in Canada, the United States, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Brazil, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Her program of research is supported by a CIHR New Investigator Award ($300,000.00).
Partnering Organization: Ryerson University http://www.ryerson.ca