Speaker Profile
Josephine Etowa
PhD RN RM FWACN FAAN FCAN FCAHS Professeure titulaire/Full Professor Canada Research Chair Tier 1 (CRC T1) in Advancing Black Women’s Health/ Chaire de recherche du Canada de niveau 1 (CRC T1) pour l’avancement de la santé des femmes noires Director,
- Nursing
- University of Ottawa
Presentation
Equity, Culture, and Access: Rethinking Nutrition Care for Diverse Women’s Populations
Speaker / Chair Bio
About Josephine Etowa
Dr. Josephine Etowa, PhD, RN, RM, FWCAN, FAAN, FCAN, FCAHS, is a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black Women’s Health, and an internationally recognized nurse scientist and health-equity scholar. For nearly three decades, her research has examined how racism, gender, migration, socioeconomic conditions, culture, and health-system structures shape the health and healthcare experiences of African, Caribbean and Black communities, with particular attention to Black women.
Dr. Etowa has longstanding expertise in Black women’s reproductive, menopause, and midlife health. Her foundational research in Nova Scotia explored the menopause experiences of African Nova Scotian women, highlighting how culture, race, gender, social relationships, and access to healthcare influence women’s understanding and management of the menopausal transition. She is now advancing this work nationally through research focused on closing reproductive and midlife health equity gaps for Black women in Canada.
As Founder and Director of the CO-CREATH Lab, Dr. Etowa leads interdisciplinary, community-engaged research using community-based participatory research, intersectionality, Afrocentric, and equity-oriented approaches. She has contributed to more than 80 externally funded projects representing over $60 million in research funding and is widely recognized for translating research into culturally responsive practice, policy, education, and community action