DR. Bukola Oladunni Salami, Director
Dr. Salami is Professor at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta. She has a Master in Nursing and a PhD from the University of Toronto. Her doctoral research was titled: “All for the Family: A Case Study on the Migration of Philippine Educated Nurses to Ontario Through the Live-in Caregiver Program”. She drew on the work of third-wave feminist scholars, including Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Rachael Parrenas, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, to shed light on how gender, race, and nationality intersect to contribute to pathways of Philippine-educated nurses.
Since she joined the University of Alberta in January 2014, she has been involved in over 65 research projects with funding from national and international agencies. She has published over 70 papers in peer reviewed journals over the last 7 years. These lines of work have produced important insights including the role of gender relations and race in the experience and outcomes of Black children with single mothers. Her work with temporary foreign workers (TFWs) illustrated how gender intersects with immigration status and class status to influence the health decisions of TFWs, including reproductive health decisions.
She has provided consultations to policy makers and practitioners at local, provincial, and national levels. For example, she was invited by the Honorable Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau to present to him and his cabinet on how to improve the lives of Black Canadians, and ensure adequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic among this population. Her work on mental health of Black youths contributed to the creation of a mental health clinic for Black populations in Alberta.
In 2020, she founded the Black Youth Mentorship and Leadership Program at the University of Alberta with the support of 15 Black faculty members. In 2018, she created the African Child and Youth Migration Network, a network of 35 researchers across the globe focused on African child and youth migration.
In addition, she is the co-chair of the health caucus of the Black Opportunities Fund, a national initiative to raise funds to address anti-Black racism in Canada. As an Associate Editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, she provides expertise on critical race theory and intersectionality. She has mentored several students and early career researchers, some of whom are currently tenure track faculty members.
She has received several awards for research excellence and community engagement.
Contact
- E-mail: bukola.salami@ualberta.ca