About
The Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC) aims to understand the influences of stigma and discrimination on health disparities of marginalized youth, including sexually exploited, street-involved, and LGBTQ2S (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer and Questioning, and Two Spirit) youth. We use mixed-methods approaches to explore how stigma and trauma lead to mental health issues, problem coping strategies such as substance use, and barriers to health care; as well as, how protective factors (e.g., supportive relationships) can buffer the distress and trauma. In collaboration with youth and their communities, we develop interventions to improve health outcomes and equity for marginalized youth.
Since 2006, SARAVYC has been dedicated to identifying evidence-based strategies to reduce stigma and improve resilience among marginalized youth populations, and share those results with the public. We collaborate with health professionals, policy-makers, educators, service providers, and youth to produce evidence-based research that influences policy, practice, and health.
Vision: Improved health outcomes and health equity for marginalized youth across Canada and internationally.
Key Research Directions
- We document health and disparities among LGBTQ2S youth in diverse ethnocultural groups, with the intent to create culturally relevant interventions for families.
- We seek to understand and address factors that contribute to victimization and perpetration of sexual violence among youth.
- We partner with NGOs, schools, government, and community organizations to conduct independent evaluations to help improve health programs and policies.
Directory
Executive Director, SARAVYC
Director & Professor, UBC School of Nursing
Research Director, McCreary Centre Society
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Professor, Western University Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
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Associate Professor, University of British Columbia School of Nursing
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President and Research Director, Center for Innovative Public Health Research
Associate Professor – Adjunct, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
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Professor, Sexology Department, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Director, Stigma-Vulnerability-Resilience Research Team
Research Chair on Homophobia at UQAM
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Associate Professor, McMaster University Department of Pediatrics
Associate Member, Offord Centre for Child Studies
Associate Professor, University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry
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Associate Professor, Concordia University
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Professor, Dalhousie University
Head, Health Promotion Division, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University
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Professor, Director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS)
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Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
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Associate Professor, University of Manitoba
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Associate Professor, Concordia University
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Professor, Rhetoric and Communications and Faculty of Education, University of Winnipeg
Director of Academic Programs, Faculty of Education, University of Winnipeg
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Associate Professor, University of Alberta
Associate Director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services
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Investigator, BC Children’s Hospital
Pediatric Endocrinologist, BC Children’s Hospital
Clinical Professor, University of British Columbia Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology
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Executive Director, McCreary Centre Society
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Provincial Program Director, TransCare BC
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Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Adolescent Health and Medicine Adolescent Health and Medicine
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Associate Professor, School of Social Work, UBC
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Communications & Community Relations Manager
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East Asian Advisory Coordinator
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Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Jeonju University
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Associate Professor, University of British Columbia School of Nursing
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Nurse Practitioner, Children’s Hospital of Minnesota
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Distinguished Professor, University of Texas
Fitch Nesbitt Endowed Chair in Family and Consumer Sciences
Director of the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families
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Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
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Coordinatrice de l’enquête ENCLASS-HBSC
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Director, Mental Health Promotion and Mental Illness Prevention; Communicable Disease Prevention, Harm Reduction and Mental Health Promotion Branch of the BC Ministry of Health
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Research Associate, McCreary Centre Society
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Associate Professor, School of Nursing, UBC
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Lecturer, The University of Waikato
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Director, Centre for Health and Coping Studies
Associate Professor, Psychology, UBC
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Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland NZ School of Nursing
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Associate Professor, Mukogawa Women’s University
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Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut
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Professor, School of Population & Public Health, UBC
Applied Public Health Chair in Improving Youth Sexual Health, CIHR
Senior Scholar, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
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