This event will be presented by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences in partnership with the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS).

Global economic inequities, violence and war, and environmental catastrophes aggravated by climate change, ensure that the numbers of people seeking asylum will continue to increase in the years to come. CAHS Fellows and other researchers have a crucial role to play in bringing evidence to this urgent policy issue. Discussion will explore the interplay of human rights, social policy and clinical practice in refugee health, identify best practices and gaps in existing knowledge, and explore the implications of current research and emerging challenges to address the health needs of refugees in Canada.The goal ultimately is to identify best practices in Canada and specific strategies to improve the health outcomes of refugees seeking protection Canada.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. James Orbinski OC, MSC, MD, MA
Director, Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University
Professor, Faculty of Health, School of Health Policy & Management, York University

Moderator: Dr. Nadia Abu-Zahra, DPhil (Oxon)

Dr. James Orbinski is a globally recognized humanitarian practitioner and advocate, as well as one of the world’s leading scholars and scientists in global health. He is a veteran of many of the world’s most disturbing and complex humanitarian emergencies. He is a founding member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) Canada and accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the organization in 1999.