Dr. Shazeen Suleman is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine and Social Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital. She holds the Professorship in Pediatric Hospital Medicine. She is an international expert in caring for children with special healthcare needs who are impacted by migration and forced displacement. She uses participatory methods to co-design and test social and behavioral interventions with newcomer families to improve health outcomes in her lab, the Compass Lab.
Dr. Vanessa Redditt (she/her) is a family physician at the Crossroads Refugee Clinic, a specialized primary care clinic for refugees at Women’s College Hospital, and a lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Department of Community and Family Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She also works with Inner City Health Associates with unhoused and precariously housed individuals. She's a founding steering committee member of the Canadian Refugee Health Network, a lead organizer of the No Cuts to Care Coalition, and active in various community-led advocacy campaigns. Vanessa’s clinical care, research, teaching, and advocacy focus on enhancing the health of communities facing marginalization and oppression, particularly refugee newcomers and migrants. She is also the mom to a delightful three year old, a bicycle enthusiast, and a lover of poetry and picnics.
In this week's core session of Grand Rounds, participants will learn about current issues affecting migrant children and youth in Canada and Ontario, including recent policy changes cutting refugee healthcare coverage, limiting asylum claims, and eroding migrant rights. The presenters will provide an overview of health considerations and strategies to care for and advocate for migrant children, youth and their families.