Health | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Sylvia Esther Gyan

rebsl — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:47:22 +0000

Sylvia Esther Gyan (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Ghana and a visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, �첥��Ƶ, with over a decade of experience in teaching and research. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses and actively mentors and supervises students. From December 2018 to November 2023, she was an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the College of Public Health, University of South Florida. In 2019, she was named an African Studies Association Carnegie Corporation of New York Scholar.

Sylvia’s research focuses on the Sociology of Health, with emphasis on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, and child marriage. Her broader academic interests include Family Demography, Gender Studies, Climate Change, Ageing, and Migration. She has contributed to several notable projects, including serving as Co-Principal Investigator on "Utilising AI to Promote Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes for Adolescents with Disabilities in Ghana," funded by IDRC through the Infectious Disease Institute’s HASH program (Feb. 2023 – July 2024). She currently leads a project funded by the Horizons Institute Pump-prime Fund, University of Leeds, titled “Co-Creating Resilient Communities for Female Adolescent Migrants (‘Kayayei’) in Ghana.” This project integrates sociological methods and participatory visual art approaches to explore the lived experiences of girls under 16 who migrate from northern Ghana to Accra to work as head porters. Sylvia has also conducted research on sexual behaviours among older adults in Ghana, addressing a critical gap in global health literature. While most studies in this area originate from the Global North, her work brings much-needed focus to the sociocultural dynamics of ageing and sexuality in sub-Saharan Africa, a topic often considered taboo.

Her expertise and research continue to inform and influence discussions on health, gender, and development both within Ghana and beyond. Her research has been published in high-quality international journals, including Current Sociology, Archives of Sexual Behaviour, and Journal of Biosocial Science.

Beyond academic scholarship, Sylvia is deeply committed to collaborative research that addresses pressing societal challenges. Her work frequently centres on women in vulnerable situations, to inform policies and interventions that enhance their well-being.

Keywords: Africa, Ghana, Adolescent, Health, Migration, Climate Change, HIV, Intimate Partner Violence, Gender

Juanita De Barros

rebsl — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:31:38 +0000

Juanita De Barros is a Professor in the Department of History at McMaster University and the director of the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice. She is the former president of the Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She did her PhD at �첥��Ƶ and was a DuBois-Mandela-Rodney fellow at the Department of Afro-American and African studies at the University of Michigan. She is the co-editor of two book series: “Histories of Slavery and its Global Legacies” (Cambridge University Press) and “Confronting Atrocity: Human Rights and Restorative Justice” (McGill-Queens University Press). Her research concentrates on the history of health, gender, and reproductive rights in the Caribbean within the context of imperialism and post-slavery societies. She has written two books, numerous articles and book chapters and has co-edited four essay collections. has co-edited three essay collections and two journal special issues. Her most recent publications are Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery and the essay collection, Public Health and the Imperial Project. Her current research project explores the intersection of health and the law in the context of child incarceration in state institutions in the early 20th century Caribbean.

Patrick Chukwudike Okpalaeke

rebsl — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:50:52 +0000

Patrick Chukwudike Okpalaeke is a PhD student in the Department of History. He holds a BA in History and International Studies and an MA in Social and Political History both from the University of Uyo, Nigeria. He is interested in African history, environmental history, history of health and medicine, and mining history during the twentieth century.

Oghenowede Eyawo

rebsl — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 22:27:23 +0000

Dr Oghenowede Eyawo is an Assistant Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at the Faculty of Health. With training in epidemiology, population and public health, Dr Eyawo’s research interest is focused on precision-based global health and the application of epidemiological methods to examine patterns of morbidity, mortality and their potential effects among vulnerable populations of children, women and men. Much of his work has focused on examining the health journey and patterns of health outcomes among HIV-positive individuals in North America and globally, as they age with other comorbidities in the era of antiretroviral therapy. More recently, his research interest has evolved to focus on underserved diseases and the social, political, and economic determinants of health among marginalized populations. His work seeks to broaden our understanding and management of the many intersecting issues (e.g., poverty, health inequity, weak health systems etc.) affecting marginalized populations around the world and to solutions that may help us meet the challenges ahead. He is interested in infectious diseases, particularly in child health, and non-communicable diseases in Africa. He is also interested in the methodological aspects of study designs in observational and experimental epidemiology,

and how to improve the use of linked health administrative data in research. Dr Eyawo is an expert advisor to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), the largest accumulation of health data in history. He is seeking graduate students with a keen interest in topics of global importance.