Immigrant and Refugee Health Interest Group

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Immigrant and Refugee Health Interest Group As a team we are working on assessing the barriers of Canadian Immigrants to access healthcare and develop ways to mitigate the barriers.

Canada consistently receives more than 239,000 immigrants per year. The migrants usually arrive with similar or better self-reported health than the general Canadian population. However, cultural and linguistic differences combined with lack of evidence-based guidelines create barriers towards immigrantsโ€™ access to healthcare system and navigate through it, which often leads to serious health problems for them. The core objectives of our research group is to synthesize and disseminate the existing knowledge, and collaborate with immigrant community and appropriate stakeholders to develop effective ways to mitigate the barriers.

๐Ÿ“Š Research Data Walk: See Our Work, Shape Whatโ€™s Next!The community is invited to an interactive afternoon showcasing Op...
09/30/2026

๐Ÿ“Š Research Data Walk: See Our Work, Shape Whatโ€™s Next!

The community is invited to an interactive afternoon showcasing Open Science in Action: Open Data, Open Doors. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore recent research findings, connect directly with researchers, and share perspectives to help shape future initiatives.

* Date: October 10, 2026
* Time: 2:00 PM โ€“ 6:00 PM
* Location: Multi-Purpose Room, Genesis Centre (7555 Falconridge Blvd NE, Calgary, AB T3J 0C9)
* Admission: Open event for allโ€”just drop in!
Hosted by Immigrant and Minority Research and the University of Calgary Cu***ng School of Medicine (Department of Family Medicine).

๐Ÿ“ž More Information: Contact Irfan Hyder at 825-558-5664 or [email protected].

๐‘๐ˆ๐’๐„ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“ | ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐žโฃWe are pleased to share research posters completed by youth participants in...
03/19/2026

๐‘๐ˆ๐’๐„ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“ | ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐žโฃ
We are pleased to share research posters completed by youth participants in the ๐‘๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ ๐ž๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐’๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ (๐‘๐ˆ๐’๐„) program this past summer. Working alongside ๐”๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐š๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ mentors, high school students conducted independent research projects on climate change and its intersecting health, social, and environmental impacts.โฃ

Their work covered the following topics:โฃ
๐Ÿง  Climate Change and Mental Healthโฃ
๐Ÿ”ฅ Forest Fires and Respiratory Illnesses in Children: A Systematic Reviewโฃ
๐ŸŒ Climate Adaptation Strategies in Immigrant Communitiesโฃ
๐Ÿค– The Effects of AI on the Environmentโฃ
โค๏ธ The Impact of Particulate Matter on Cardiovascular Diseasesโฃ
โ˜€๏ธ From Sunlight to Cell Damage: How Ozone Loss Impacts DNA Repair in Skinโฃ
๐Ÿ’ญ Why Do We Believe Lies? The Impact of Cognitive Biases on the Spread of Misinformation and Climate Change Denialโฃ

We gratefully thank our community partners, ๐•๐Ž๐ˆ๐‚๐„ (๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐•๐จ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐‚๐š๐ง๐š๐๐š ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ) and ๐‚๐๐…๐˜ (๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐š๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ž ๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก) for their collaboration, our ๐”๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐š๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ for their guidance and time, and the ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ for their commitment and intellectual curiosity throughout this process.โฃ

The 2025 summer activities were supported by ๐Œ๐จ๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐€๐ฅ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ญ๐š, a University of Calgary initiative funded by ๐„๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž ๐‚๐š๐ง๐š๐๐š.โฃ

The RISE Summer Program engaged newcomer high school youth in climate education and leadership development through inter...
03/19/2026

The RISE Summer Program engaged newcomer high school youth in climate education and leadership development through interactive, community-based learning. Over the course of the program, participants took part in educational workshops, collaborative activities, and one-on-one mentorship with post-secondary students, primarily from the University of Calgary. The program fostered awareness of climate change by connecting global perspectives with local experiences, while building confidence, critical thinking, and communication skills. The initiative culminated in a celebration event where youth shared their learning with peers, families, and the broader community.

University of Calgary
Foundation for the Voice of Immigrants in Canada for Empowerment-VOICE
Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth
University of Calgary's Cu***ng School of Medicine
O'Brien Institute for Public Health
Turin Chowdhury

The RISE Summer Program engaged newcomer high school youth in climate education and leadership development through interactive, community-based learning. Ove...

The Saath South Asian Cancer Support program, hosted by Wellspring Alberta, is re-launching to provide a dedicated space...
02/04/2026

The Saath South Asian Cancer Support program, hosted by Wellspring Alberta, is re-launching to provide a dedicated space for individuals to share experiences and receive practical support. This program is designed to address the specific cultural and family dynamics that shape the cancer experience within the South Asian community.

Sessions are held monthly and feature expert-led learning to support participant well-being.

Upcoming Schedule:
February 11 & 23: Navigating Family and Cultural Dynamics (Exploring roles, expectations, and caregiving).

March 11 & 23: Nutrition to Feel Better (Guidance from a South Asian registered dietitian).

April 8 & 20: Supporting Safe Movement (Expert advice on physical activity during and after treatment).

Locations:
Genesis Centre: 7555 Falconridge Blvd NE

Vivo Centre: 11950 Country Village Link NE

Address

G012, Health Sciences Centre 3330 Hospital Drive NW
Calgary, AB
T2N4N1

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