As Canada's first academic research centre entirely dedicated to the study of the biological, social, and cultural determinants of health of Black communities in Canada, the ICBH is a leading research and training space, based on excellence and interdisciplinarity, that will guide the efforts of federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal agencies to understand, reduce and eliminate racial health disparities.
The Centre brings together researchers with diverse expertise in medicine, nursing, nutrition, psychology, sociology, economics, law, public health, and epidemiology in an interdisciplinary and social justice perspective. National and international partnerships and collaborations have been initiated to benefit from the expertise of other prominent researchers, to strengthen the impact of the Centre and to share the results of the research that will be conducted in the Centre, as well as the tools, trainings and other outputs that will be developed.
The Centre is an ideal space for training graduate students in various fields, for knowledge transfer and for consultation for public health and care institutions and governmental, provincial, and municipal agencies on health issues in Black communities in Canada. The Centre has five main axes of focus informed by critical race theory and intersectional lens: 1) prevention and management of chronic diseases (encompassing, among others, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, cardiovascular diseases, breast, and prostate cancer); 2) infectious diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, COVID-19); 3) mental health and substance use; 4) population and public health; 5) Child and adolescent health.
