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COVID‑19 Expertise

Posted by Communications and Marketing on April 15, 2020

Dalhousie University has compiled a list of experts who are able to speak on the many impacts of COVID-19. We will continue to add to this list in the coming days and weeks.

Employer and employee change - shorter workweeks, productivity, basic income and the Canadian Employee Resource Benefit 
Dalhousie Expert
: Dr. Karen Foster, Associate Professor; Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Rural Futures for Atlantic Canada, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology
Research Specialties: Economy, work and development, knowledge, science and expertise, political economy, research methods, rural communities, social policy, social statistics and Atlantic Canada
Contactkaren.foster@dal.ca

Impacts of COVID-19 on businesses, pandemic marketing strategies and business recovery
Dalhousie Expert: 
Dan Shaw, Senior Instructor, Director of MBA Programs, Rowe School of Business.
Research Specialties: Global marketing, impact of labour disputes on consumer spending and consumer habits. 
Contact: Dan.Shaw@dal.ca and 902-494-6146. 

Legal impacts and questions related to COVID-19
Dalhousie Expert: Wayne MacKay, Professor Emeritus of Law, Yogis and Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law.
Research Specialties: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, cyberbullying, education law, human rights, humanitarian law, public policy analysis, public law and public interest.
Contact: Wayne.Mackay@dal.ca and 902-483-7810.

Impacts of COVID-19 measures on criminalized individuals
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Adelina Iftene, Assistant Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Health Law Institute. 
Research Specialties: Prison law and prisoners’ rights, criminal law and criminal justice, sentencing, evidence, charter rights. 
Contactaiftene@dal.ca and 902-494-1296

Political impacts of COVID-19 (Canadian and American)
Dalhousie Expert: Lori Turnbull, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science.
Research Specialties: Canadian parliamentary governance, political ethics, elections, electoral systems, and public engagement.
Contact: lturnbul@dal.ca and 902-494-6605.

Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Howard Ramos, Professor, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
Research Specialties: Social justice and inequality, migration – immigration, social change, social movements, social statistics.
Contact: howard.ramos@dal.ca and 902-494-3130/902-494-6595

Effects on travel industry
Dalhousie Expert: Lorne Sheehan, Professor, Rowe School of Business, School for Resource and Environmental Studies 
Research Specialties: Tourism and travel, Destination management, Stakeholder management, and Sustainable development.
Contact: Lorn@dal.ca or 902-402-8067

Food sovereignty, security, and sustainability
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Kathleen Kevany, Associate Professor, Business and Social Sciences Faculty of Agriculture.
Research Specialties: Food sovereignty and sustainability, Sustainable diets and individual and community well-being
Contact:  kkevany@dal.ca and 902-986-8477

Food security, food supply chains and food trade
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Professor, Food Distribution and Policy, Faculties of Management and Agriculture.
Research Specialties: Food distribution, food policy, food safety, food security, traceability.
Contact: sylvain.charlebois@dal.ca and 902-222-4142.

Rural well-being
Dalhousie Expert
: Dr. Kathleen Kevany, Associate Professor, Business and Social Sciences Faculty of Agriculture.
Research Specialties: Community building, appreciative problem solving and fostering mental, emotional and physical well-being
Contact:  kkevany@dal.ca and 902-986-8477

Economic Impacts
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Lars Osberg, Professor, Department of Economics.
Research Specialties: Labour economics, income and wealth distribution.
Contact: lars.osberg@dal.ca and 902-494-6988

Mental wellness (youth and adult) – Psychology and Psychiatry
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Simon Sherry, Professor and Director of Clinical Training, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry.
Research Specialties: Clinical psychology, depression, anxiety, personality, perfectionism, psychopathology, suicide, eating disorders, alcohol problems.
Contact: Simon.Sherry@dal.ca and 902-494-7719/ 902-789-9419.

Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Michael Ungar, Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience; Professor, School of Social Work.
Research Specialties: Child and adolescent mental health, family therapy, ecological social work, program evaluation, cross-cultural diversity research, delinquency, child development, social constructionism.
Contact: michael.ungar@dal.ca and 902-229-0434.

Dalhousie Expert: Dr. E. Adriana Wilson, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Research Specialties: Positive psychiatry, mindfulness, emotions, attachment, psychotherapy
Contact: adriana.wilson@dal.ca or 902-407-6600

Social and Cultural Implications and Activism
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Howard Ramos, Professor, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
Research Specialties: Social justice and inequality, migration – immigration, social change, social movements, social statistics.
Contact: howard.ramos@dal.ca and 902-494-3130/902-494-6595

Dalhousie Expert: Tari Ajadi, doctoral student, MacEachen Institute Junior Fellow
Student Research Scholar, Healthy Populations Institute, Department of Political Science
Research Specialties: Canadian politics, social justice and inequality, marginalized communities, health policy and social movements.
Contact: tariajadi@dal.ca or (778) 230-0020

Implications of COVID-19 on vulnerable and marginalized communities and populations
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Robert Huish, Associate Professor, Undergraduate Advisor, Department of International Development Studies.
Research Specialties: Global health, North Korea, Cuban development, activism and social justice.
Contact: huish@dal.ca and 902-494-2979.

Dalhousie Expert: Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, Associate Professor, James R. Johnston (JRJ) Chair in Black Canadian Studies, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology
Research Specialties: Black Canadian studies, Black health equity, anti-Black racism and health outcomes, blood donation systems, HIV & AIDS, medical education and health humanities, and Black Feminist/Black Queer diasporic analytics.
Contact: omisoore.dryden@dal.ca

Dalhousie Expert: Tari Ajadi, doctoral student, MacEachen Institute Junior Fellow
Student Research Scholar, Healthy Populations Institute, Department of Political Science
Research Specialties: Canadian politics, social justice and inequality, marginalized communities, health policy and social movements.
Contact: tariajadi@dal.ca or (778) 230-0020

Maintaining physical wellness during COVID-19
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Lori Dithurbide, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Performance
Research Specialties: Psychosocial aspects of sports, group dynamics, teammate efficacy, team performance, and group behavior.
Contact: lori.dithurbide@dal.ca

Emergency preparedness plans (municipal, provincial and federal)
Dalhousie Expert: Dr. Kevin Quigley, Professor, Director, MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance.
Research Specialties: Public sector risk and crisis management, strategic management and critical infrastructure protection.
Contact: Please contact Warren MacDougald at 647-823-3309 or Warren.McDougald@Dal.Ca to set up an interview with Dr. Quigley.

General comment on data, tracking, apps, and privacy (not epidemiological or legal)
Dalhousie Expert
: Dr. Howard Ramos, Professor, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
Research Specialties: Social justice and inequality, migration – immigration, social change, social movements, social statistics.
Contact: howard.ramos@dal.ca and 902-494-3130/902-494-6595

Pharmacy practices during COVID-19
Dalhousie Expert
: Dr. James Barker, Professor; Herbert S. Lamb Chair in Business Education; Research Lead Dalhousie Safe Assured; Founding Fellow, MacEachen Institute for Public Policy & Governance, Rowe School of Business
Research Specialties: Organizational safety, high-risk organizations, leadership theories, organization theories, complexity theory, organizational behavior, symbolic management, and organizational change
ContactJ.Barker@Dal.caor 902-222-5237

Dental practices/care during COVID-19
Dental hygiene and nutrition
Dalhousie expert: 
Dr. Leigha Rock, director and associate professor, School of Dental Hygiene
Research specialties: Preventative oral health care, nutrition, oral cancer
Contact: Please contact Cheryl Bell at 902.266.9403 or cheryl.bell@dal.ca if you would like an interview with Dr. Rock.

Emergency dental care and new pandemic protocol
Dalhousie expert:
 Dr. Chris Lee, assistant professor and director, Department of Dental Clinical Sciences
Research specialties: Emergency dental care, dental care of medically complex patients, access to dental care for underserviced populations
Contact: Please contact Cheryl Bell at 902.266.9403 or cheryl.bell@dal.ca if you would like an interview with Dr. Lee.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery
Dalhousie expert: 
Dr. Ben Davis, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry and professor
Research specialties: Oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral sedation, emergency dental care
Contact: Please contact Cheryl Bell at 902.266.9403 or cheryl.bell@dal.ca if you would like an interview with Dr. Davis.

Cuban healthcare system and the exportation of medical services
Dalhousie Expert:
Dr. John Kirk, Professor, Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies.
Research Specialties:Cuban colonial times, Cuban cultural revolution, Latin American dictators.
Contact: kirk@dal.caand 902-494-1082/902-494-2544.

Machine learning needed for contact and other tracing technologies
Dalhousie Expert: 
Dr. Thomas Trappenberg, Professor, Faculty of Computer Science 
Research: Computational neuroscience and machine learning.
Contact: tt@cs.dal.ca and 902-494-3087

Dalhousie Expert:Dr. Sageev Orre, Professor, Faculty of computer Science 
Research Specialties: Machine learning, deep learning, computational creativity, and deep learning models and tools for music, art & text generation
Contact:sageev@dal.ca or 902-494-1498

If you are looking to speak with one of our researchers directly working on COVID-19 research, please note that their schedules are extremely full and we will do our best to fill your request or direct you to the best point of contact.

We ask that you please keep in mind that it is at the faculty member’s discretion as to whether they have the availability to accommodate your request.