About Us

Meet Our Researchers

Dionne Gesink (She/Her)

Dionne is a Professor with the University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health.  Her research focuses on the social epidemiology of sexual and reproductive health.  Dionne is interested in the patterns, connections and relationships between behavioural, social, cultural, environmental, spatial factors, and sexual health. Dionne’s research approach is grounded in relational, and community based participatory research principles.

Hope Ramsay (She/Her)

Hope is the Executive Director of Moyo and comes to us with over 25 years experience in the HIV sector in Canada and the Caribbean. After beginning her career as a Registered Nurse, she went on to earn a Masters degree in Public Health and to become the Director of the first HIV program established in Jamaica – The Centre for HIV AIDS Research and Services at the University Hospital of the West Indies. She was also Founding Director of Nursing for the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life.

Yoshith Perera (He/Him)

Yoshith is a Community Engagement Manager with Moyo and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Western Ontario and Clinical Diploma in Medicine. Advocating for equity and social justice, he uses traditional and virtual platforms to mobilize social change. His recent contributions in public relations earned him the 2016 Publicist of the Year award by District 86 Toastmasters.

Laura Bourns (She/Her)

Laura is a Public Health Physician with Public Health Ontario (PHO) and holds an appointment as an Assistant Professor with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Prior to joining PHO Laura worked as an Associate Medical Officer of Health with the Region of Peel, where her portfolio focused on communicable diseases including sexually transmitted infections. Laura completed her medical training and residencies in Family Medicine and Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

Meet Our Interviewers

Chris Dharma (He/Him)

Chris is currently a PhD student in epidemiology at the University of Toronto with a background in statistics and psychology. His main research interests are on mental health, sexuality, and social connectedness. He has worked on multiple sexuality related research, including one on the best practices to ask about sex, gender, and sexual orientation in population surveys. 

Jodh Singh (He/Him)

Jodh  is the Gay Men’s Health Programs Coordinator at Moyo Health & Community Services. Before joining Moyo Jodh founded the Queer Sikh Network , an LGBTQ+ resource platform for Sikhs. He is also a Research Assistant in Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, researching history and organizing events for other queer people looking to create a family and network.

Emmanuel Appiah (He/Him)

Emmanuel is a law student at the University of Ottawa with a Masters in New Media and Communications. His research interests focus on how the law, identity and culture in media intersect to determine access to justice and equity. Emmanuel has been a general participant in several community building events with Moyo and looks forward to contributing to this study.

Supported By: