Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc is a Professor and Distinguished
University Scholar, and, since 2017, Director of the School of Nursing at
the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She also founded and heads the
Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, a multidisciplinary internationally
recognized research centre. For more than 25 years, Dr. Saewyc’s research and
public health nursing practice has focused on health equity for marginalized
youth, especially for Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/non-binary,
and queer (2SLGBTQ+) adolescents and young adults. Dr. Saewyc has provided consultation
on the health of young people to provincial, national and international
governments and agencies, including the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada,
the US White House (under President Obama), the World Health Organization and
UNICEF. Her research has been cited in laws, policies, and human rights cases,
and has been used to guide programs and health practice. In addition to the
Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Dr. Saewyc has been named a Fellow in the
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, in the American Academy of Nursing,
and in the Canadian Academy of Nursing. In 2019, she was inducted into the
Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Researcher Hall of Fame.