Farah Shroff

Wall Associate

Title

Adjunct Professor

Department/School

School of Population and Public Health

Faculty

Medicine

University

University of British Columbia

Dr. Shroff is Founder and Lead of Maternal and Infant Health Canada. She is a public health educator and researcher who has worked in global women’s health for many years. She teaches in UBC’s Department of Family Medicine and School of Population and Public Health, using her expertise in social justice and health and integrative health practices. She has been working in the following areas: policy paper on housing and health; Canada’s response: statement with a national group, and writing a report card on Canada; mental health aspects of the crisis; women’s issues related to COVID-19; climate justice and other “silver linings” of this situation. She has been interviewed in the media for various issues including: the need for more granular data collection related to ethno-cultural status; community based responses to COVID-19 and other illnesses and more.

Co-Principal Investigator Awards

Robert Woollard – International Research Roundtables – 2021

Co-Investigator: Farah Shroff, School of Population and Public Health
During COVID-19, the sustainability of the planet has been catapulted to the forefront while many women have suffered as abuse, violence and hunger have increased.The unexpected gains in cleaner air, water and soil will be a subject of our discussion, particularly examining how these gains can be maintained. We will apply an ecofeminist framework to reflect upon the effects and management of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s health and the environment to create policy recommendations towards eco-social justice, by:

1) exploring the challenges and benefits of COVID-19 on women and the environment;

2) opening a dialogue with interdisciplinary academic, community, and policy leaders;

3) writing a policy paper that sets out a framework and policy recommendations that can be used in decision-making for governments, NGOs and other entities; and

4) communicating outside academia , and

5) applying for a SSHRC research grant. Maternal and Infant Health Canada, a UBC collaborative, is proposing this roundtable about the connections between women’s health and the ecosystems in which they live.

There have been co-benefits of the pandemic for the environment, and some communities where social cohesion has brought people together. The negative impacts of the pandemic, however, have been unequally imposed on women and poverty-stricken households (related to exposure and illness, care responsibilities, interpersonal violence, income cessation, etc.).