Welcoming new faculty to FCS
Samantha Biglieri, Assistant Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning
Samantha Biglieri holds a PhD in Planning from the University of Waterloo, a Master of Planning from Ryerson University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Global Development Studies and Italian from Queen’s University. Biglieri has a professional background in planning practice as a land-use planning consultant and serves the community on the Board of the Toronto Council on Aging, a non-profit focusing on education and civic engagement. She specializes in understanding experiences of people living with dementia in their neighbourhoods; aging in the built environment, housing and policy; and understanding experiences and governance in sub/urban areas. Most recently, she was an SSHRC post-doctoral fellow at York University.
Valerie Borum, Associate Professor and Director, School of Social Work (January 2020)
Valerie Borum completed her post-doctoral studies at the University of Rochester’s, School of Medicine and received her PhD in Social Work from Howard University and her Master of Social Work from Gallaudet University. While studying at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., all of her instruction was in American Sign Language (ASL). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with minors in biology and philosophy from Mundelein Women’s College at Loyola University in Chicago. Borum’s research and scholarship focus on the role of ethnoculture as a protective and promotive factor in health, mental health, and disability, with attention to Black/African Americans. Borum also focuses on the role of ‘Whiteness’ in oppression, marginalization, and anti-Black racism. She is currently conducting research with a focus on advocacy and families of color as a research collaborator/consultant with Laurent Clerc National Deaf Educational Research Center at Gallaudet University.
Elizabeth Cates, Assistant Professor, Midwifery Education Program
Elizabeth Cates received her PhD in Medical Sciences with a focus on allergy immunology from McMaster University and completed her BScH from the University of Guelph, focusing on molecular biology and genetics. She has been teaching in health sciences at McMaster University since 2005 and in midwifery at Ryerson University since 2016. She became heavily involved in curriculum and resource design in the health sciences while completing her PhD and was a recipient of two team awards for that work in 2005 – The President’s Award for Curriculum and Resource Design from McMaster University and an Alan Blizzard Award for Collaborative Teaching from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. She is dedicated to increasing medical science literacy among midwives to facilitate evidence-based practice. Cates’ research interests include infectious diseases as well as retention efforts in both midwifery education and clinical practice. She is a partner at Midwifery Care – North Don River Valley and holds privileges at North York General Hospital.
Claire Dion Fletcher, Assistant Professor, Midwifery Education Program
Claire Dion Fletcher is an Indigenous (Lenape- Potawatomi) and mixed settler registered midwife practicing at Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto. Dion Fletcher completed her Master of Arts in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University where her research focused on decolonized health care and Indigenous midwifery. Dion Fletcher is particularly interested in the contributions of Indigenous midwifery to Indigenous sovereignty. She is committed to reproductive justice and Indigenous feminisms and how these frameworks shape midwifery education and practice. Dion Fletcher is currently co-chair of the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM), sits on the Board of the Canadian Association of Midwives, was previously co-chair of the Toronto Birth Centre Community Council and was recognized as the 2018 Aspen Ideas Spotlight Health, Global Health Scholar.
Maher El-Masri, Professor and Director, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Maher El-Masri is an academic nurse leader and a Fulbright Scholar who completed his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at a post-diploma program from Al-Quds University. He completed his master’s and PhD degrees in nursing at the University of Maryland Baltimore. Prior to joining the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, El-Masri served as a professor at the College of Nursing, Wayne State University and at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Windsor, where he held various research leadership roles. In recognition of his expertise in research methods and biostatistics, El-Masri has served as a visiting scholar and/or adjunct professor at several nursing and allied health programs in Canada and the United States. A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, he has been serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research (CJNR) since 2015.
Nicole Ineese-Nash, Assistant Professor, School of Early Childhood Studies & Child and Youth Care (July 2021)
Nicole Ineese-Nash is an Anishinaabe (Oji-Cree) scholar. Nicole completed her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies, with a minor in psychology in 2016. She then pursued a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Studies at Ryerson University. She is doing a PhD in Philosophy focusing on Social Justice Education and Indigenous Health at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Her current research looks at land-based education as a mechanism for youth leadership and spiritual healing. She has been lecturing at colleges and universities, including Seneca College, Ryerson University, and the University of Toronto since 2017. Ineese-Nash’s research has focused on inclusivity in early childhood education and on bringing first nations leaders, and elders together with academics to find answers together as part of the Mamow Ki Ken Di Mawin project with the Nibinamik First Nation. She is the director and co-founder of Finding Our Power Together, non-profit organization providing mental health services, cultural programming, and educational support to Indigenous youth.
Loretta Loon, Assistant Professor, School of Child and Youth Care (July 2021)
Loretta Loon is Eeyou/Inninew Cree and a band member of Fort Albany First Nation. She is a PhD Candidate in Education at York University in which her thesis deciphers “Stealing Across Time: Indigenous Eeyou Istchee and Autochthony as Decolonization.” She has worked with Indigenous communities throughout Ontario during the past twenty-one years in community development, administration, health policy and post-secondary education. She has developed Indigenous-focused curriculum at a number of universities including Algoma, York, Brock, and McGill. She has also worked as a Health Policy Analyst for Noojimawin Health Authority in Toronto and as a Senior Policy Advisor with the Government of Nunavut in Iqaluit. Loon brings her experience working within both provincial and federal government contexts in housing, health policy, and analysis. Her research interests are Indigenous mental health, Indigenous youth resiliency, decolonization studies, and Indigenous health.
Olufunke (Funke) Oba, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work (January 2020)
Funke Oba holds a PhD and a Master of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University. She is a fellow of the Carnegie Foundation and adjunct professor at the University of Lagos, University of Regina, and Wilfrid Laurier University. Before Joining Ryerson, Oba was an assistant professor at the University of Regina and practicum coordinator at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her social work practice spanned child welfare, violence against women and field education. Her research interests include Black youth, Afrocentric praxis, North-South collaborations, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Oba’s dissertation on Black youth schooling experiences earned her a doctoral award and she is a recipient of the Wilfrid Laurier Teaching University’s Excellence (2017). She is also the founder of Community Academic Reciprocal Engagement (CARE) for Black youth, board member of the African Community Wellness Initiatives, and immediate past president of the African Canadian Association of Waterloo Region. Her current funded projects include: Investigating schooling experiences of Black youth in Saskatoon; pan-Canadian study on access to post-secondary education among Black youth; experiences of racialized students in professional helping disciplines and a fourth study facilitating racial justice dialogues with Waterloo Region District School Board.
Victor Perez-Amado, Assistant Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning
Victor Perez-Amado was previously a professor of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Toronto. He holds a Master of Architecture and a Post Professional Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he graduated with distinction. His work focuses on interdisciplinary research and relationships between territorial landscapes, urban design, and architecture. Perez-Amado’s research focus is on aging in place, long-term care facilities, and multigenerational housing, including in LGBTQ2S communities. He is also known for his interactive public installations including the “Woggle Jungle and Woggle Jungle 2.0, Everyone is King: Design-Build Competition, King Street Pilot Project” the 2019 Winter-Stations project “Cavalcade” on Woodbine Beach in Toronto, the 2020 Ontario Place Winter Light Festival “Lumina” and most recently the Pebbs & Hex Pop-up Park displayed at the base of the CN Tower.
Summer Sutton, Assistant Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning (January 2021)
Summer Sutton (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina) is a PhD candidate at Yale University. She holds a Master of Philosophy from Yale and a Master of Architecture from M.I.T and a BArch from Cornell University. She has been an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Texas Tech University and the American University of Dubai and has also taught at Yale University and the Rhode Island School of Design. Sutton’s academic research looks at Indigenous architecture practices of marking and stewardship in the built environment of North America. She is a co-founder of the Indigenous Scholars of Architecture, Planning, and Design with her work being featured in Architectural Digest, Architect Magazine, ByDesign Magazine, Indian Country Today, Native America Calling, and a co-authored chapter in the award-winning catalogue, Place, Nations, Generations, Beings.
