Professor Sepali Guruge named Fellow at Massey College
As a Massey Fellow, professor Sepali Guruge will spend the 2020-2021 academic year researching the intersection of aging and immigration.
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing professor Sepali Guruge, who has been studying immigrant health in urban settings for the past 25 years, has been selected as the 2020-2021 Ryerson fellow at Massey College (external link) – an honour that comes with space and resources to pursue research. Guruge’s appointment to the prestigious group of scholars will allow her to expand her research in the critical global trends that are affecting aging immigrants.
Massey College is best described as an inspiring intellectual community of visiting scholars and distinguished leaders. Massey College is affiliated with (but independent from) the University of Toronto (U of T), and Guruge acknowledges the return to the campus is surreal. She completed her BSc, MSc, MA, and PhD at U of T before moving to Western University for her postdoctoral work.
Prior to joining Ryerson as an associate professor, Guruge worked in a range of research, practice, and teaching capacities at the University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital, Baycrest Centre, and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She has received many awards and fellowships in recognition of her work in the area of immigrant health. In 2014, she was selected to be part of the inaugural cohort of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada.
Guruge has a strong passion for mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, and junior faculty. “Because of this, I am looking forward to engaging in rich and stimulating interactions with the Massey College community of Junior and Senior Fellows,” said Guruge. “In doing so, I want to promote Massey College’s mission to nourish learning. To capture in Principal Des Rosiers’ words, I am looking forward to engaging with the ‘Massey magic: conversations and exchanges that stimulate us in pursuing our work for the public good.’ And, I am very excited about the year ahead” says Guruge.
Busy year ahead
Guruge will be busy over the next academic year. In addition to the Massey College fellowship, it was recently announced that, along with several of her Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing colleagues, Guruge was awarded an Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund grant from the provincial government for a study that aims to improve relational care of older persons in long-term care homes during the pandemic while protecting the mental health and well-being of their health-care workers. Guruge also received $2.5 million in SSHRC funding earlier this year to address social isolation in older immigrants across Canada – a study that she will conduct with a team of academic and community partners in nine cities across Canada. Guruge is also in the process of completing three other projects – also funded by SSHRC – that focus on the well-being of aging immigrants (external link) .
“Professor Guruge’s work is a shining example of the important research happening at Ryerson,” said Saeed Zolfaghari, interim provost and vice-president, academic. “Passion for helping Canada’s aging immigrant population is needed now more than ever, and Professor Guruge’s fellowship at Massey College will expand her already impressive work. I wish her a very heartfelt congratulations.”
Ryerson has a strong history with Massey College. The university has a partnership with the college that facilitates an annual appointment of a Ryerson faculty member for a one-year research residence. Previous appointees include Marco A. Fiola from Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Maria Gurevich and Frank Russo from the Department of Psychology, Michael Coutanche from the RTA School of Media, Mehrunnisa Ahmad Ali from the School of Early Childhood Studies, Lorraine Janzen Kooistra from the Department of English, John Shields from the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Anthony Bonato from the Department of Mathematics and Dae Kun (Rilla) Hwang from the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Massey College also named two Ryerson visiting scholars for 2020-2021: professor Kathryn Underwood, Early Childhood Studies (Faculty of Community Services) and professor Chris Gore, Politics and Public Administration (Faculty of Arts). Anver Saloojee, assistant vice-president, international and professor in the Department of Politics Public Administration has been announced as a senior fellow and Quadrangle Society member.