Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows

About the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship

The University of Toronto Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides funding to increase opportunities for hiring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, specifically Indigenous and/or Black researchers. These fellowships will enable postdoctoral researchers to grow their scholarly profiles, undertake academic work at the University of Toronto, and strengthen the research environment at the University with diverse perspectives.

Announcing the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows

  • Peter Adesina, Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering                         
  • Bridget Alichie, Department of Anthropology (UTSC)                       
  • Gelan Ayana, Public Health Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health                  
  • Sherri Dutton, Public Health Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health                 
  • Sonia Evans, Department of Biological Sciences (UTSC)                   
  • Jordyn Hrenyk,  Rotman School of Management                
  • Jean Pierre, Public Health Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health                     
  • Chelsi Ricketts, Faculty of Kinesiology
  • Temitope Abiola, Department of Chemistry
  • Jaimy Fischer, Human Geography (UTSC)
  • Tricia Tinashe Jakwa, Global Development Studies (UTSC)
  • Ainsely Lewis, Biology (UTM)
  • Sylvia Mutinda, Cell and Systems Biology
  • Aimable Nkurunziza, Faculty of Nursing
  • Samia Tecle, Department of Sociology (UTM)
  • Tobit Liyandja, Biological Sciences (UTSC)
  • Bamidele Emmanuel Ola, Public Health Sciences (Dalla Lana School of Public Health)
  • Ketty Anyeko, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, Current Research
  • Lisa Boivin, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute
  • John (Waaseyaabin) Hupfield, Wasauksing First Nation, Women & Gender Studies Institute
  • Oluwole Kunuji, Faculty of Law
  • Ayodele Odutayo, Department of Medicine
  • Jessica Penney, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
  • Aleczandria Tiffany, Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
  • David Green, Department of Applied Psychology & Human Development (OISE) (current David Green, Assistant Professor, Family Studies and Human Development, Brescia University College, Western University)
  • Meagan Hamilton, Department of Geography & Planning (A&S) (current Meagan Hamilton, Course Instructor, Centre for Indigenous Studies (UofT)
  • Samantha Jackson, Department of Language Studies (UTM) (January 2025: Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Linguistics (UofT)
  • Kalonde Malama, Factor Inwentash School of Social Work
  • Notisha Massaquoi, Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (current Notisha Massaquoi Department of Health and Society (UTSC))
  • Lisa Ndejuru, Faculty of Information
  • Ikenna Okeke, Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering (FASE) (current Ikenna Okeke, Oakridge National Laboratory, TN)
  • Safia Omer, Department of Biological Sciences (UTSC) (News)
  • Abdallatif Abdalrhman, Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering
  • Gerald Bareebe, Department of Political Science (UTSC) (current Gerald Bareebe)
  • Kristen Bos, Women & Gender Studies Institute (A&S) (current Kristen Bos, WGSI (UofT))
  • Lori Chambers, Factor Inwentash School of Social Work
  • Nicole Marie Muir, Department of Public Health Sciences (current Nicole Muir | LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research
  • Mary Rambaran-Olm, Department of English and Drama (UTM)
  • Ian Tobias, Department of Cell and Systems Biology
John Hupfield

For the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, I propose Niimiwin miinwaa mushkiki – Dance and Medicine: awakening the dance spirit through powwow dance, an anticolonial Anishinaabe project that approaches pedagogy as ‘a doing’ through movement. This project will seed knowledge production through the following research: powwow’s as living labs and sites of kin-making, partnerships with UTM / UofT lab spaces, powwow dance and Indigenous movement workshops series, Anishinaabe language reading groups, and the development of a mobile Movement Lab.

John Waaseyaabin Hupfield
2022 Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship recipient

Fellows in the News

Incoming U of T post-doc to research how body image affects sport participation

For Chelsi Ricketts, research on body image is a scholarly interest borne out of personal experiences. She participated in track, her brother is a collegiate athlete and her father was a competitive bodybuilder.

“Growing up, I was fascinated by my father’s drive and discipline in the pursuit of muscularity and my brother’s effortless prowess in the triple jump,” says Ricketts. “These experiences made me more aware of the incredible functions one’s body can perform when engaged in sport and physical activity, increasing the likelihood of developing a positive body image.”

But Ricketts knows all too well that not everybody appreciates their body’s potential in sport settings – she dropped out of sport in high school due to body image concerns. As a researcher, she now strives to promote inclusive and welcoming sport and physical activity environments for all, regardless of body shape, size or weight. 

Rickets is a recipient of the University of Toronto’s 2024 Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, an annual fellowship program provides funding to support the hiring of post-doctoral fellows from under-represented groups, specifically Indigenous and/or Black researchers. She will work with Professor Catherine Sabiston in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE) to explore how sex and gender intersect with body size, shape and weight diversity to influence sport participation among Canadian girls. 

Read more ⇨

U of T researcher explores reparations for forgotten victims of Uganda’s war

Ketty Anyeko experienced first-hand the turmoil of the war in northern Uganda between the government and Lord’s Resistance Army rebels – and is now dedicating her scholarly efforts to supporting post-conflict resolution and pursuing justice for victims.

A postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto, Anyeko is examining how children born of wartime sexual violence view the legal prosecutions of their fathers – often former rebel commanders – for sexual- and gender-based crimes. These children, now in their late teens and early 20s, often face stigma and blame for the conflict.

“They’re rejected, they struggle to make ends meet,” says Anyeko, who was born and raised in northern Uganda and adds that she feels a personal connection to her research work.

“I want to contribute knowledge about this specific category of victims who are often overlooked when it comes to post-conflict justice and reparation programs.”

Read more ⇨

Creating trauma-free cancer treatments: Temitope Abiola on receiving a 2023 Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship

Congratulations to postdoctoral researcher Temitope (Tosin) Abiola, who was awarded a 2023 Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship.

In 2018, the University of Toronto launched the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program to increase opportunities for hiring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, specifically Indigenous and Black researchers. Every year, this award enables seven to nine postdoctoral researchers to grow their scholarly profiles, undertake academic work at the University of Toronto, and strengthen the university’s research environment with diverse perspectives.D

Abiola’s research with University Professor R.J. Dwayne Miller’s group focuses on creating technology that could make cancer therapies more efficient and less painful.  

Read more ⇨

Provost Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Amy Shawanda hired at McGill University

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Shawanda, a Provost Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health for being hired as a tenure track Assistant Professor at the Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal Quebec. Dr. Shawanda is from the Anishinaabek Nation whose diverse research interests include Indigenous health, decolonizing/Indigenizing mainstream institutions, research methods and methodologies, Indigeneity, language, teaching pedagogies, governance, Dream Knowledges, and storytelling.

Read more ⇨

News Links

Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients at the Faculty Club luncheon, October 2019. (Left to Right: Nadège Compaoré, Debby Danard, Ahmed Ilmi, and Nikoli Attai). Other recipients include Nemoy Lewis (FAS, Geography, supervisor Prof. Deborah Cowen), Jorge Luis Fabra-Zamora (Faculty of Law, supervisor Prof. Jutta Brunnée), and Kilian Nasung Atuoye (UTM, Geography, supervisor Prof. Vincent Z. Kuuire).

“This program is invaluable because it gives me an opportunity to work with leading experts in my field and provide me with the necessary support to commence my new research study.”

— Nemoy Lewis

Additional Information

Learn more about Postdoctoral Awards