Grant: CIHR-IPPH Trailblazer Award - Senior Career Population/Public Health Researcher

Professor Benoit is an internationally recognized sociologist with broad expertise in population health, health services, social determinants, pregnancy and birth and marginalized populations. She has made major contributions to the mandate of the Institute of Population and Public Health by revealing constraints on socially disadvantaged groups and the structural forces that negatively influence their health, safety, access to services and social inclusion in Canadian society. For these individuals - including midwives, substance-using pregnant women, street-involved youth, and sex workers - the theme of human rights and dignity as health care workers, parents, and citizens is critically relevant in her research and knowledge translation activities. She was among the first to demonstrate how gender acts as a fundamental determinant of health that intersects with other social factors to create and maintain avoidable inequities. Her scholarship has challenged patriarchal attitudes and regressive policies about women's health care work, which has been taken up by activists to change national and provincial legislation relating to pay equity, midwifery and maternity care. She is also a pioneer in embracing a community-engaged participatory approach to study the health and health care marginalized groups, while at the same time developing sound ethical protocols. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, she has even co-published peer-reviewed articles, chapters and reports with non-academic partners and trainees, including highly-cited articles on community-engaged methodology. As a trailblazer, she has served as the primary/co-supervisor for 45 trainees at Master's, PhD and Post-Doctoral levels and is committed to the support and development of upcoming scholars and researchers in population and public health research. She has received many accolades, including from the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Governor General.