Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

About 50% of cancer diagnoses are preventable by adopting healthy lifestyle behaviours such as limiting the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. World-renowned cancer research organizations have reported that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption or cigarette smoking that does not increase the risk of developing cancer. Gender minority (GM) people- people that have a gender identity that is different from their sex assigned at birth such as transgender men or transgender women- have a higher risk of developing cancer because studies outside of Canada have demonstrated that this community has higher rates of substance use. Data on Canadian GMs is limited as many surveys do not include a question that asks participants about their gender identity. In my research, I will be using two Canadian datasets that have recently collected information regarding the gender identity of their participants, and I will use this information to explore the rates of alcohol consumption, tobacco use and related-cancers in GM people. I will also use this data to determine how the rates of alcohol consumption and tobacco use has changed in GM communities since the COVID-19 pandemic. I will help explain the results of this data by learning from GM people themselves, through the use of focus groups. This research will uncover the rates of alcohol and tobacco use in the Canadian GM community and help researchers understand what factors contribute to the use of these two substances in this community for policy development.