Dr. Josephine Etowa, PhD, RN, FWACN, FAAN FCAN FCAHS
Dr. Josephine Etowa is a Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black Women’s Health, internationally recognized for her leadership in advancing health equity and addressing systemic racism in healthcare, particularly among Black communities in Canada. Her research spans women’s health, maternal and child health, social determinants of health, and community health nursing, with a focus on dismantling structural barriers to equitable outcomes.
Grounded in intersectionality and community-based participatory action research, Dr. Etowa’s work centers the lived experiences of Black women and communities as critical sources of knowledge and drivers of change. She is the Founder and Director of the Collaborative Critical Research for Equity and Transformation in Health (CO-CREATH) Lab, where she leads a dynamic, interdisciplinary research program that has secured over $55 million in funding and supports trainees and scholars across career stages through mentorship grounded in equity and mutual learning.
Dr. Etowa has led innovative, community-driven initiatives to strengthen workforce diversity and improve health outcomes, including programs to increase the representation of Black and Indigenous nurses and a peer equity navigation model that significantly enhanced COVID-19 vaccine uptake among African, Caribbean, and Black communities in Ottawa.
Her scholarship and advocacy have informed public health policy and community mobilization efforts, including contributions to the establishment of Ottawa Black Mental Health Day. In recognition of her impact, she has received numerous honours, including the Order of Ottawa (2024), the Canadian Public Health Association’s Ron Draper Award (2024), the Canadian Science Policy Centre Trailblazer Award (2021), and the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025). She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the American Academy of Nursing, and a three-time recipient of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship
If you would like to book Dr. Etowa for a speaking engagement, please contact Dan Shu.
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CO-CREATH Lab Staff
Amoy Jacques, MPH
Program Manager
Glory Osandatuwa
Research Administrative Assistant
Dan Shu
Administrative Assistant
Akalewold T. Gebremeskel, MSc, PhD (c)
PhD student supervised by Dr J. Etowa
Research Coordinator
