Elizabeth Saewyc PHD, RN, FSAHM, FCAHS, FAAN, FCAN is Professor and the Director of the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She also leads the multidisciplinary Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre. For more than 25 years, Dr. Saewyc's research and clinical practice as a public health nurse has focused on health equity for marginalized youth, especially for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two Spirit (LGBTQ2S) adolescents.
Her work with youth has focused on how stigma, violence, and trauma influence adolescents' health and coping behaviours, and what protective factors can foster resilience and improve health equity.
She was lead investigator for the first federally funded Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey in 2013-2014, and also completed the second national survey 5 years later. Dr. Saewyc has provided consultation on the health issues of LGBTQ2S+ youth and other young people to national and international governments and agencies, including the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, the US White House (under President Obama), the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNESCO. She is a Fellow in the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the American Academy of Nursing, and the Canadian Academy of Nursing.
Ace Chan, MSc, is a doctoral student in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia whose research centres sexual and gender minority (SGM) people. Ace's research interests include (SGM) health disparities, creating inclusive and accessible health care spaces for SGM folks and illuminate health inequities in marginalized populations. Ace's passion for accessible and inclusive services for SGM people extends beyond academia and into the community as well.
Ace has served as a member of the Trans and Gender Variant steering committee for the City of Vancouver, is a member of the community advisor group to Trans Care BC and is also a board member for the Catherine White Holman Wellness Center which provides lower-barrier health care services for gender minority people. Ace has demonstrated the ability to communicate science to people of all ages including stakeholders, with their position at Telus World of Science, as a community scientist and being a part of the leadership team for the BC Knowledge Translation Community of Practice.