Susan Bartels

I am a clinician-scientist who conducts global public health research to better understand how people are affected by humanitarian crises, including armed conflict and natural disasters. My particular focus is women and children and my research is aimed at improving the delivery of aid and services to affected individuals and their families. In a World Bank / Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) funded project, I am currently leading an investigation on child marriage among Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon and am researching access to contraception and family planning services for this vulnerable group. I am also a co-principal investigator for a U.K. Arts and Humanities Research Council project exploring relationships between local community members and UN peacekeepers in Haiti with a focus on abuse and exploitation. And finally, I am co-investigator for a Wellcome Trust funded project in Vietnam documenting the experiences of mixed race children born during the Vietnamese war. These projects share a novel mixed quantitative – qualitative approach using Cognitive Edge’s SenseMaker®. I have also used other innovative methodologies such as respondent driven sampling to conduct research among hard-to-reach populations. While most of my work has been in Sub-Saharan Africa, I am currently enjoying the challenge of working in and learning about new contexts and environments.

I am also Director of the newly established Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship at Queen's University, which took its inaugural fellow in August 2017 and co-founder of ARCH, a newly established research collaborative for global health equity at Queen’s University. ARCH researchers undertake research, capacity development and knowledge translation to improve health equity in Canada and internationally.

I welcome enquires from students, residents and potential collaborators.