lara.gautier

I am an interdisciplinary ECR with extensive skills in qualitative research, mixed methods, and integrated knowledge translation. My public health training in France and Canada has led me to develop a particular interest in people’s life conditions, and the need to be culturally sensitive when working with populations of diverse backgrounds. Navigating across French, Canadian, and West African contexts for the past 10 years has given me the opportunity to further develop this cultural sensitivity. I converted this personal interest into a social commitment. In 2016-2019, I volunteered with migrants at the Centre Social d’Aide aux Immigrants (CSAI) in Montreal and at Médecins du Monde’s (MdM) programme for unaccompanied minors (UMs) in Paris. Through these commitments, I increased my knowledge on the complex social and institutional environments of migrants in both cities. At CSAI, I supported refugee families in learning French and overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. At the MdM clinic, I helped assess UMs’ personal histories upon their admission. My previous tasks included conducting a mixed-method pilot study analyzing UMs’ life conditions.

As I was completing my PhD in the field of health systems and policy research, I built upon my volunteer activity to develop a complete research program in migrant health. I decided to further my academic training in public health focusing on UMs, as a post-doctoral fellow at the Dept of Sociology at McGill University. After 12 months, I was appointed Assistant Professor at the Dept of Health Management, Evaluation and Policy of the School of Public Health at Université de Montreal. In my new capacity, I am leading a team of researchers and working hand-in-hand with MdM practitioners and Montreal’s healthcare providers on the topic of UM’s health. I contribute to expanding the burgeoning field of migrant health through many other activities, including several publications on the social determinants of health of Haitian immigrants in Montreal, conducting projects on the impact of the pandemic on newcomers in Montreal, and exploring the adaptations that community-based organizations have been undertaking to continue serving these populations during the health crisis.