Dr. OmiSoore Dryden

Dr. OmiSoore H. Dryden, a Black queer femme, is the James R Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, and the Interim Director of the Black Studies (in STEMM) Research Institute. Dr. Dryden engages in interdisciplinary scholarship and research that focuses on Black LGBTQI communities, blood donation systems in Canada, systemic/structural issues that affect health and well-being, medical education, and Black health curricular content development. Dryden is a content expert and Associate Scientist with the Maritime Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) SUPPORT Unit (MSSU).

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Dr. Dryden is the Principal Investigator of #GotBlood2Give / #DuSangÀDonner a research project that seeks to identify the barriers Black gay, bisexual, and trans men encounter with donating blood and also analyzes how anti-black racism, colonialism, and sexual exceptionalism shapes the blood system in Canada. Most recently, Dryden is the Principal Investigator on the project Don’t Count Us Out! – a community-informed, culturally sensitive approach to health promotion for African Nova Scotian communities with an initial focus on COVID-19 pandemic. Dryden is a member of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective, a board member of the Health Association of African Canadians, and the past co-president of the Black Canadian Studies Association (2019-2021).

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR