Policy

Shira Goldenberg, PhD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the San Diego State University, affiliate faculty at UBC Division of Social Medicine. She was a research scientist at Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE), 2019-2024. She is also adjunct faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Shira has conducted research on sexual health, violence, and human rights for im/migrants, sex workers, and young women since 2006. Her work has informed global policy initiatives and guidelines related to sex workers’, women’s and im/migrants’ health including through consultation roles with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the International Association for Providers of AIDS Care.

Shira’s work has demonstrated the serious health and social inequities faced by marginalized im/migrant women in Canada and internationally, with a focus on sexual health, precarious labour conditions, gender-based violence, and access to health services. She is Principal Investigator of An Evaluation of Sex Workers’ Health Access (AESHA), an ongoing longitudinal, community-based cohort study focused on sexual health, human rights, and access to care among women sex workers in Vancouver, BC. Shira also leads the Evaluating Inequities in Refugee and Immigrant Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Access (IRIS) Study with colleagues in BC. Her research employs qualitative, epidemiological, and community-based research approaches. Dr. Goldenberg is passionate about the role of community engagement and partnerships for ensuring ethical and effective approaches to research, programmes, and policy to advance the health and wellbeing of marginalized communities.