BRN Research Symposium 2026 to focus on turning scholarship into action 

The Black Research Network (BRN) will host its second annual research symposium on March 27 at Victoria University in the University of Toronto.  

With the theme “Transforming Research into Impact: Strategies, Stories, and Futures,” this year’s gathering explores how scholarship and community-based knowledge can move from theory to practice. 

Here is what to expect: 

A public health-powered keynote    

Beverley Essue, an associate professor at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, will deliver the keynote address. Essue will emphasize that investing in women and their health is not only a moral and social imperative, but a powerful economic strategy. Drawing on her research, Essue will demonstrate how purposeful, gender-responsive investment can improve health outcomes while fostering more resilient and inclusive societies. 

Essue is a recent Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black Researchers award-winner and two-time recipient of the BRN IGNITE Grant.  

Poster presentations     

Poster presentations offer an informal and interactive space to learn about impactful research by our members.  

This year’s posters cover a diverse range of topics, including Black health and maternal care, the role of artificial intelligence in disease prevention, urban farms in Toronto, engineering approaches to mental health diagnosisand topics of belonging in academic settings. 

An emphasis on lived experience 

Doctoral research is advancing work that makes a meaningful difference in people’s everyday lives locally, nationally and internationally.    

Olivia Bernard, a researcher at the University of Toronto Scarborough, will present her work on systemic barriers facing Black students in Canada – despite prevailing equity mandates – and explore strategies for meaningful change. Bernard advanced this work as a recipient of the 2024 Black Graduate Student Award from the Black Research Network and Department of Geography & Planning. 

Meanwhile, Julie-Ann McCausland, a PhD student in the Women and Gender Studies Institute, will discuss the experiences of women migrant farm workers in Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. Her research examines how gender, race and non-citizen status shape labour conditions, access to care and experiences of invisibility, while offering strategies for advocacy.    

Innovating classrooms through music and stories 

University of Toronto scholar-practitioners bring rich perspectives into teaching, amplifying diverse voices and histories through curriculum.   

Moderated by Lauren McLeod Cramer, assistant professor in the Cinema Studies Institute, this conversation with Mark V. Campbell, associate professor in the department of arts, culture & media at U of T Scarborough and Darren Hamilton, assistant professor at the Faculty of Music, will share how their respective careers inform the classroom, and how archiving, documenting and producing music can empower communities to preserve and steward their own histories. 

Time to recharge and connect 

Balancing research, teaching and professional responsibilities can be demanding. Suzi Lima, an associate professor in the department of linguistics, yoga and mindfulness facilitator, and co-creator of Take Care – a program designed to support undergraduate courses – will lead a session to help BRN members slow down, reflect and plan self-care.    

And it wouldn’t be a BRN event without opportunities to connect. Stay until the end of the day to network with fellow members and meet the BRN team. 

Have you registered to join us? View the program booklet.