Nicole Charles

Nicole Charles is an assistant professor in the department of historical studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her research focuses on women, gender and sexuality studies, including Caribbean feminisms and Black feminist health science studies. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach in her research, Charles questions issues of care, gendered and racialized risk, technoscience and coloniality in the Black Atlantic.

Published in November 2021, Charles’ debut book Suspicion: Vaccines, Hesitancy and the Affective Politics of Protection in Barbados examines the promotion of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in 2014. Charles reframes the refusal of many in Barbados to get immunized – promised to reduce the risk of cervical cancer in young women – by examining cultural and political histories, mistrust and suspicion in medical practices conducted by the government.

Charles is a member of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective, which advocates for the importance of incorporating social justice into medical science.