Dr. Colleen Varcoe

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Colleen Varcoe, RN, PhD is a professor Emeritus in the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. She received her diploma in nursing at the Royal Columbian Hospital School of Nursing, and hold Masters degrees in Education and a Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctorate in Nursing. She taught nursing for 40 years. Her work aims to decrease inequity and violence including interpersonal and structural forms of violence such as racism and stigma related to poverty and substance use. Completed research includes studies of the risks for and health effects of violence and promoting health for women who experience violence, especially Indigenous women. She has studied how to promote equity-oriented healthcare (cultural safety/antiracism, substance use health/harm reduction, and trauma- and violence-informed care) at the organizational level and worked with Indigenous communities, organizations and issues in health care and criminal justice contexts. She is the author of over 200 peer reviewed journal articles and chapters and several books on women’s health, relational nursing practice, and trauma- and violence-informed care.