Dr. Bukola Salami

Biography

Professor Bukola Salami received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Windsor, Master of Nursing from the University of Toronto, and PhD in Nursing from the University of Toronto. In July 2023, she became a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary and the Scientific Director of Equity Diversity and Inclusion for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. She is also a member of the O’Brien Institute for Public Health. Previously, she held the rank of Full Professor in the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta. She is the former Director of the Intersections of Gender Signature Area in the Office of the Vice President Research at the University of Alberta (September 2021 to March 2023). She co-lead the creation of the Institute for Intersectionality Studies at the University of Alberta.

Professor Salami’s research program focuses on policies and practices shaping migrant health as well as Black people’s health. She has been involved in over 90 funded studies totalling over $230 million, including being Equity, Diversity and Inclusion lead for the $125 million One Child Every Child. She has led research projects on topics including African immigrant child health, immigrant mental health, access to healthcare for Black women, access to healthcare for immigrant children, Black youth mental health, the health of internally displaced children, the well-being of temporary foreign workers, COVID vaccine hesitancy among Black Canadians, an environmental scan of equity seeking organizations in Alberta, culturally appropriate practices for research with Black Canadians, international nurse migration, and parenting practices of African immigrants. She is one of the most published Black health researchers in Canada with over 125 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

She founded and leads the African Child and Youth Migration Network, a network of 42 scholars from four continents. In 2020, she founded the Black Youth Mentorship and Leadership Program. The program, the first university-based fully interdisciplinary mentorship program for Black youths in Canada, seeks to socially and economically empower Black high school youths to meaningfully contribute to Canadian society. Her work on Black youth mental health informed the creation of the first mental health clinic for Black Canadians in Western Canada (which was founded by Africa Centre and the Alberta Black Therapist Network). She has presented her work to policy makers (including twice to the Prime Minister of Canada and once to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health). Her work has contributed to policy change, including that related to Black people’s well-being. In 2015/2016, she was a collaborating researcher at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. She has trained over 100 undergraduate and graduate students, including many (~10) who are now Assistant or Associate Professors.

She is a Board member of the Black Opportunities Fund, Canadian Nurses Association, and Black Health Alliance. She is a former Board member of Africa Center (the largest Black organization in Western Canada), Alberta College of Social Workers, Edmonton Local Immigrant Partnership, National Association of Nigerian Nurses of North America, International Nursing Interest Group of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, and Project Esperance (a housing unit for women in Toronto). In addition to being an Editor for the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, she is an Associate Editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) and on the Editorial Board of Nursing Inquiry, Nursing Philosophy and Qualitative Health Research. She is an advisory board member of the CIHR Institute for Human Development, Child and Youth Health.

Dr. Salami has received several awards for research excellence and community engagement: 100 Accomplished Black Women in Canada; Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing Emerging Nurse Researcher of the Year Award; College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA) Award for Nursing Excellence; Rosalind Smith Professional Award from the National Black Coalition of Canada – Edmonton Chapter; Alberta Avenue Edmonton Top 40 under 40; Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame; Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing; Killam Accelerator Award (a $225,000 value for research); Top 25 Canadian Immigrants; Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal recipient; WXN EDI Leaders Award, and Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.