Senior Investigator, Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Psychosocial Research Axis, Lady Davis Institute
Associate Professor, Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University
Danielle Groleau is a medical anthropologist with a PhD in Public Health and post-doctoral training in Transcultural Psychiatry. She is an Associate Professor in the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University, and Senior Investigator at the Culture and Mental Health Research Unit of the Psychosocial Research Axis of the Lady Davis Institute. She is a Fond de Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ) Chercheur-Boursier Senior in the area of health and society. Dr. Groleau’s expertise is in psycho-cultural determinants of health behavior, mainly in vulnerable populations. She teaches two courses in qualitative methods at McGill and has developed new qualitative interview tools designed to address knowledge translation of research results to public health stakeholders, while fostering a participatory approach to guide policy makers. She is internationally recognized as an expert in these areas, and has received numerous invitations from universities in Asia, Latin America, and Europe, as well as national and international agencies (World Health Organization, Pan-American Health Organization, and the government of Québec), for consultation in research and policy.
Major Research Activities
Existing health inequalities affecting immigrant and French-Canadian women living in poverty serve as the impetus for the development of Dr. Groleau’s research program. Another important focus is on the unresolved issue of medically unexplained symptoms found in obstetrics and neurology. Based on preliminary findings and the literature, critical reproductive health issues of immigrant and poor women are adressed: i.e. barriers to breastfeeding for mothers living in poverty and those with low-birth weight babies, hyperemesis gravidarum, female genital mutilation, and HIV infected mothers. Her program also explores the health service experience of patients with pseudo-seizures and heart disease, as well as barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a national policy for breastfeeding in Québec. Interdisciplinary approaches in collaboration with community and goverment partners has produced an impressive body of knowledge. Mentoring research trainees and graduate students at all stages of the production and translation of results is also a strong component of her program. Dr. Groleau's multidisciplinary approach is uniquely suited to address important women’s health issues.
Dr. Groleau is currently principal or co-principal investigator on four major research grants: two awarded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FQRSC), and one each from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the CIHR: Emerging Team in Perinatal Mental Health.
Recent Publications
(in press)
Groleau, D., L.
Sibeko. Infant feeding in the margins: morality, rationality and experience. In Breastfeeding and Feminism 2010: Rethinking Public Health Approaches. Eds. M. Labbok, P. H. Smith, B.Haussman.
2010 Groleau, D., F.Lespérance, R.Whitley, L.J. Kirmayer. Spiritual Reconfiguration of Self After a Myocardial Infarction: influence of culture and place. Health & Place, 16 : 853-860.
2009 Groleau, D. , C. Rodriguez. Breastfeeding and poverty : Negotiating cultural change and symbolic capital of motherhood in Québec, Canada. pp. 80-98. In Eds. Dykes F & Hall Moran V (2009) Infant and Yound Child Feeding: Challenges to implementing a Global Strategy. Pages 240. Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford.