Meet our research team
Dr. Matthew Numer
(He/Him)
Matthew Numer is the head of the SHaG Lab, and Professor and Head of the Division of Health Promotion at Dalhousie University with cross-appointment to the Gender and Women's Studies Program. His research interests include substance use, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men’s health, sexual health, online technologies, and Indigenous boys’ and men’s sexual health.
He serves on the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia: Gay Men’s Health Advisory Committee, is a regional advisor for the Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health, and is a former board member of the Halifax Sexual Health Centre. He is also Chair of the PrEP Action Committee in Nova Scotia.
Brittany O’Shea
(She/Her)
Brittany O’Shea is the Research Coordinator for the ShaG lab. Brittany holds a Master of Arts in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University where she received SSHRC graduate funding to investigate the societal implications of sexual violence labels, with a focus on rape myths and rape culture. Brittany also holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University and received first-class Honours. Brittany has been involved with the SHaG Lab since 2018 and has assisted on a wide range of projects on various sexual health topics. Her research interests include the intersections between gender and health, expressions of sexuality and gender identity online, and examining how rape culture and rape myths are institutionally and socially constructed.
Dr. Christopher Dietzel
(H
e/Him)
Dr. Christopher Dietzel is a postdoctoral fellow who researches the intersections of gender, sexuality, safety, and technology. His current projects investigate sexual consent related to dating app use and sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people. Dr. Dietzel has also been involved in other research projects, including a project in Australia that examined dating app users’ experiences of safety, risk, and well-being. Since March 2020, he has examined dating app companies’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more, check out Dr. Dietzel’s article in The Conversation: “Relationships during a pandemic: How dating apps have adapted to COVID-19.”
Dr. Val Webber
(They/Them)
Dr. Valerie Webber is a postdoctoral fellow who researches the interplay between health, sexuality, and hierarchies of respectability. Their dissertation examined occupational health protocols in the porn industry. They are board chair of Performer Availability Screening Services (PASS), a non-profit dedicated to adult film performer health. They have also worked on research projects related to vulvodynia and rurality, mental health and harm reduction resources, and the links between cisheteronormativity and online adult content creation policies.
Dr. Webber also holds a Master’s of Public Health from Memorial University, a Master’s of Arts in Medical Anthropology from McGill University, and a BA in Anthropology & Sexuality from Concordia University. They have been involved in a variety of sex worker rights, community health, and queer organizing projects. Links to peer-reviewed publications, other writing and presentations, and media coverage are available at: www.valeriewebber.com.
Dr. Bamidele Bello
(She/Her)
Dr. Bamidele Bello is a Killam postdoctoral fellow who has been actively involved in maternal and reproductive health research and programming for more than ten years. Dr. Bello has a deep passion for adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and maternal health behaviours. Her experience cuts across research, teaching, programme development, monitoring and evaluation. She has played a frontline role in several national and multi-country studies, such as the Nigerian component of the 15-country Global Early Adolescent Study and the Gender Socialisation of Very Young Adolescents in Schools and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. Her interest is in the larger social and family contexts of adolescent SRH behaviours – both risk and protective factors. Her research interests include both translational and implementation science research to facilitate the development and expansion of adolescents and older women to effective health interventions. Bamidele holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Nutrition as well as a Master's and Doctoral degree in Public Health (Child and Adolescent Health) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Claire Yurkovich
(She/They)
Claire Yurkovich is a research assistant at the SHaG Lab. She holds a Master’s degree in Women and Gender Studies from Saint Mary’s University and received a Bachelor of Science from Dalhousie University in Psychology and English. Her Master’s research focused on creative art therapy, specifically looking at the efficacy of reading and writing poetry as a way of healing from sexualized violence. Their research interests include areas of gender, sexuality, and mental health, as well as the intersections between literature, poetry, and healing. Claire is also passionate about how language and the written word can improve accessibility within mental health research and lend to a space of community and self-expression.
Sulia’n (William) Johnson
(He/Him)
Sulia’n is a Research Assistant in the SHaG Lab from Kepekek Kjipuktuk working on the Indigenous Boys and Men research project. He is an enthusiast of the Mi’kmaw Civilization and has been engaged with learning for over 10 years. Sulia’n earned his Honours Degree in Kinesiology, with a certificate in Indigenous Studies and a certificate in Intercultural Communication in 2020 from Dalhousie University. His research topic explored the self-perception of the impact of Scouting participation on Nova Scotian Youth’s life skills. His areas of interest include Hoplology, Music, Ethnobiology, Indigenous Medicine, and Crafting. He is a martial artist, outdoorsman, and craftsman making traditional musical instruments, weaponry, and games. For some more information, you can see an interview with Sulia’n on Mi’kmaw plant relations: https://www.dal.ca/news/2020/10/09/ask-an-expert--william-johnson-on-the-importance-of-plants-in-mi.html
Arthur ‘Dave’ Miller
(He/Him)
Dave Miller is a Research Associate at the SHaG Lab specializing in Indigenous men's health. Dave is a 48-year-old Mi'kmaq HIV activist with over 12 years of experience working with and supporting many service organizations across Canada in both paid and volunteer capacities. Formerly, Dave worked as a Community Health Educator supporting 33 Atlantic First Nation Communities in healthy living and is wrapping up the final stages of the National HIV Stigma Index with REACH Nexus (St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto) at the MAP Center for Urban Health Solutions. With this study, Dave coordinated a team of peer researchers across the country. Dave has been seated in various Board Positions for Canadian Organizations throughout his career, currently sitting as the Chair for Canadian Aids Society, and also as a member of the Advisory Committee for Sexual Health Information Exchange Labrador District (SHIELD).
Dave is a community builder, a fun, free-spirited guy who serves his communities in whatever way he can. He received the 2014 Atlantic Canada Volunteer of the Year award and the 2016 Halifax Regional Municipality Volunteer Award. Dave is committed to his belief in a better future for HIV testing, treatment and care and works tirelessly to educate to stop the stigma and discrimination associated with living with HIV and AIDS.
Andrew Thomas
(He/Him)
Andrew works as a research assistant for SHaG Lab and he is in his final year of a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology at Yorkville University. He has a background in sexual health and harm reduction and developed and coordinated the Peer N Peer Program out of the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia. He also works as a research assistant for Dr. Phillip Joy at Mount Saint Vincent University looking into the meanings of compassion in the 2SLGBTQIA community. He co-founded the "PnP Project Halifax" and co-facilitates a support group for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals engaged in sexualized substance use called “PNP Hangouts." He also does work for the Community Based Research Centre, developing educational resources about PnP. He is an active community educator on harm reduction and sexual health and with colleagues from Toronto is creating more inclusive and supportive policies for workers with lived and living experience/expertise relating to substance use.