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Travis Salway

Associate Professor

Faculty of Health Sciences

Travis Salway

Associate Professor

Faculty of Health Sciences

Areas of interest

Social epidemiology, sexual and gender minority (2SLGBTQ) populations, sexual health, mental health, suicide

Education

  • B.A. in Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley
  • M.Sc. in Epidemiology, McGill University
  • Ph.D. in Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Biography

Travis Salway is a social epidemiologist who works to understand and improve the health of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2S/LGBTQ) populations. In 2019-2020, he testified for two standing committees of the Canadian House of Commons, to inform federal policy to promote 2S/LGBTQ health equity. This resulted in the passage of Bill C-4, making it a crime to perpetrate anti-2S/LGBTQ practices, otherwise known as “conversion therapy.” Travis directs the REAFFIRM Collaborative, an interdisciplinary team studying effects of 2S/LGBTQ identity (in)validation. He founded MindMapBC.ca, a 2S/LGBTQ-affirming mental health service finder.

Research interests

Dr. Salway maintains three active areas of research related to stigma and health.

1) Population health inequities in the context of social stigma: Dr. Salway uses a broad range of approaches (including epidemiology, qualitative research, and mixed methods) to understand how and why some socially-defined populations (e.g., sexual minority people) experience multiple, co-occurring and avoidable health disparities. Much of this research focuses on mental (e.g., suicide, anxiety) and sexual health outcomes.

2) Social epidemiologic methods in the context of stigma: In addition to causing ill health, social stigma challenges the ways in which we accurately sample and measure stigmatized populations. Thus, Dr. Salway investigates how to characterize and correct for selection and information biases in socially relevant health research.

3) Tailored and equity-informed public health service: One consequence of stigma and stress processes is that socially stigmatized individuals may avoid, delay, or conceal information during healthcare encounters and thereby miss opportunities for early/preventive mental healthcare. Dr. Salway therefore works with public health and community partners to describe how public health settings (e.g., sexual health clinics) can address unmet healthcare needs of sexual minority clients. This research additionally explores the co-occurrence and interaction of sexual and mental health among sexual health service clients.

Teaching interests

  • Epidemiology
  • Social epidemiology
  • Mixed methods
  • Social determinants of health

Courses

Future courses may be subject to change.