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Kanna Hayashi | Harm Reduction in an Unprecedented Overdose Crisis
PFL 2021-2022, Equity + Justice, 2022, Health, President's Faculty Lectures
The ongoing drug toxicity crisis, declared as a public health emergency in British Columbia in 2016, has been severely exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and continues to take a serious toll on our communities. In order to address this unprecedented overdose crisis, a range of harm reduction interventions (both existing and new) that are grounded in people’s lived experiences, scientific evidence and health equity are desperately needed, now more than ever. This lecture briefly introduced harm reduction, presented some harm reduction interventions that have been done in B.C., and discussed what still needs to be done.
— Kanna Hayashi
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre
SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C.
The President's Faculty Lectures
The President’s Faculty Lectures shine a light on the research excellence at Simon Fraser University. Hosted by SFU president Joy Johnson, these free public lectures celebrate cutting-edge research and faculty that engage with communities and mobilize knowledge to make real-world impacts.
Each short lecture by an SFU researcher will be followed by a conversation with Joy Johnson and an audience Q&A session livestreamed from the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.
This year, lecturers will approach the themes of equity and justice from a variety of disciplines.
Kanna Hayashi is a substance use epidemiologist, the St. Paul’s Hospital Chair in Substance Use Research, and an assistant professor at SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences. She is also a research scientist at the BC Centre on Substance Use and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. She leads the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS), a long-running study that operates in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood and follows over 1,000 people who inject drugs. Her research aims to inform public health-oriented approaches to laws, policies and programs and thereby reduce drug-related harm among people who use drugs.
Recap of Harm Reduction in an Unprecedented Overdose Crisis with Kanna Hayashi
By Sam Robinson, MA, SFU Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies
Dr. Kanna Hayashi is a substance use epidemiologist currently leading the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS), while also serving as the St. Paul’s Hospital Chair in Substance Use Research and as an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University. In the fifth installment of the 2021/2022 President’s Faculty Lectures, hosted by SFU Public Square, Dr. Hayashi discussed the current overdose crisis through looking at harm reduction and harm reduction policies, both present and future.
To begin, SFU President Joy Johnson opened the event with an acknowledgement that these lectures take place on the unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Dr. Hayashi opened her talk with a similar acknowledgement, adding that most of her research findings were conducted on this unceded land as well.
Dr. Hayashi began her lecture with a brief overview of her own research history, allowing her to tie her history into her belief in a social epistemological approach to research. This approach implores researchers to focus not only on the individual factors associated with health, but also on the impact of social structures such as race, gender and socioeconomic status.
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Wendy Hui Kyong Chun | Discriminating Data
In this President's Faculty Lecture, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun (SFU's Canada 150 Research Chair in New Media) discusses themes from her forthcoming book Discriminating Data about how big data and predictive machine learning currently encode discrimination and create agitated clusters of comforting rage.
Read More →
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Tammara Soma | Setting the Table for Food Justice
When it comes to issues like food insecurity, who gets to shape the solutions? Tammara Soma will share how SFU's Food Systems Lab applies community-engaged research methods to achieving sustainable, decolonized and just food systems for all.
Read More →
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Taco Niet | Just Climate Policies
How do we address the climate crisis effectively and equitably? Taco Niet of SFU’s School of Sustainable Energy Engineering will discuss how evidence-based modelling tools are essential for making urgent climate policy decisions grounded in justice and equity.
Read More →
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Vaibhav Saria | Care and Crisis in India
Vaibhav Saria, assistant professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at SFU, will explore how the complex history of health care in India has led to a valorization of care providers’ work during COVID-19, but also to increased violence against them.
Read More →
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Kanna Hayashi | Harm Reduction in an Unprecedented Overdose Crisis
Kanna Hayashi, the St. Paul’s Hospital Chair in Substance Use Research, will explain how harm reduction interventions grounded in lived experiences, scientific evidence and health equity are desperately needed to address B.C.’s unprecedented drug toxicity crisis.
Read More →
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June Francis | Becoming an Anti-Racist, Decolonized University
June Francis, director of the SFU Institute for Diaspora Research & Engagement, will challenge whether traditional universities, which have been key pillars in constructing racism, are prepared to truly decolonize and become anti-racist.
Read More →
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