Melissa Pierce, Researcher (she/her)

Melissa Pierce
Researcher
(she/her)

I would like to introduce myself as a settler of Jamaican, Lebanese, and English descent. I was born and raised on the unceded ancestral lands of the Anishinabek, Haudenosaunee, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations, and currently reside on the unceded ancestral lands of the Kwikwetlem, Katzie, and the Stó:lō Nations. I am also a sister, daughter, health science student and childhood cancer survivor.

As a biracial female who navigated a life changing cancer diagnosis in the healthcare system, I noticed that there are not many hospital staff in positions of power who look like me. This is what made me take a step back and realize that representation matters, especially in the healthcare field. This is why I have made it my goal to focus on health equity and justice in the field of cancer research and advocacy to ensure that historically marginalized populations see that there is space for them in our social institutions

Through my work with Anew, I am committed to shifting power dynamics within the healthcare system and restoring power to those who have had it stripped away. I hope to implement deep equity work as a practice in my life through the work of using an intersectional lens to acknowledge the interconnectedness between individuals’ identities without dismissing the importance of historical implications.

Though I love the pacific northwest, I will always be a Leafs fan at heart. You can take the girl out of Toronto, but you can’t take Toronto out of the girl!