Dr. Patricia O’Campo

‘When are you getting married?’

‘Walk more feminine.’

‘You are half.’

Dr. Pat O’Campo remembers hearing these comments growing up. These discriminatory comments stuck with her as she rose through the ranks in academia, and have informed her research on populations that are often made to feel othered or marginalized by society because of factors like gender, race and socioeconomic status.

“It’s not always explicit, but you feel it in almost everything you do. That made an imprint on me,” she says.

Now, Dr. O’Campo is the Executive Director of Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s and a recognized researcher on topics of marginalization including domestic violence and precarious employment. She advocates for equity and inclusion through all aspects of her work and sits on the Council on Anti-Racism, Equity and Social Accountability (CARESA) at Unity Health. Dr. O’Campo has also been leading the institute’s first-ever working group that is tasked with ensuring patients, community members and partners are involved at every level of science at Unity Health.

We sat down with her to learn more about her research and vision for the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute.

It’s been an unprecedented year when it comes to learnings about anti-racism, equity and social accountability. You’ve been involved in the CARESA since the beginning. Why is it important for a leader from Research to be involved in this work?

I’ve occupied many positions of marginalization that inform my empathy with people who experience marginalization. I’m the same person – no matter how people view me. The things that have changed about me are my context that frame how I’m viewed and the ways in which I am marginalized. Those experiences have shaped how I approach this work.

Dr. O’Campo received her PhD at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Inequities and the issues that contribute to inequities are everywhere. Research is not exempt. Sometimes people will think research is objective and that researchers get at the truth. But in fact we’re very much biased by all of the same factors that influences society to generate inequities. These are not easy problems to solve.

Research and Innovation at Unity Health has taken hold of this issue of inequities and it has also done a reasonable job of saying that we need to be more reflective and think about ourselves as well. In that sense, Research has been learning our lessons a little bit longer than some of the other areas of the organization and we can bring those lessons to CARESA – including learning from the mistakes we might have made. We can bring evidence to the table to make sure we’re staying on the right track.

How would we go about promoting inclusion in research?

The first thing to do is to bring those who are affected by inequities to the Research table. Equitably including patients, community members and organizations in research will accelerate our ability to be more inclusive and reduce inequities.

There are at least two areas to focus on: one is to eliminate racist practices within our science. That will require critiquing our current practices and stopping those that are racist. The second area to address or undo is how we create and run our research teams. Racism, for example, has meant that we might give Persons of Colour fewer chances to be hired or promoted than we would someone who is white. This is an organization-wide problem and we need to promote greater inclusion (e.g., in our hiring/HR policies) at Unity.

The pandemic has brought a lot of equity related issues to the surface. As the pandemic continues, where do you see your own research moving?

Domestic violence has increased by as much as 30 per cent during the height of the pandemic and on top of that, services were reduced, so this is one of those topics which definitely needs attention at the moment. One of our current projects is an app which we designed by incorporating the lived experience of survivors.

The other area I’ve started to investigate are individuals with precarious work conditions because their precariousness has escalated during the pandemic. The mitigation strategies put in place by governments don’t reach everyone who is need. Women in particular, and their career trajectories, have been impacted and nothing has been done about that.

As you’ve moved into your permanent role as the Executive Director Research of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, what are you most excited about?

I’m excited for the opportunity to have more reasons to work on equity and to create opportunities for the Research Institute to deepen its commitment to creating more inclusion. The pandemic has both highlighted and worsened issues related to equity and has created opportunities for us to highlight and act to make improvements.

It’s crucial that we use this opportunity to focus on communities whose chronic issues are now gaining increased attention because of the stresses of the pandemic.

What does this new appointment mean for opportunities at Li Ka Shing?

My focus will be for the Li Ka Shing to be inclusive in our engagement as well as to develop tailored strategies to support our scientists to really thrive and excel within our new pillars, with the recognition that we to prioritize the engagement of clinic research teams.

We need to make sure that all of our research areas are supported. They each have unique needs so we have to make sure we understand those needs are and meet them, especially for our clinical researchers.

I also want to provide opportunities for researchers to improve community involvement in their work. With this focus, we can promote inclusion within research, we can make sure that the research is more relevant to the populations we serve.

By: Elizabeth Benner and Ana Gajic