Laura Lee's professional and academic journey has led her to various places and people where she has been able to fuel and hone her passion for social justice and the emancipation of marginalized populations. Now a PhD Student in Interdisciplinary Studies based at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia, Laura has been actively involved in working and studying in the area of international development, particularly with populations in Africa who have suffered through war, genocide, disease, poverty and drought.
Laura has done significant research and program based work that seeks to strengthen the psychosocial well-being of child and youth-headed households in Rwanda through community-based approaches. She has worked as researcher and community health and development practitioner with former child labourers in India, prison children in Bolivia and communities affected by conflict and HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Angola and Tanzania. Laura holds a MSc in International Health from Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh, 2006) and a BMSc in Honours Physiology from the University of Western Ontario (2004).
Her current doctoral research maintains an interdisciplinary approach, including perspectives of anthropology, public health, social work and development studies with a focus on marginalized children and youth in contexts of social reconstruction. Her research interests include inter-generational poverty transmission, social development, resilience, Aboriginal health, participatory methods, and community-based approaches to healing. Laura is a Liu Scholar and co-founded the Transitional Justice Network at the Liu Institute for Global Issues. In addition to her studies, she currently works as a Research Assistant for the Justice and Reconciliation Project which engages with marginalized and war-affected communities to strengthen locally-owned approaches to justice and reconciliation in war-torn northern Uganda.
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