Elizabeth Saewyc PhD, RN, PHN

Elizabeth Saewyc is the Executive Director of the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC) and a Professor of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on health issues of youth, particularly how stigma, violence, and trauma influence teens’ health, coping and risk behaviours, and what protective factors in relationships and environments can buffer this trauma for young people. For the past 19 years, she has conducted research with many different groups of vulnerable adolescents, including runaway and street-involved youth, sexually abused and sexually exploited teens, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender adolescents, youth in custody, immigrants, home-stay students, and refugees, and indigenous youth in several countries. In addition to sexual health issues, her research focuses on mental health issues such as self-harm and suicide attempts, grief and coping, and substance use/abuse. The majority of her studies have been funded by CIHR or the U.S. National Institutes of Health.