Affiliation:

Senior Research Scientist
Faculty of Medicine & Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, UBC

About:

Iraj Poureslami is a senior research scientist at Faculty of Medicine, and Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, UBC. Iraj is a WHO mentor of health promotion, a member of the WHO Early Childhood Development Knowledge Network, a member of the Canadian National Health Literacy Expert Panel, and president of the Canadian Multicultural Health Promotion Society. The overarching theme of Iraj’s research is addressing health disparities in vulnerable populations by investigating the link between socio-cultural and non-medical determinants of health and health outcomes in marginalized and disadvantaged communities in British Columbia.

Iraj’s research objectives are threefold: (1) apply his knowledge and experience in health promotion, health education, and health literacy in developing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions that aim to promote early detection and disease prevention practices; (2) develop conceptual frameworks for community-based, research-to-action and full participatory approaches, especially with respect to the influence of culture, age and gender on health promotion and health practices; and 3) engage stakeholders (patients, care providers, family members, researchers, and policy-makers) in interventional studies to improve patients’ access to proper and quality care services. Applying these research objectives, Iraj has conducted various health promotion and health literacy intervention projects, using behavioural modification strategies and stages of change models.

Areas of interest:

My main area of research interest is to deepen my knowledge and understanding of how a culturally competent healthcare system can facilitate proper access to needed services and health information for vulnerable and at-risk populations.

Contact info:

(604) 875-4111 ext 61812
iraj.poureslami@ubc.ca

Publications:

Links:

Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation