OmiSoore Dryden | |
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| Website | omisooredryden |
OmiSoore H. Dryden is an academic whose work aims to identify barriers queer Black men encounter when donating blood in Canada.
Dryden earned her PhD in social justice education from the Ontario Institute for the Study of Education and the University of Toronto. Her dissertation focused on how blood donation regulations discriminate against queer people with a specific focus on Black queer people. [1]
While working as an assistant professor of women's, gender and sexuality studies at Thorneloe University in Sudbury, Ontario, Dryden received funding from Canadian Blood Services to study racist and homophobic attitudes and stigmas perpetuated by blood donation questionnaires. [2]
Dryden is the James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies in the faculty of medicine at Dalhousie University, [3] where she is also an associate professor in the department of community health and epidemiology. [4] Dryden was first Black person appointed to the Nova Scotia Health Authority Board of Directors. The Board was disbanded in 2021. [5] In 2025, Dryden was appointed to the Dalhousie University School of Nursing. [6]
Dryden identifies as a Black queer femme. [7] She moved to Nova Scotia in 2019. [5] Dryden has Crohn's disease [8]
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