Meet Dr. Rulan Parekh

Vice-President, Academics

“I am inspired by the position of civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman, that ‘you cannot be what you cannot see’.”

“Universal representation is a huge part of our outlook at WCH, it informs everything we do from research to education, implementation, clinical care, and human resources. When young women of colour see us, we want them to feel authentically represented, so that they’ll consider a career in medicine. We want gender diverse populations to feel comfortable receiving care. Our goal is to close the gaps in delivering equitable care for everyone. 

When it comes to research, we believe, ‘You shouldn’t conduct research about us, without us.’ The fact is, if you aren’t including women, people of colour and other minority groups (including Indigenous peoples) in your studies, your research will suffer from missing out on a huge percentage of the population. That’s why our work is always focused through a lens of trying to improve healthcare for everyone.”