Dr. Notisha Massaquoi is a nationally recognized leader in Black health equity whose scholarship and community leadership have reshaped Canadian health research and practice. As the Founding Director of the Black Health Equity Lab, she mobilizes researchers, students, and community partners to co-create research agendas that address systemic barriers facing Black communities. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto-Scarborough, with a graduate appointment in the Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and cross appointment with the Dept of Family & Community Medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She holds a BA in Psychology from Western University, an MSW from the Factor Inwnetash Faculty of Social Work and a PhD in Social Justice Education both from the University of Toronto. Her early healthcare leadership career established several organizations that serve Black communities in Canada, including Africans in Partnership Against AIDS and TAIBU Community Health Centre.  She has also pioneered intersectional models of care during her two decade tenure as the Executive Director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, Canada’s only community health centre specializing in primary healthcare for Black and  racialized women. She has consulted globally with the United Nations Social Development Forum on racism and its impact on workforces and with UNAIDS on organizational responses to HIV and migration. She is considered one of Canada's leading experts in developing equity-responsive organizations, and her research and advocacy have supported Canadian institutions in addressing anti-Black racism and the collection of race-based data.  Most notably she co-chaired the Anti-racism Advisory Panel of the Toronto Police Services Board and was responsible for producing the first mandatory race-based data collection policy for a police service in Canada.  In 2025 she was recognized with the  University of Toronto Scarborough New Scholar Award for Social Science and Humanities  in 2023 she was the recipient of the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for health leadership. and in 2022 she was named  one of the most influential Torontonians by Toronto Life Magazine.