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Faculty Bio

Joshua B. Mendelsohn, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the College of Health Professions and inaugural Director of the Master of Public Health (MPH) that will be accepting new students for Fall 2024. He is based at the New York City Campus.

Dr. Mendelsohn's grant-funded work includes a crossover trial of an HIV stigma reduction intervention delivered to conflict-affected young people in Uganda and observational studies of HIV viral suppression among migrant men in Shanghai, health-seeking and resilience among HIV serodiscordant couples in Canada, pre-exposure prophylaxis among gay and bisexual men in Canada and China, empowerment interventions for managing chronic illness, and vaccine acceptance among college students.

Dr. Mendelsohn completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. He received a PhD from the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and holds an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford. He completed his BSc (Honors) in Zoology and Psychology at the University of Toronto.

Awards and Honors

• College of Health Professions, Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ, 2022, Dean's Scholarship Award
• Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ, 2022, Kenan Award
• Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ, 2021, Kenan Award
• College of Health Professions, Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ, 2019, Dean's Summer Research Award
• College of Health Professions, Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ, 2018, Dean's Scholarship Award

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, 2015
CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention

PhD, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom, 2012
Epidemiology and Population Health

MS, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, 2003
Environmental Change and Management

BS, University of Toronto, Canada, 1999
Zoology and Psychology

Research Interest

global health equity, HIV/AIDS, antiretroviral therapy, migration, crisis- and conflict-affected populations, HIV-serodiscordance, stigma, mixed-methods

Grants, Sponsored Research and Contracts

Observational evaluation of immediate antiretroviral therapy on HIV incidence among HIV-positive men who have sex with men in Shanghai, China
Mendelsohn, J. B., Cheng, H., Loutfy, M., Calzavara, L., Allman, D., Burchell, A., Hogg, R., Kang, L., Kaul, R., Moineddin, R., Steele , S., Wang, Y., Wu, F., Xue, Y., Li, A., Shen, Y., Lu, H. & Mishra, S. January 2015 - March 2024. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Federal. Funded.

HIV serodiscordant couples in Canada: A mixed-methods study of risk management, health and wellbeing for people living with HIV and their partners
Calzavara, L., Mendelsohn, J. B., Allman, D., Bisaillon, L., Bourne, A., Burchell, A., Conway, B., Daftary, A., Gladstone, B., Landry, T., Loutfy, M., Masching, R., Meili , R., Myers, T., Routy, J., Stewart, K. & Tharao, W. July 2014 - March 2024. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Federal. Funded.

Faculty Fellowship
Mendelsohn, J. B. 2022 - 2023. Helene T. and Grant M. Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ. Funded.

Covid-19 vaccine beliefs and intentions, and the practice of prevention behaviors among college students: In search of an integrative model of determinants in an evolving pandemic
Gollub, E., Mendelsohn, J. B. & Boyraz, G. March 2021 - March 2022. Covid-19 Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research Award, Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ. Funded.

Publications

"Live a normal life": Constructions of resilience among people in mixed HIV status relationships in Canada.
Yang, M., Daftary, A., Mendelsohn, J. B., Ryan, M., Bullock, S., Bisaillon, L., Bourne, A., Lebouché, B., Thompson, T. & Calzavara, L. (2023). PloS One. Vol 18 (Issue 3) , pages e0281301.

Empowerment interventions designed for persons living with chronic disease - a systematic review and meta-analysis of the components and efficacy of format on patient-reported outcomes.
Stepanian, N. A., Larsen, M. H., Mendelsohn, J. B., Mariussen, K. L. & Heggdal, K. (2023). BMC Health Services Research. Vol 23 (Issue 1) , pages 911.

A national recruitment strategy for HIV-serodiscordant partners living in Canada for the Positive Plus One study: a mixed-methods study.
Xi, M., Bullock, S., Mendelsohn, J. B., Iveniuk, J., Moravan, V., Burchell, A. N., Tan DHS, ., Daftary, A., Thompson, T., Lebouché, B., Bisaillon, L., Myers, T. & Calzavara, L. (2022). BMC Public Health. Vol 22 (Issue 832)

Disclosure of HIV-serodiscordant relationships and association with viral suppression: results from the Positive Plus One study.
Mendelsohn, J. B., Calzavara, L., Bullock, S., Iveniuk, J., Tan DHS, ., Burchell, A. N., Bourne, A., Lebouché, B., Daftary, A., Moravan, V., Loutfy, M. & Conway, B. (2022). AIDS Care.

Dual pharmaceutical citizenship: Exploring biomedicalization in the daily lives of mixed HIV-serostatus couples in Canada.
Ryan, M., Mendelsohn, J. B., Daftary, A., Yang, M., Bullock, S., Lebouché, B. & Calzavara, L. (2022). Social Science & Medicine. Vol 298 , pages 114863.

Reducing HIV-related stigma among young people attending school in Northern Uganda: study protocol for a participatory arts-based population health intervention and stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial.
Mendelsohn, J. B., Fournier, B., Caron-Roy, S., Maina, G., Strudwick, G., Ojok, S., Lim, H. J., Sanches, M., Logie, C. H., Sommerfeldt, S., Nykiforuk, C., Harrowing, J., Adyanga, F. A., Hakiigaba, J. O. & Bilash, O. (2022). Trials. Vol 23 (Issue 1) , pages 1043.


Social capital and HIV-serodiscordance: Disparities in access to personal and professional resources for HIV-positive and HIV-negative partners.
Iveniuk, J., Calzavara, L., Bullock, S., Mendelsohn, J. B., Burchell, A., Bisaillon, L., Daftary, A., Lebouché, B., Masching, R. & Thompson, T. (2022). SSM - Population Health. Vol 17 , pages 101056.

Health care professionals' experiences of facilitating patient activation and empowerment in chronic illness using a person-centered and strengths-based self-management program.
Heggdal, K., Stepanian, N. A., Oftedal, B. F., Mendelsohn, J. B. & Larsen, M. H. (2021). Chronic Illness.

Health-care professionals' assessment of a person-centered intervention to empower self-management and health across chronic illness: Qualitative findings from a process evaluation study.
Heggdal, K., Mendelsohn, J. B., Stepanian, N. A., Oftedal, B. F. & Larsen, M. H. (2021). Health Expectations. Vol 24 (Issue 4) , pages 1367-1377.

Epidemiology and clinical course of COVID-19 in Shanghai, China
Shen, Y., Zheng, F., Sun, D., Ling, Y., Chen, J., Li , F., Li , T., Qian, Z., Zhang, Y., Xu, Q., Liu, L., Huang, Q., Shan, F., Xu, L., Wu, J., Zhu, Z., Song, Z., Li , S., Shi, Y., Zhang, J., Wu, X., Mendelsohn, J. B., Zhu, T. & Lu, H. (2020). Emerging Microbes & Infections. Vol 9 (Issue 1) , pages 1537-1545.

Presentations

The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) cascade among Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Shanghai, China
Chuang, D., Tavangar, F., Zheng, H., Li, A., Mendelsohn, J. B., Mishra, S. & Tan, D. H. (2022). 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022). Montreal.

The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Cascade among Chinese Gay, Bisexual and Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Toronto
Chuang, D., Tavangar, F., Tran, R., Li, A., Mendelsohn, J. B., Mishra, S. & Tan, D. H. (2022). 31st Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR 2022). Montreal.

Pandemic, protests, and penury: syndemic impacts on mental health and self-protective behaviors of US college students
Gollub, E., Mendelsohn, J. B. & Cirillo, M. (2021). American College Health Association 2021 Annual Meeting. Virtual.

Dual pharmaceutical citizenship: Exploring biomedicalization in the daily lives of mixed HIV-serostatus couples in Canada
Ryan, M., Mendelsohn, J. B., Daftary, A., Yang, M., Bullock, S., Calzavara, L. & Positive Plus One Team, . (2021). 30th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research. Virtual.

Intersectional determinants of resilience among mixed HIV-serostatus relationships in Canada
Yang, M., Daftary, A., Mendelsohn, J. B., Ryan, M., Bullock, S., Calzavara, L. & Positive Plus One Team, . (2021). 30th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research. Virtual.

Intellectual Property

Patent: Accessory Adapter System for Wearable Computing Device , United States

Patent: Integrated Bail and Pin , United States

Patent: Cover Attachment for a Wearable Computing Device , United States

Professional Memberships

• American Public Health Association
• Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre
• International AIDS Society
• International Civilian Response Corps

Professional Service

Associate Editor, Conflict and Health