The Vulnerability, Trauma, Resilience and Culture Research Laboratory (V-TRaC) is based at the University of Ottawa. It studies the connection between vulnerability and trauma and the coping strategies that might be employed to deal with either - or both. Their research is wide-ranging and covers many topics, from child welfare in Ontario to psychosocial interventions related to Ebola Virus Disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The V-TRaC lab has authored recommendations to reduce racial disparities in Ontario Child Protective Services, has created the course ‘How To Provide Antiracist Mental Health Care’ (approved for continuing education credits by the CPA) and is currently evaluating mental health problems among immigrant populations.
Their work over the past several years has produced many publications and fact sheets, but their greatest impact might be in advancing the conversation when it comes to the social determinants of mental health. In 2022, the V-TRaC lab organized a conference, the first of its kind geared toward addressing barriers to Black mental health care in Canada. V-TRaC’s founder, Dr. Jude Mary Cénat, has also created the Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Mental Health, the first Canadian research centre entirely dedicated to the study of the biological, social and cultural determinants of health of Black people in Canada.
The resources created by the V-TRaC lab are helping many people right now, and the research they are conducting is filling a void in psychological and mental health research that will help many more people in the years to come.
Read more about the V-TRaC lab’s director, Jude Mary Cénat, in this 2022 Black History Month profile.