Denise Gastaldo

Denise Gastaldo is an Associate Professor at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. She holds cross-appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and international roles in Spain's Universitat de les Illes Balears and Universitat de Lleida. Her research focuses on the social and political dimensions of health, emphasizing global health equity, migration, and qualitative methodologies. Gastaldo pioneered global health integration into nursing curricula and founded the Nursing PhD Collaboration involving institutions in Canada, Spain, Mexico, Australia, and Finland. She developed the 'body-map storytelling' methodology and has led international projects on migrant health, health policy, and social determinants of health.

Education: PhD in Sociology (University of London, 1995), MA in Education (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande Do Sul, 1990), BSc in Nursing (1985). Professional roles include Director of the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research (2014–2018) and Co-Director of the Global Migration and Health Initiative. She is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.

Research highlights include studies on undocumented workers' health, gender-based violence, and the psychosocial impacts of migration. Gastaldo has supervised over 60 postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows, promoting transformative knowledge in nursing and public health. Her work bridges critical theory, participatory methods, and policy advocacy to address health inequities globally.