Lowik, A.J.

My name is Dr. A.J. Lowik (they/them) and I am a sociologist whose research and scholarship sits at the intersection of Trans Studies, Critical Theory and Critical Health Research. I use qualitative, arts-based and mixed-methods approaches to better understanding trans people's health and wellness, and to improve our experiences accessing healthcare services and spaces, with a particular focus on reproductive health.

I am also a sex and gender data scientist and methodologist, working to ensure that health research mobilizes sex and gender variables with accuracy and precision, and in ways that are inclusive of intersex, trans and Two-Spirit people. I focus on evaluating the effectiveness and reliability of survey measures, utilizing cognitive testing to assess measurement suitability, and exploring the implications of using diverse measures to capture participant data, with a particular focus on intersex, trans, Two-Spirit and queer research study participants. I lead the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity's "Gender & Sex in Methods & Measurement: Research Equity Toolkit" project, which provides open-access resources for researchers who are thinking through the implications of gender and sex on their eligibility criteria, recruitment strategies, measures, longitudinal projects, cohort studies, clinical trials, use of administrative data, knowledge translation activities, ethics and grant applications, etc.

I am the President of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, having been dedicated to abortion access, advocacy, activism and research for twenty years.

I am a nonbinary, agender, queer, neurodivergent, feminist, who is committed to acknowledging and attending to my unearned privilege as a white settler living on stolen land.