Health Studies · York University · Brampton, ON
Studying how care reaches people — and where it doesn’t.
I’m Ekroop Sangha, a Health Studies student at York University. I spend my time on research, community health work in Peel Region, and writing about what I’m learning along the way.
- hours alongside long-term care residents
- 200+
- students trained in overdose response in one academic year
- 180
- first-gen mentor–mentee pairs matched
- 32
- seniors taught digital health skills, in two languages
- 40+
About
I grew up in Brampton, in one of Canada’s fastest-growing and most diverse communities — a place where the gap between needing care and getting it is easy to see and hard to ignore. That gap is what I study.
At York University’s Faculty of Health, my coursework and research focus on how health systems actually work for people: how newcomers find (or don’t find) a family doctor, how public health programs earn trust, and what dignity looks like in everyday care. Outside class, I volunteer in long-term care, help run naloxone training on campus, and teach digital skills to seniors in Brampton — much of it in Punjabi, my first language.
This site is where I keep track of the work: research projects, community roles, and essays. It’s a record of learning in progress, not a finished argument.
Research
Selected research
Barriers to Primary Care Access Among Recent Immigrants in Peel Region: A Scoping Review
School of Health Policy & Management, York University · Sept 2025 – present
Peel Region — Brampton and Mississauga — welcomes tens of thousands of newcomers every year, yet many go years without a regular family doctor. This scoping review maps what published research says about why. Working with a faculty supervisor, I helped build the database search strategy, screened studies for inclusion, and am now grouping findings into themes: language barriers, unfamiliarity with how OHIP and rostering work, transportation, and the shortage of physicians accepting new patients. The goal is a clear map of what's known, what's assumed, and where the real research gaps are.
My role — Co-developed the search strategy, screening records and drafting the thematic summary.
Microglial Activation After Repeated Mild Head Injury in a Mouse Model
Neurotrauma research lab, Toronto · May – Aug 2025
After a concussion, the brain's resident immune cells — microglia — change shape and behaviour, and those changes may help explain why repeated mild injuries add up. In this 12-week summer studentship, I supported a study of microglial activation in a mouse model of repeated mild head injury. My work was hands-on and specific: preparing and staining brain tissue sections, then scoring microglial morphology from microscope images while blinded to which group each sample came from. I finished the summer with a much more honest sense of how slow, careful, and collaborative basic science really is.
My role — Ran immunohistochemistry protocols and performed blinded image scoring; presented at the lab’s end-of-summer research day.
Along the way
The road so far
2023
Started Health Studies at York University
First in my family at a Canadian university — mostly lost, taking notes.
2024
First shift in long-term care
Signed up for a semester of volunteering. Stayed for the residents.
2025
First research: a lab summer and 1,900 abstracts
A neurotrauma studentship and a systematic-review screening role in the same year.
2026
First conference poster
Our naloxone-training survey left campus and came back with better questions.
Writing
Recent writing
Reflections · June 18, 2026
What 200 Hours in Long-Term Care Taught Me About Dignity
Dignity turns out to be small and specific — and it lives or dies in details nobody puts on a wall.
Health Systems · May 2, 2026
Reading the TRC as a Health Studies Student: Jordan’s Principle and the Work That Remains
The health gap is where broken promises become measurable — and the TRC’s health Calls to Action read like a job description.
Get in touch
Research opportunities, community projects, or a conversation about any of this work — my inbox is open.