Katrina Milaney

Dr. Katrina Milaney, PhD, was named an Associate Vice-President (Research) on October 2, 2023, for a two-year term (renewable).

Milaney is a Professor in Community Rehabilitation & Disability Studies in the Cumming School of Medicine and a Research Fellow in the School of Public Policy. Milaney prioritizes community-led research focused on health equity and vulnerability related to disability, homelessness, gender, culture, domestic violence, unsafe drug use and mental health. Her primary interests revolve around political ideology and how decisionmakers impact policy, public systems and service delivery. 

Milaney is a member of the O’Brien Institute for Public Health and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the Cumming School of Medicine. She also holds leadership roles with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Networks of Centres of Excellence: Making the Shift youth homelessness social innovation lab.  

Prior to joining the VPR Office, Milaney was the Associate Scientific Director of Population Health for the O'Brien Institute for Public Health, where she was the founder and lead of the Institute’s Social and Structural Vulnerabilities program and the Health Equity HUB. 

Milaney has been awarded peer-reviewed funding in excess of $36 million as principal and co-investigator. Prioritizing lived experience experts in her impact-focused work, her efforts have helped secure more than $4 million for community groups. She has authored 35 government and policy reports on issues such as homelessness, at-risk youth, Indigenous health, and the overdose crisis.

Milaney holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Master of Education in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies and a Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (Sociology, Disability Studies), all awarded by the University of Calgary. Prior to joining UCalgary as a faculty member in 2014, Milaney spent 15 years in the not-for-profit sector as a researcher and strategist, including the role of Vice President, Research and Strategy at the Calgary Homeless Foundation. 

Milaney is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Cumming School of Medicine, Distinguished Achievement for Social Accountability Award, O’Brien Institute Societal Impact Award, and Glenda MacQueen Distinguished Leadership Award, and was named one of the top 20 Most Compelling Calgarians in 2020.

Contact Angelina Nair for schedule requests.