My name is Julianna Petrasko (she/her), and I am a first-year PhD student in the College of Community and Global Health at the University of Manitoba, supervised by Dr. Tamara Taillieu. I completed my master’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in Quantitative Methods at Carleton University in 2022. My master’s thesis, Safe Supply in Canada: Perspectives of Drug Policy Actors, synthesized perspectives on safe supply and its impacts on people who use drugs. My current research interests focus on substance use, harm reduction, and how to improve interventions for people who use drugs in Manitoba.

Before starting my PhD I worked as a research coordinator in the College of Nursing at the University of Manitoba. In this role, I have contributed to projects focused on youth chronic pain, mental health, and substance use, gaining extensive experience in qualitative research methods, stakeholder engagement, policy analysis, and community-engaged research.

I am excited to work with SPECTRUM because of its strong commitment to collaborative, community-led research that brings together community, academics, and policymakers. This approach produces equity-focused, decolonial, and actionable research that responds to real community needs and drives meaningful policy change in Manitoba.