Two U of T scholars are recognized for their innovative approaches to care, resilience, and justice
The University community celebrates two stellar scholars: undergraduate Olivia Steinberg and doctoral candidate Adriana Marcela Pérez Rodríguez, who received U of T’s 2025 Award for Scholarly Achievement in the Area of Gender-Based Violence.
Co-sponsor of the award, Professor Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students, proudly announces the award recipients.
“We had an exceptional pool of applicants this year and the committee was once again so impressed by the creativity, ingenuity, and range of research happening at U of T,” says Welsh.
Recipients and their research
Although both award recipients explore barriers in their gender-based work, the nature of their scholarship takes distinct paths: Pérez Rodríguez’s Colombian feminist PhD dissertation merges geopolitical systems with improved humanitarian frameworks, while Steinberg’s undergraduate work in Women and Gender Studies and Public Health focuses on the physical with an aim to develop better healthcare solutions and resources.
Olivia Steinberg
Currently working as a research assistant in U of T’s Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Lab, led by Canada Research Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury in Underserved Populations, Dr. Angela Colantonio, Steinberg identifies gaps in intimate partner violence-related brain injury (IPV-BI) knowledge and her research illuminates a frequently overlooked issue in gender-based violence.
“Although the majority of physical injuries of women experiencing intimate partner violence are to the head, face, and neck, there has been historically a lack of attention to this intersection,” says Colantonio.
“Since joining the lab, Olivia has made exceptional contributions and has been at the forefront of numerous initiatives aimed to increase education and understanding of brain injury in this population.”
Steinberg’s work informs toolkits, workshops, and resources to support IPV-BI survivors and service providers in the provision and access of survivor-centered care.
Adriana Marcela Pérez Rodríguez
Meanwhile, Pérez Rodríguez draws on her hometown, Cúcuta, Colombia, which is situated at the Colombian-Venezuelan border, as a site of crisis and intervention. She studies how an entanglement of actors, such as international humanitarian agencies, Colombian-state institutions, and local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), create a female humanitarian subject as a victim of violence that deserves aid.
Supervisor Professor Alissa Trotz in the Women & Gender Studies Institute says that Pérez Rodríguez is distinguished for her groundbreaking and timely work that has broad intellectual and policy implications.
“[Adriana’s] work is original, relevant and urgent – Venezuela is producing some of the largest refugee flows across the region at the moment, an exodus that does not appear to be letting up – especially in relation to her interest in thinking about feminist interventions in Colombia/Latin America that in unanticipated and troubling ways may at times end up doing the work of the state,” says Trotz.
“Her research portfolio is extraordinary for someone at this early stage of their academic career.”
Pérez Rodríguez is currently a fellow at the Instituto Pensar of the Universidad Javeriana, Colombia and she was a 2024-2025 R.F. Harney Graduate Research Fellow in Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies at the Munk School. Prior to her PhD studies, she co-founded and directed the Observatorio de Asuntos de Género de Norte de Santander, an organization dedicated to feminist research and advocacy in Cúcuta.
A commitment to equity and care
“Both award winners really stand out for their commitment and outstanding efforts in raising awareness in gender-based violence,” says Welsh.
“They are working toward a better, safer, and healthier future for women and girls, trans, and non-binary people, and this recognition celebrates not only their individual achievement but also the University’s shared commitment to equity and transformative care.”
The University of Toronto established the Graduate and Undergraduate Award for Scholarly Achievement in 2016. Sponsored jointly by the Office of the Vice-President & Provost and the Office of the Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity & Culture, the two $1,500 awards annually recognize one undergraduate and one graduate student for their distinctive contributions in the area of gender-based violence research and prevention.
Other resources
U of T’s Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre outlines 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence & ways to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.