Ignacio Correa-Velez

Dr Ignacio Correa-Velez (MBBS, PhD) has a background in Family Medicine and Public Health. For the last 20 years his work has focused on addressing the social and environmental determinants of health among people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds through teaching, research, evaluation of programs and services, and advocacy. Between February 2019 and January 2022, he was the co-CEO of the Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT), and in February 2022 rejoined the School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, in a teaching/research academic role.

Ignacio's aspirations for the CRE are to build interdisciplinary collaborations, community partnerships, and evidence to prevent intergenerational trauma among people from refugee backgrounds so that individuals, families and communities can heal, belong and thrive in the Australian community with a sense of justice.

He brings to the CRE his experience in refugee health research, his passion and commitment for human rights and social justice, and his strong conviction that trauma survivors should be involved in the co-design of interventions and programs that aim at breaking intergenerational cycles of trauma. 'Nothing for us, without us’.

Ignacio lives and works in Turrbal and Yuggera Country. Learning from the strength and resilience of people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds; family and friends; listening to music; love for animals and nature; bushwalking.