Miesha Polintan awarded the 2026-2027 Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)

The Global Health Equity Collaborative Lab is pleased to congratulate Miesha Polintan on being selected to receive the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The QEII-GSST is a merit-based scholarship established in 1998. Formerly known as the OGSST program, it recognizes excellence in graduate studies in science and technology. At Queen’s University, QEII-GSST holders are enrolled in the applied, health, life, and physical sciences within the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. The scholarship carries a value of $15,000 over one academic year (details).

Miesha Polintan is a PhD candidate in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University and a member of the GHE Collab, an interdisciplinary health research lab committed to advancing global health through rigorous research and equitable partnerships. Her doctoral research examines trust in health systems among sex workers living with HIV in Kumasi, Ghana. She asks how trust shapes health behaviours and health outcomes, and how systems that have long been sites of distrust for marginalized populations can change in order to rebuild it.

That question runs through her wider works as well. She is involved in projects advocating for safer working conditions for sex workers in Kingston, investigating why people living with HIV bypass antiretroviral therapy at primary healthcare facilities in Kumasi, how treatment is interrupted when public health crises such as COVID-19 disrupt community HIV services, and how peer leadership among adolescents living with HIV supports progress toward global treatment targets. She has worked with community partners in the Upper West Region of Ghana, alongside women’s groups and advocacy groups dedicated to assisting persons with disabilities. Across these projects, her focus is on the efficacy of and access to health care for equity-deserving groups and on the social and structural conditions that shape it. She is also committed to increasing the representation of 2SLGBTQ+ racialized voices in health research and academia.

A central message running through her work is that trust is not something individuals simply have or lack, but something health systems build or break through how they treat/treated people and that studying it well means working alongside the communities who know those systems best, rather than at a distance from them.

“I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Elijah Bisung, my committee members, my colleagues in the lab, and our research partners in Ghana,” said Miesha. “Our partners are not just collaborators. They are mentors, guides, and co-creators, and their knowledge and relationships are what make this work meaningful, ethical, and relevant. I also want to thank the wonderful women who shared their stories and trusted me with them, along with the many people I have met along this journey who have shaped how I think about this research. This award gives me the time and support to keep showing up for that work and to keep learning from the communities at the centre of it.”

This scholarship comes at an important stage in Miesha’s doctoral studies. She is moving into the next phase of her research project on knowledge mobilization and translation, working with community partners in Ghana to bring findings back to the people and organizations who shaped them in forms that can inform practice and policy.

Please join us in congratulating Miesha on this well-deserved recognition.