Dr. Myrna Dawson is Professor of Sociology and Research Leadership Chair, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, University of Guelph. She is the founder and director of the Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence (CSSLRV; www.violenceresearch.ca) and the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA; www.femicideincanada.ca).  Her research focuses on trends/patterns in and social/legal responses to violence with emphasis on violence against women, children, femicide, and filicide.

Dr. Dawson is the Co-Director of the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations. She is a member of Canada's first Domestic Violence Death Review Committee implemented by the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario, co-authoring the background paper upon which it was built.