Dr. Terra Manca is a sociologist and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in regulation, social governance, and inequities in health. Her research about vaccination in pregnancy focuses on evidentiary gaps from pharmaceutical regulation and social governance around health risk decision-making. As part of large interdisciplinary research teams, she researches intersecting inequities in personal responsibility, access, and acceptance of recommended vaccines. She also leads research into how additional caregiving and parenting responsibilities from pandemic health policies were unevenly distributed across intersecting social locations. Dr. Manca enjoys working with students from diverse professional backgrounds and collaborating on interdisciplinary teams with researchers from various career stages.
Dr. Manca is interested in supervising graduate students with an interest in vaccination, health decision-making, gender and health, parenting and caregiving, risk theory, intersectionality, social and health equity, and/or qualitative research methods.
Dr. Manca lives with her family on land known as Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan (Beaver Hills House), also called Edmonton, Alberta.
If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Manca’s research or teaching interests, please contact her at tmanca@athabascau.ca.
Research interests
Gender and health
Intersectionality
Inequities in healthcare
Risk and uncertainty
Caregiving and parenting
Qualitative methodologies
Vaccine regulation
Social governance
Health policy
Educational credentials
Postdoctoral fellowship (2019-2022). Understandings of Vaccination in Pregnancy. Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, NS.
Postdoctoral fellowship (2017-2018). Developing Vaccine Product Monograph Language. Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, NS.
Doctor of Philosophy (2017). Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Master of Arts (2009). Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Bachelor of Arts with Honours (2007). Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Professional affiliations
Adjunct of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University, NS
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Co-Champion. Canadian Immunization Research Network. Dalhousie University, NS
Peer reviewed (selected)
Manca, T and R Willey, J Lee, E Marfo, E Dubé, SE MacDonald. 2026. “‘It's not something that you just do:’ A qualitative analysis of emotion and risk in family decision-making about childhood COVID-19 vaccination.” Health, Risk & Society (in press). .
Manca, T (2025). “Vaccines protect both you and your newborn:” A discourse analysis of risk and uncertainty in information about vaccination in pregnancy. Social Science & Medicine, 364: 117526. .
Manca, T and L Aylsworth, SM Driedger, SE MacDonald. (2024). “‘It’s really embarrassing […] to ask for help:’ navigating invisible and intersecting inequities in barriers to getting vaccinated.” Journal of Risk Research, 27 (9): 1133–1148. .
Marfo, EA, T Manca, E Cha, L Aylsworth, SM Driedger, SB Meyer, et al. (2024). “Intersecting Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccination: A discourse Analysis of Information Use and Decision-Making Among Ethnically Diverse Parents in Canada.” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 12: 1027–1040. .
Manca, T and H Humble, L Aylsworth, E Cha, D Greyson, J Parsons Leigh, et al. 2022. “‘We Need to Protect Each Other:’ COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions and Concerns Among Visible Minority and Indigenous Peoples.” Social Science and Medicine 313: 115400.
Aylsworth, L and T Manca, È Dubé, F Labbé, SM Driedger, K Benzies, N MacDonald, J Graham, S MacDonald. 2022. “Facilitators and Barriers to Accessing COVID-19 Vaccines among Visible Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.” Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics 18(7): 2129827.
Manca T and M Sadarangani, S Halperin, J Langley, E McClymont, S MacDonald, K Top. 2022. “Vaccine Regulation Should Require and Enforce the Inclusion of Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women in Prelicensure Clinical Trials.” Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics 18(6): 1-7.
Manca, T and K Top, K Weagle, J Graham. 2022. “Deferring Risk: Concerns about Limitations to the Evidence Contained in Vaccine Product Labels about use in Pregnancy.” Journal of Women’s Health 31(8): 1103-1112.
Manca, T. 2021. “Risk and Intersectional Power Relations: An Exploration of the Implications of Early COVID-19 Pandemic Responses for Pregnant Women.” Health, Risk and Society 23(7-8): 321-338.
Manca, T and J Graham, N MacDonald, K Top. 2021. “Healthcare Providers’ Interpretations of Product Labelling Information Developed through a Consensus Stakeholder Approach.” Vaccine 39 (19): 2652–59.
Manca, T and J Graham, È Dubé, M Kervin, E Castillo, N Crowcroft, et al. 2019. “Developing Product Label Information to Support Evidence-Informed Use of Vaccines in Pregnancy.” Vaccine 37(48): 7138-7146.
Manca, T. 2018. “Fear, Rationality, and Risky Others: A Qualitative Analysis of Physicians’ and Nurses’ Accounts of Popular Vaccine Narratives.” Technology in Society 55: 119-125.
Manca, T. 2018. “‘One of the Greatest Medical Success Stories:’ Physicians and Nurses’ Small Stories about Vaccine Knowledge and Anxieties.” Social Science and Medicine 196: 182-189.
Manca, T. 2016. “Health Professionals and the Vaccine Narrative: ‘The Power of the Personal Story’ and the Management of Medical Uncertainty.” Health, Risk and Society 18(3/4): 1-23.
Invited commentary
Manca, T and F Munoz, F Baylis, K Top. 2022. “Prioritise research on vaccines for pregnant and breastfeeding women.” The Lancet, 399 (10328): P890-893.
Media
Manca, T and E Marfo, L Aylsworth, SE MacDonald, SM Driedger. 2022. “Beyond Vaccine Hesitancy: Understanding Systemic Barriers to Getting Vaccinated.” The Conversation. December 11 (https://theconversation.com/beyond-vaccine-hesitancy-understanding-systemic-barriers-to-getting-vaccinated-193610).
Manca, T and K Top. 2021. “Should I get the COVID-19 Vaccine While Pregnant or Breastfeeding? Experts Explain the Safety, Evidence and Clinical Trials.” The Conversation. July 20 (https://theconversation.com/should-i-get-the-covid-19-vaccine-while-pregnant-or-breastfeeding-experts-explain-the-safety-evidence-and-clinical-trials-164144).