Dr. Slaunwhite leads a program of research that uses administrative health data and community-based participatory methods in the areas of peer support, substance use and community reintegration after release from provincial and federal correctional institutions. Dr. Slaunwhite is the scientific lead of the BC Provincial Overdose Cohort. The Cohort is a collection of linked administrative data, including data from BC Emergency Health Services and BC Coroner's Service, on fatal and non-fatal overdose events in BC since 2015. Dr. Slaunwhite is the co-principal investigator of the UBC Research Excellence Cluster in Transformative Health and Justice (2020-2023).

Dr. Slaunwhite has expertise in overdose, substance use, addiction and mental health. She has eight years' experience working with administrative health data in BC and the US on topics related to overdose, substance use and mental health. She holds a PhD in geography from the University of Victoria (2015) and master's degree in urban and regional planning from Queen's University (2009). Dr. Slaunwhite completed post-doctoral training in child and youth mental health in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Brunswick (2015-2017) and is a former assistant professor in Addictions Studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage (2017-2018). She has worked in applied health research and policy roles at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) and Parliamentary Information and Research Service (Parliament of Canada).