CIHR Projects

PI: Crowshoe, Lynden L; Crowshoe, Reg; Tailfeathers, Esther; Eurich, Dean; Green, Lee A; Green, Michael E; Henderson, Rita I; Kennedy, Andrea; Montesanti, Stephanie R; Murry, Adam T; Roach, Pamela Marie

This project applies an Indigenous principle of Relationalism to build understanding of how complex social and cultural determinants shape Indigenous experiences of diabetes. We know these determinan…

PI: Lévesque, Lucie; McComber, Alex M; Bergeron, Dave; Delormier, Treena; Jock, Brittany W

Effective T2D prevention strategies are essential to address inequities in health among Indigenous peoples. This research will examine community perspectives of resilience and wellness related to Typ…

PI: Cyr, Jeffrey; Wicklow, Brandy A

Indigenous Peoples in Canada are affected by diabetes at much higher rates than the Canadian average. A culturally appropriate, sustainable, scalable approach is needed to create healthier environmen…

PI: Dickens, Rachel M; Atleo, Matilda; Watts, Jeannette C

The Nuu-chah-nulth people have expressed a desire to improve the diabetes trajectory in their communities. The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) Executive is committed to supporting the Health Dire…

PI: Shen, Garry X; Mousseau, Wendy; Omarr, Vivian L

Diabetes is a common chronic disease affecting 10% of people worldwide, and its rate is increasing. Diabetes in pregnancy is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in women and their offs…

PI: Kurtz, Donna L; Nyberg, Jessie C; Barry, Julianne C; Josewski, Viviane; Legault, Gabrielle

Urban Indigenous peoples in Canada experience poorer diabetes and obesity-related outcomes than the general population due to historic and ongoing experiences of colonization, racism, poverty, access…

PI: Bergeron, Dave; Rey, Lynda O

La crise de la COVID-19 a conduit tous les pays à adopter des mesures préventives strictes et coercitives. Dans ce contexte d'urgence, ces mesures ont été souvent déployées selon une approche descend…

PI: Lévesque, Lucie; McComber, Alex M; Delormier, Treena; Jock, Brittany W

Influenced by evidence-based public health guidelines and recommendations, COVID-19 responses within First Nations communities, where many residents are especially vulnerable to health threats, have …

PI: Cooke, Martin J

Individual decisions about vaccination are affected by many factors including previous experiences with vaccination, risk/benefit assessments of vaccination and the ease of access to vaccination amon…

PI: Sharma, Sangita; Kandola, Kami; Fraser, Crystal G

This project will gather stories and experiences of Northwest Territories (NT) Indigenous peoples (IP; men, women, and non-binary) with COVID-19 (C19) public health measures (PHM) and confidence in f…

PI: Yeates, Karen; Innes, Elaine S; Brule, Elizabeth; Kioke, Sandra J; Lévesque, Lucie; Smith, Mary

Indigenous Peoples and communities have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. A better understanding of the drivers of vaccine hesitancy and approaches to improve vaccine confid…

PI: Mclachlan, Stephane M; Soltys, Janice; Ballard, Myrle

COVID-19 has now resulted in 139,489,426 cases and 2,993,200 deaths worldwide. Impacts have particularly affected Indigenous, Black and other people of colour and revealed underlying systemic health …

PI: Fairman, Kimberly D; Zoe, John B

Working together with Tlicho in order to understand how the climate change-induced decline in caribou herds and the resulting ban on hunting have altered their health and their daily lives. Guided by…

PI: Galloway, Tracey L

Our research begins from a statement made by a Tlicho Elder, reflecting on the incursion of southern-owned retail into northern community life: "the stores changed everything for us in the north". Th…

PI: Ljubicic, Gita J; Tagalik, Shirley

Inuit have always relied on a varied diet that involves harvesting from a range of plant and animal species in every season. Even through periods of seasonal scarcity, the Inuit food system enabled I…

PI: Irlbacher-Fox, Stephanie; Cooper, Bruce; Fraser, Crystal G; Gon, Marissa; Kandola, Kami; Zoe, John B

Created through a collaborative partnership of Indigenous peoples' governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), the NWT SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Hotii ts'eeda (HT) (Pronounced: Ho-te…

PI: Lafrenaye-Dugas, Anne-Julie

Les expériences négatives vécues en enfance (ENE) comprennent l'abus émotionnel, physique ou sexuel, la négligence, l'intimidation et l'exposition à des stresseurs majeurs, et sont associées à des tr…

PI: Green, Brenda L; Cooper, Elizabeth; Opikokew Wajuntah, Cassandra J; O'Reilly, Kathleen; Strongarm, Colleen; Vey, Debbie

Recently, in the summer of 2019, Elders from File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council (FHQTC) approached researchers at First Nations University of Canada to: 1) request a study that would collect storie…

PI: King, Alexandra; Tait, Patricia

Focusing on Indigenous women whose lived experience includes involvement with the criminal justice system (CJS), this research will support their wholistic wellness journeys. We will design and deliv…

PI: Hardy, Krista M

Indigenous Peoples in Canada experience higher rates of obesity, diabetes and other obesity-related diseases compared to the non-Indigenous population. This group faces many challenges including raci…

PI: Munro, Sarah B; Jubinville, Danette S; Kelly, Miranda D; Malhotra, Unjali

The right to have children, not have children, and parent with dignity is central to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Respectfully supporting Indigenous peoples to…

PI: Mushquash, Christopher J; Drebit, Meagan

Indigenous peoples in Canada experience more health difficulties compared to non-Indigenous populations and are more likely to have poorer access to factors that may reduce the impact of these dispar…

PI: Lewis, Diana M; Castleden, Heather E; Luginaah, Isaac N; Masuda, Jeffrey R; Richmond, Chantelle A

Indigenous communities (ICs) experience detrimental health impacts living near industrial development. Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN) was exposed to effluent from a pulp and paper mill for over 5…

PI: King, Malcolm; King, Alexandra; Ross, Alex

Contemporary literature affirms that colonization explicitly sought to disconnect First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples across Canada from their land and culture. Our histories of colonization and c…

PI: Uhanova, Julia; Beardy, Byron Q

The First Nations (FN) populations of Canada have significantly increased prevalence of chronic inflammatory diseases such as Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). It is unknown whether FN people are…

PI: Hansen, Gregory; Givelichian, Laurentiu M; Gregory, David M; Holt, Tanya; McKinney, Veronica; Mendez, Ivar M; Opikokew Wajuntah, Cassandra J

Indigenous children in remote Canadian communities are at risk, as access to specialized medical resources is challenging. In the absence of direct paediatric specialist care, children are often tran…

PI: Eurich, Dean; Healy, Bonnie A

COVID-19 affects patients with pre-existing chronic diseases, like diabetes, more than others. Because we have been focused on caring for and managing COVID-19, other critical care that patients need…

PI: Lavoie, Josée G; Clark, Wayne; Dederick, Jeneen

Every year, thousands of Inuit from Nunavut (NU) come to Manitoba (MB) to access healthcare, education and other services. Some stay only to attend appointments, others longer to access services not …

PI: Jull, Janet E; Dorschner, Danielle; Maniate, Jerry; Tungasuvvingat Inuit, Tungasuvvingat Inuit

Background: The use of healthcare by Inuit (and other Indigenous groups in Canada) are complicated by negative experiences with the healthcare system. There is an urgent need to improve opportunities…

PI: Andersson, Neil; Ahmad Khan, Faiz; Budgell, Richard; Cockcroft, Anne; Vang, Zoua

Hospital care in Nunavik depends heavily on non-Inuit health professionals. This raises issues of cultural safety for Inuit, who need to feel their health care is spiritually, socially, emotionally a…

PI: Schroth, Robert J; Campbell, Rhonda; Chelikani, Prashen V; Sanguins, Julianne; Yerex, Katherine

Many First Nations and Metis children develop Early Childhood Caries (ECC), which is tooth decay involving baby teeth in children < 6 years of age. Several will suffer from an aggressive form of ECC,…

PI: Roach, Pamela Marie; Bastien, Leonard; Bablitz, Cara A; Barnabe, Cheryl C; Crowshoe, Lynden L; Green, Michael E; Henderson, Rita I; Kennedy, Andrea; Montesanti, Stephanie R; Murry, Adam T

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid shifts in the delivery of primary health care (PHC) services to virtual care models occurred in Canada. Insufficient access to primary care may undermine b…

PI: Rowett, Jenny; McKinney, Patsy; Busolo, David S; Hickey, Jason; McDonald, James T

The COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated economic, social and political consequences, have had a noticeable and detrimental impact on urban Indigenous communities. Separation from their families and…

PI: Native Women's Association of Canada, .; Ryan, Chaneesa R

Little has been documented about the impacts, adaptation, resiliency, leadership, and effectiveness of Indigenous-led virtual support programs that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediate…

PI: Katapally, Tarun R; Favel, Duane; Green, Brenda L; King, Malcolm; Skinner, Kelly

With the 2nd wave of COVID-19, cases are currently rising across northern Indigenous communities, with the active caseload more than doubling in northern Saskatchewan reserves in mid-November 2020. M…

PI: Gifford, Wendy A; Dick, Peggy F; Coburn, Veldon; Phillips, J. Craig

The aim of this research is to understand how the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn ways of knowing can inform public health responses at local, provincial, federal and global levels, to mitigate the negati…

PI: Bingham, Brittany L

Equitable access to culturally safe sexual health, reproductive care and justice for Indigenous women, girls and 2S/LGBTQ+ peoples is an issue of concern across Canada. COVID-19 measures and context …

PI: Mclachlan, Stephane M; Soltys, Janice; Ballard, Myrle; Neckoway, Ramona

COVID-19 has swept around the globe and has already resulted in over 1.5 million deaths. In the past, Indigenous people were devastated by pandemics including smallpox, Spanish flu and H1N1 and cases…

PI: Katapally, Tarun R; King, Malcolm; Skinner, Kelly

During wave 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic, northern Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan experienced a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases, with the highest number of active cases in the province at a time …

PI: Warburton, Darren E; Miles, Rosalin; Bredin, Shannon S; Hare, Jan

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted Indigenous communities throughout Canada. Current COVID-19 restrictions have affected the ability for Indigenous peoples to engage in traditional comm…

PI: Salway, Travis; Chenery, Jessica C; Pruden, Harlan

Trust between public health authorities and the public is required to successfully reduce the impacts of COVID-19 and to slow the epidemic. Participation in contact tracing activities, compliance wit…

PI: Wendt, Dennis C; Charlong, Pamela A; Larney, Sarah; O'Connor, Roisin M

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on Indigenous Peoples across Canada. One area of concern pertains to the exacerbation of substance use problems and the disruption of substance use serv…

PI: Masching, Renee; McDougall, Patrick

INTRODUCTION: The Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) and the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation (DPAF) are partnering to propose a real-time, knowledge synthesis environmental scan of Indigenous and non-…

PI: Fletcher, Christopher; Gros-Louis, Nancy; Dubé, Eve; Tremblay, Marie-Claude

With the arrival of COVID-19 Indigenous communities in Quebec moved quickly to protect the health and wellbeing of their people. Individuals, community organizations, informal and non-health institut…

PI: Robillard, Rébecca

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the mental and physical health of individuals around the Globe. Significant increases in stress, anxiety and depression levels have been reported. Furthermor…

PI: King, Keith D

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) young people should have free and easy access to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to prevent cancer, but rates of cancer caused by HPV remain higher in FNMI …

PI: Ryan, Chaneesa R

With the legalization of cannabis in Canada, there is an urgent need for information about its effect on the Indigenous population. The impact of cannabis on the mental health of Indigenous people in…

PI: Crosschild, Chloe F

There are unique forms of relationships between Indigenous women and the Canadian health care system. These relationships are informed by historical and contemporary forms of structural violence, rac…

PI: Kopciuk, Karen A; Bartel, Reagan M; Letendre, Angeline D; Yang, Huiming

Indigenous people in Canada tend to have poorer health outcomes than non-Indgenous people, including higher rates of certain cancers. Substantially less is known about Métis people and their cancer e…

PI: Ginn, Carla S

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) or Indigenous people continue to experience adverse ongoing effects of colonization. For example, half of Indigenous children live in families experiencing low …