Message from Norman Rosenblum, INMD Scientific Director
June 2024
It was an honour and a pleasure to host the recent INMD Institute Advisory Board (IAB) meeting in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT) on May 14-15th. It was a fitting meeting for the INMD to welcome our two newest members: Dr. Treena Delormier, Associate Professor, School of Human Nutrition, McGill University and Canada Research Chair, (Tier II) in Indigenous Peoples Nutrition and Food Sovereignty; and Craig Settee, Manager, Cultural Competency, Can-SOLVE CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) Network. Both Craig and Treena are very welcome and bring great experience in Indigenous Health Research to the INMD IAB.
June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, a time to learn about the unique cultures, traditions and experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis People. During our time in Yellowknife, we had the opportunity to learn about the rich history, heritage, resilience, and diversity of the local Dene, Cree, Inuit, and Métis populations through storytelling, research, and health perspectives.
Highlights of the meeting included an opening with Elder Rassi Nashali, who provided a sense of shared commitment and connectedness among the meeting participants. Following the opening, we were presented with an overview of the population health status by Dr. Kami Kandola, Chief Public Health Officer for NWT, with a focus on diabetes presented by Tanya Gillard, Registered Dietitian. We were also privileged to have Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine, along with Roxanne Cook, Director of Dene Nation Health, provide an overview of health and wellness of the Dene Nation. The lectureship, Deconstruction of Equity in the Research Landscape - Lessons Learned in the Arctic, was provided by Susan Chatwood, Professor and Associate Dean of Education at the School of Public Health, University of Alberta.
On our second meeting day, we started with chronic disease and diabetes in Yellowknife presented by Erin Currie, Territorial Nurse Practitioner Lead, and a presentation by Anne Pleydon on the Hotii ts'eeda SPOR Support Unit. We were also very fortunate to have John B. Zoe, Senior Advisor of the Tłįchǫ Government, on the history of the Tłįchǫ people, colonization and climate change. Finally, we had presentations from Kimberly Fairman and Treena Delormier, both Directors of Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHRs), on building capacity in Indigenous Health Research followed by an open discussion.
This IAB meeting was unique in providing us with a greater understanding of the role of health research in the NWT, and in particular, in the health and wellness of Indigenous communities in the region. A very special thank you to Kimberly Fairman, Executive Director of the Institute of Circumpolar Health Research, for helping us organize this meeting and connecting us to foremost community leaders who shared their wealth of knowledge, insights and perspectives with our group.
Norman Rosenblum, MD, FRCPC, FCAHS
Scientific Director
Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
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