Susan Chatwood, BScN, MSc, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Alberta School of Public Health
Scientific Director, Institute for Circumpolar Health Research

Dr. Susan Chatwood is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, and holds affiliations as an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and is Scientific Director of the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. Dr. Chatwood has spent most of her career in remote and northern communities, working in the clinical setting, public health and research. Her research interests include training and capacity building in the north, circumpolar health systems stewardship and performance, and the synthesis of knowledge that promotes broader understandings of health systems and wellness in the Arctic.

Nancy Doubleday, PhD
HOPE Chair in Peace and Health
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, McMaster University

Dr. Nancy C. Doubleday is Hope Chair in Peace and Health, Department of Philosophy, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario; and an Adjunct Professor with the United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). Linking drivers selected from ecology, contaminants, climate, migration, environmental ethics, and Indigenous rights, with health through agency, governance and co-management, her current research targets individual and community agency within polycentric governance in our changing world for Global Water Futures.

Mélanie Lemire, PhD
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University
Researcher, CHU de Québec Research Centre

Dr. Mélanie Lemire is Nasivvik Research Chair in Ecosystem Approaches to Northern Health, Professor at Laval University and researcher at the CHU de Québec. Her projects pursue transdisciplinary, intersectoral and participatory approaches, and focus on the study of global changes, environmental contaminants and nutrition related to the health of Indigenous and coastal populations. Her findings are used to inform decisions and decision making-tools at the local level and to work towards the ban of contaminants at the federal and international levels.

Deborah McGregor, PhD
Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice

Dr. Deborah McGregor joined York University’s Osgoode Hall law faculty in 2015 as a cross-appointee with the Faculty of Environmental Studies. Dr. McGregor’s research has focused on Indigenous knowledge systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including water and environmental governance, environmental and health justice, forest policy and governance and sustainability.  She remains actively involved in a variety of Indigenous communities, serving as an advisor and continuing to engage in community-based research and initiatives.  Dr. McGregor is Anishinaabe from Whitefish River First Nation, Birch Island, Ontario.

Robyn McQuaid, PhD
Scientist, Culture & Gender Research Unit, The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, affiliated with the University of Ottawa
Adjunct Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa

Dr. Robyn McQuaid is a Scientist at The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, affiliated with the University of Ottawa. As a biological health researcher, she examines the impacts of stress and trauma on mental health, with a focus on depression. One aspect of her research program examines the intergenerational impacts of trauma, such as the residential schools, and current disparities on the mental health and wellness of First Nations peoples in Canada.

JoLee Sasakamoose, PhD
Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Regina
Research Director, Indigenous Wellness Research Community Network

Dr. JoLee Sasakamoose is Ojibwe from M’Chigeeng First Nation and resides on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.  She is the Research Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Community Network.  Her network engages clinicians and patients as co-researchers in areas of HIV/infectious disease prevention and treatment, mental health and addictions, and the uses of traditional plant-based medicines for wellness.  With funding from multiple agencies her Network is bringing wellness into First Nations and Metis communities throughout Saskatchewan.

Sonja Wicklum, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Family Medicine Clerkship Director
Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine

Dr. Sonja Wicklum is an academic and teacher in the Department of Family Medicine. In collaboration with a number of Indigenous communities she co-founded the Women Warriors program, a holistic, physical activity-based wellness program for Indigenous women. It is designed to empower women and provide a safe, supportive and culturally relevant environment to support healthy behaviours. It has also been a powerful tool for reconciliation. Other research interests include obesity management in primary care.

www.womenwarriors.club

Mark E. Fenton, MD, MSc, FRCPC, ABIM Board Certified in Sleep Medicine
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Respirology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan

Dr. Mark Fenton is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, and is the Medical Director of the Saskatchewan Lung Transplant Program and the Sleep Disorders Centre in the Saskatoon Health Region. He has received funding from provincial and national agencies for his research on obstructive sleep apnea and the respiratory health of Indigenous Peoples. Dr. Fenton has recently published the first study of lung function in Saskatchewan First Nations adults.

Amadeo Parissenti, PhD
Scientist, Health Sciences North Research Institute
Professor, Laurentian University and Northern Ontario School of Medicine

Dr. Amadeo Parissenti is a Scientist at Health Sciences North and a Professor at Laurentian University and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. In collaboration with Rna Diagnostics, Inc., he developed an assay to predict cancer patient outcome by monitoring early in treatment the ability of chemotherapy agents to induce tumour RNA degradation. Patients with low RNA degradation (poor outcome) can be spared the side effects of the ineffective regimen and moved promptly to alternate treatments.

Cédric Yansouni, MD
Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases & Medical Microbiology, McGill University Health Centre
Health Axis co-Lead, Institut Nordique du Québec (INQ)

Dr. Cédric Yansouni serves as Associate Director of the J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at the McGill University Health Centre, and as co-Lead of the Institut Nordique du Québec (INQ) Health Axis. His research is focused on informing policy on diagnostics for severe and emerging infectious diseases in low-resource or remote communities. He has served as technical advisor to the World Health Organization for prequalification of diagnostics, and holds a Chercheur-boursier clinicien Career Award from the FRQS.

Andrea Furlan, MD, PhD
Staff Physician and Senior Scientist, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at UHN
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto

Dr. Andrea Furlan is a rehabilitation physician with specialization in chronic pain management. Her team at Toronto Rehab was the first to introduce Project ECHO in Canada, which is a program that bridges the gap between specialists in academic centres and clinicians working in rural and remote areas. Project ECHO moves knowledge, not people, and uses weekly sessions of videoconference where clinicians in remote areas present cases to the multi disciplinary team of experts. ECHO enables a community of practice where all teach and all learn.

Paul Peters, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences
Carleton University

Dr. Paul Peters is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, Carleton University. The essence of his research is on the study of small rural places and small urban spaces in a context of enduring structural inequities and extensive social inequalities. His rural research focuses on inequalities in life expectancy, small-area demographic change, frequent hospital users, and accessibility of health services using a patient- and community-engaged approach.