Métis academic becomes Scientific Director at CIHR
- EFN Staff | March 08, 2017
She’s a woman with many accomplishments who is paving new paths for Indigenous health research. Dr. Carrie Bourassa was recently appointed as the New Scientific Director of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health based in Sudbury, Ontario.
“I’m pleased to welcome Dr. Bourassa to the CIHR leadership team. With her wealth of experience in Indigenous health, she is extremely well-suited to help CIHR implement its action plan to strengthen Indigenous health research in Canada and ultimately, build a healthier future for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples,” says CIHR President Dr. Alain Beaudet in a media release.
Related: FNUniv professor awarded grant to develop cultural safety lab
This will be the first time in the history of the institute that it will be based in a northern small institution to help meet the health challenges of the northern and rural areas. Dr. Bourassa says this is an exciting opportunity for her to pursue.
“I am honoured and humbled. I didn’t expect to get the position,” she says. “I’m excited to able to serve Indigenous communities in a different way.”
She currently holds the position as Chair in Northern & Indigenous Health and is also an Adjunct Professor at Laurentian University. In the new and upcoming position, Dr. Bourassa wants a strategic community consultation to try understanding what the priorities are for Indigenous communities across Canada.
“You can’t have just Indigenous institute address Indigenous health, it has to be integrated across the institute so there’s a lot of work to do,” she adds.
Through her work ahead, Dr. Bourassa will find out from different community perspectives on what needs to change within CIHR so they can build on the strengths, resilience and ask Indigenous communities across Canada to address the huge gaps they see in Indigenous health.
“It’s going to be a different challenge… doors have opened that I haven’t planned, and I’ve always felt like I served communities that I worked for Indigenous communities in the research that I’ve undertaken.”
Dr. Bourassa will be taking the cultural-safety evaluation and training lab with her in Sudbury to continue part of her responsibility on training and mentoring students and young researchers. She acknowledges Dr. Eber Hampton and Dr. Mary Hampton who showed her what community-based Indigenous health research is about and how to implement the principles of reciprocity, respect and relevance to put communities first.
“It’s not about you, it’s not about your ego, it’s about community, it’s about strength, resilience, and what communities have to offer. It’s about those who came before me and it’s about those yet to come. I want to honour them,” she adds.
Dr. Bourassa, who is Métis, belongs to the Regina Riel Métis Council #34. For many years, she was a Professor of Indigenous Health Studies at First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv). She began the new position as the Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health on February 1st