Bourassa envisions exciting future for IIPH at U of S
Relocating the national Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH) to the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) from Sudbury, Ont., opens up exciting opportunities for both the institute and the university to advance health research and reconciliation, according to IIPH Scientific Director Carrie Bourassa.
By SARATH PEIRISThe Oct. 1 move to U of S enables the institute, one of 13 of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), to continue serving northerners as well as other Indigenous populations and advance the institute’s leading role to improve and promote First Nations, Métis and Inuit health through research.
“The University of Saskatchewan is a pretty amazing hub of activity in Indigenous health, and has great infrastructure in place,” said Bourassa, who joined the College of Medicine as a faculty member Sept. 1. “It is a natural fit for the institute.”
Hosting the IIPH will build upon the university’s strengths and profile as a growing hub for Indigenous health research, said Bourassa, who will split her time evenly between the U of S and IIPH.
“IIPH develops partnerships nationally and internationally, so although we don’t generate research directly, we help to create a positive research environment that helps to recruit and retain Indigenous health scholars, and engage and support Indigenous communities in Indigenous health research,” she said.
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