Dr. Cassandra Opikokew Wajuntah BA, PhD, MPA

Dr. Cassandra J. Opikokew Wajuntah is a proud member of Canoe Lake Cree Nation and was raised in Meadow Lake, SK. Cassandra comes from an interdisciplinary background that is driven by practical solutions in problem-driven areas. Most recently, she was the Director of the Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre at the First Nations University of Canada. Dr. Opikokew Wajuntah has over 15 years of experience building relations with Indigenous communities both locally and internationally and helped IPHRC contribute over $20 million in Indigenous health research funding to Saskatchewan. She is also former co-chair of the U of Regina's Research Ethics Board and is an appointed member of the Public Health Agency of Canada's Ethics Consultative Group (PHECG).

• Bachelor of Arts in Journalism
• Certificate in Indigenous Communication Arts
• Master of Public Administration
• PhD in Public Policy

• Co-Investigator. 2023. Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF)-Align Grant. Development of an Evidence-Informed Strategy for Primary Care Recruitment and Retention in Saskatchewan, $9,998 (1 year).
• Co-Investigator. 2022. Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Project Grant. Impact of a province-wide initiative to provide free antiretroviral therapy to people living with HIV, a population-based analysis in Saskatchewan, $100,000 (1 year).
• Principal Investigator. Green, Brenda L; Cooper, Elizabeth; Opikokew Wajuntah, Cassandra J; O'Reilly, Kathleen; Strongarm, Colleen; Vey, Debbie. 2021. Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Project Grant. Takohpinawasowin: Knowledge Keepers' Stories of Traditional Birthing and Child-Rearing Practices, $512,552 (4 years).
• Principal Investigator. 2021. Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Project Grant. Developing Culturally Appropriate and Community Informed Virtual Healthcare for Pediatric Specialized Acute Care Services in Saskatchewan's Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities, $1,273,726 (5 years).
• Principal Investigator. 2021. Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Project Grant. Indigenous Community Research Partnerships: A Community-Centred Research Approach to Develop and Conduct Indigenous Evaluation of an Open Access Training Resource, $100,000 (1 year).
• Co-Investigator. 2019. Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Operating Grant: NEIHR Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan First Nations and Métis Health Research, Training and Knowledge Mobilization Network (CIHR-NEIHR Centre), $3,850,000 (5 years).
• Co-Investigator. 2019. Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Operating Grant: NEIHR Consortium. The Saskatchewan First Nations and Métis Health Research, Training and Knowledge Mobilization Network (CIHR-NEIHR Centre), $1,500,000 (5 years).
• Co-Investigator, 2017. Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Planning and Dissemination Grant. Developing an Integrated Healthcare Delivery model for Indigenous Communities in Saskatchewan, $10,860 (1 year).
• Co-Investigator. 2017. Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Training Grant. Building Reconciliation Together: Transformative Intergenerational Mentorship, $1,000,000 (5 years).
• Co-Investigator. 2016. Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Training Grant: Indigenous Mentorship Network-LOL. Western Indigenous Health Research Mentorship Network, $25,000 (1 year).

• Holly A. McKenzie, Colleen Varcoe, Dory Nason, Betty McKenna, Karen Lawford, Mary-Ellen Kelm, Cassandra Opikokew Wajuntah, Laverne Gervais, Jannica Hoskins, Jaqueline Anaquod, Jasmond Murdock, Rebecca Murdock, Katryna Smith, Jillian Arkles, MA9, Sharon Acoose, and Kayla Arisman. (2022). Indigenous Women's Resistance of Colonial Policies, Practices, and Reproductive Coercion. Qualitative Health Research. 32(7): 1031-1054.
• McKenzie, H., A., Dell, C. A., Stempien, J., Smith, J., Wajuntah, C. O, & Cruz, M... 2021. PAWSitive Emergency Department Interactions: An Analysis of Therapy Dog Program Policies. Ecohealth. Preprint available. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20701.13282
• Episkenew, Jo-Ann and Cassandra Opikokew. 2013. Indigenous Health Issues in Canada: Minorities with Problems or People with Rights? Health Diplomacy Monitor 4(2): 3-4.
• Opikokew Wajuntah, Cassandra J. 2014. "It's like two sides of an eagle's feathers. Both are needed to fly." In Reconciliation & the Way Forward:Collected Essays and Personal Reflections, edited by S. Rogers, M. DeGagne, G. Lowry and S. Fryer. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
• Grafton, E., Desnomie, C., Gordon, M., Schneider, B., and Opikokow Wajuntah, C.J. 2022 (Forthcoming). "Disrupting Codified Academic Norms Through Decolonization." In Contemporary Vulnerabilities, edited by C. Carter, and C. Temple-Jones. Regina: U of R Press.