Dr. Juan-Nicolás Peña-Sánchez MD, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor Community Health and Epidemiology- Address
- HSC E-wing 3232
Research Area(s)
- Health services research
- Innovative health care models
- Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)
- Health care access for individuals living with gastrointestinal and liver conditions
- Wellness and motivation of health care providers
About
Dr. Peña-Sánchez is a faculty member in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology. He is a physician by training from Colombia with a Master of Public Health from the Europubhealth+ Program and a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan. His collaborative and interdisciplinary research program aims to study and promote innovative health care approaches that address the needs of populations and overcome the challenges of health care systems. His research program has three pillars: 1) access to health care for persons living with chronic gastrointestinal and liver conditions, 2) working with Indigenous community members to improve health care access and well-being, and 3) wellness and motivation of health care providers.
Dr. Peña-Sánchez is one of the members of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Research Collaborative Network. In close partnership with Indigenous patient and family advocates, he has been working on raising awareness about IBD among Indigenous peoples and advocating for better access to IBD care and their well-being (see the IBD among Indigenous Peoples Research Team). Dr. Peña-Sánchez is co-leading an initiative to innovate gastrointestinal and liver care with First Nations and Métis community members. Also, Dr. Peña-Sánchez is the Saskatchewan lead of the Canadian Gastrointestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC). Furthermore, he has been helping to connect and build relationships with First Nations and Métis Elders from Saskatchewan and with Indigenous Elders from Vaupés in the Colombian Amazon, to build international connections that address environmental injustices and health inequities affecting Indigenous communities, fostering collaboration and amplifying Indigenous perspectives and voices.
In the undergraduate medical program of the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Peña-Sánchez is the Chair of the Medicine and Society Courses and the Co-Director of the Community-Based Learning Experiences (CLE) Module. He is also the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Co-Champion of the Training Researchers in the Next Generation in GI and Liver (TRIANGLE) national program.
