Dr. Alexandra King MD, FRCPC
Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness College of Medicine

Dr. King is a citizen of the Nipissing First Nation (Ontario). She is an Internal Medicine Specialist with a focus on HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV/HCV co-infections.

Dr. King had a successful career in web-based software engineering and management before pursuing her passion for medicine. She got her MD at the University of Toronto in 2009, completed her core internal medicine residency at the University of Alberta, and did a general internal medicine fellowship at the University of British Columbia. She taught courses in Indigenous health at Simon Fraser University, where she also mentored the Faculty of Health Sciences in the implementation of their response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

In October 2017, Dr. King moved to Saskatoon to become the inaugural Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness at the University of Saskatchewan. Her position is endowed by the Royal University Hospital Foundation’s Royal Care Campaign, and included a substantial gift from Cameco and generous support from the University of Saskatchewan, Department of Medicine. She and her husband, Prof. Malcolm King, co-lead pewaseskwan – the Indigenous Wellness Research Group, which has teams at USask and Simon Fraser University. She and pewaseskwan work with Indigenous communities and relevant stakeholders to understand the health and wellness needs of First Nation and Métis people in Saskatchewan and BC and the structural changes required for improved Indigenous health outcomes. She brings leadership skills in culturally safe and responsive research and care, etuaptmumk (Two-eyed Seeing, the bringing together of Indigenous and Western worldviews or forms of knowledges) and Ethical Space, which needs to be created when peoples with disparate worldviews are poised to engage with each other. Dr. King also contributes to decolonization and reconciliation at USask. 

As a First Nation physician, Dr. King’s practice is grounded in Indigenous philosophy, with a focus on care for HIV/AIDS, HCV and related conditions, for which First Nation, Inuit, and Métis people bear a disproportionate burden. She is a Principal Investigator on various Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) research grants and holds a program grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Research interests include Indigenous wellness and Indigenous research ethics. She is re-visioning an Indigenous version of community-directed research so it is centred on Indigenous ancestral wisdom and lived/living experience, as well as Indigenous research philosophies and methodologies. Similarly, she co-creates intervention research that is grounded in Indigenous epistemology, culture and wellness. 

Dr. King serves on many local, national and international initiatives, including the CIHR HIV/AIDS Community-Based Research Steering Committee, the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C (CanHepC), the International Group on Indigenous Health Measurement, USask Indigenous Peoples Signature Area Working Group, and the Canadian Indigenous Research Network Against Cancer. Dr King co-chairs the pan-Canadian Advisory Panel on a Framework for a Prescription Drug List (CADTH advisory panel), which is examining the possibility of a national pharmacare system in Canada. She is the treasurer of the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR), an organization with which she has long been involved. She is chair of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis (Saskatoon, June 2022) and co-chair of the Indigenous satellite of the World Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases World Congress 2022 (Vancouver, August 2022).

 

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Education

2013 – FRCPC (Internal Medicine)
2012 - 2013 – General Internal Medicine Fellowship, University of British Columbia
2009 - 2012 – Core Internal Medicine Residency, University of Alberta
2005 - 2009 – Doctor of Medicine, University of Toronto
2002 - 2005 – BSc, Honours (Human Biology and Psychology), University of Toronto
1989 - 1994 – BBA, Honours, Magna Cum Laude, (Finance and Economics), St. Francis Xavier University

Alexandra mentors students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at both Simon Fraser University and the University of Saskatchewan, focusing on wellness intervention research with Indigenous people in the areas of land-based healing, health determinants, mental health and addictions, blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections, and justice health (prisoner health). She has mentored a number of Dean’s Summer Research Project students at USask, several of whom have received acclaim for their work and even had academic articles published as a result of their time with pewaseskwan.

Dr. King has been listed as a member of the Active Medical Staff for the Saskatchewan Health Authority since October 2019. Her clinical interests are HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV/HCV co-infections. Through her clinic, wicihowin, Dr. King provides care for HIV, HCV and other liver diseases. She has been meeting with patients via telephone or video calls. This clinic better serves First Nations and Métis people who might not otherwise engage with the healthcare system. Dr. King is working with Drs. Worobetz (Gastroenterologist) and Niazi (Hepatologist) at their Collaborative Liver Disease clinic at Royal University Hospital. Dr. King’s contributions include strong Indigenous expertise, viral hepatitis treatment/cure, and management of more moderate cases, with referral to the two sub-specialists for more severe disease. 

• Indigenous wellness
• Land- and culture-based healing and research
• Indigenous research ethics
• Indigenous people and HIV, HCV and co-infections
• Health system and service transformation (peer navigation/support, shared models of care)

Heidebrecht L, Iyer S, Laframboise SL, Madampage C, King A. “Every One of Us Is a Strand in That Basket” Weaving Together Stories of Indigenous Wellness and Resilience From the Perspective of Those With Lived and Living Experience With HIV/Hepatitis C Virus. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC). 2021.

Ackerman M, Madampage C, Epp JL, Gartner K, King A. An Environmental Scan of Impacts and Interventions for Women with Methamphetamine Use In Pregnancy and their Children. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 2021

Gall A, Anderson K, Howard K, Dias A, King A, Willing E, Connolly M, Lindsay D, Garvey G. Wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the United States: A Systemic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. (2021).

Galli R, Lo Hog Tian J, Sumner-Williams M, McBain K, Sanizai E, Tharao W, Aden M, Jamieson H, Da Silva M, Vassal AF, Guilbault L, Ireland L, Witges K, King A, Ametepee K, Lachowsky N, Pai N, Mazzulli T, Rourke S. An observed, prospective field study to evaluate the performance and acceptance of a blood-based HIV self-test in Canada. BMC Public Health. (2021).

King, M and King, A. “Chapter 6 - Fostering Support for Indigenous Adolescents Facing Health Inequities” in Supporting Children and Families Vulnerable to Health Inequities in Canada. Ed. Miriam Stewart. Toronto. University of Toronto Press. 2021.

Maina GM, Mclean M, Mcharo SK, Kennedy M, Djiometio JN, King A. School-based interventions for preventing substance use in Indigenous preteens (7-13 years). Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. 15(74): 1-15. 2020.

Chelico, L, King, A, Ticknor, J, McDonald, M, Rosenes, R, Mercredi, J, Saddleback, J, Bailey, G, King, M, & Saskatoon Tribal Council Health & Family Services. Perspectives of Saskatchewan researchers and community members on HIV-1 strains circulating in Saskatchewan. AIDS. 2020.

Jull, J, King A, King, M, Graham, I, Ninomiya, M M, Jacklin K, Moody-Corbett P, Moore J. A principled approach to research conducted with Inuit, Métis and First Nations People: promoting engagement inspired by the CIHR guidelines for health research involving Aboriginal People (2007-2010). The International Indigenous Policy Journal. 11(2): 1-55. 2020.

Fayed S, King A. In the eyes of Indigenous people in Canada: exposing the underlying colonial etiology of hepatitis C and the imperative for trauma-informed care. CATIE Blog. http://blog.catie.ca/2019/04/15/in-the-eyes-of-indigenous-people-the-link-between-colonialism-and-hepatitis-c-and-the-need-for-historic-trauma-informed-care/ April 2019.

Fayed S, King M, Macklin C, Demeria J, Rabbitskin N, Healy B, Gonzales S, King A. In the eyes of Indigenous people in Canada: exposing the underlying colonial etiology of Hepatitis C and the imperative for trauma – informed care. Canadian Liver Journal. Vol. 1, October 2018.

Krementz D, Macklin C, Fleming T, Kafeety A, Nicholson V, Laframboise S, King M, King A. Connections with the land: a scoping review on cultural wellness retreats as health interventions for Indigenous peoples living with HIV and/or hepatitis C. ab-Original: Journal of Indigenous Studies and First Nations and First Peoples' Cultures. Vol. 2, 2018.

Jull J, King A, King M, Morton Ninomiya ME, Jacklin K, Moody-Corbett P, Graham ID. A principled approach to research conducted with Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples: promoting engagement inspired by the CIHR Guidelines Involving Aboriginal People. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. Accepted for publication.

Dubois-Flynn G, Fernandez N, McDonald M, King A, Miller J, Rosenes R, Willison D, Woods C. CIHR - Draft ethics guidance on developing research partnerships with patients. Will be posted on CIHR's SPOR web portal. Under review – 2018.

Macklin C, King M, Kallos A, Jinkerson-Brass S, Laframboise S-L, Masching R, Prentice T, King A. Water Journey: methods for exploring the research priorities for Indigenous peoples in Canada and hepatitis C. Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research, Vol 8, December 2017.

Macklin C, King M, Kallos A, Jinkerson-Brass S, Laframbiose S-L, Masching R, Prentice T, King A. Community-directed research priorities for Indigenous peoples in Canada and hepatitis C: a scoping review. Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research, Vol 8, December 2017.

Kallos A, Macklin C, King M, Jinkerson-Brass S, Laframbiose S-L, Masching R, Prentice T, King A. Water Journey: emerging themes for research priorities for Indigenous peoples in Canada and hepatitis C. Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research, Vol 8, December 2017.

Van Buuren N, Fradette L, Grebely J, Krajden M, MacParland SA, Marshall A, Saeed SM, Wilson J, Klein MB, Sagan S and King A. The 5th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus: We’re Not Done Yet: Remaining Challenges in Hepatitis C. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vol. 2016, August 2016.

Anderson I, Robson B, Connolly M, Al-Yaman F, Bjertness E, King A, Tynan M, Madden R; many others. Indigenous and Tribal Health - The Lancet Lowitja Institute Global Collaboration. The Lancet, Vol 388(10040), July 2016.

Milloy M-J, King A, Kerr T, Adams E, Samji H, Guillemi S, Montaner J, Woods E. Improvements in HIV/AIDS treatment outcomes among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who use illicit drugs in a Canadian setting. Journal of the International AIDS Society, Vol 19(1), April 2016.

King A, King M. Chapter 32: Training Practitioners in Indigenous Health. in Menzies P, ed. Working with Aboriginal Peoples with Mental Health and Addiction Problems: A Guide for Health, Justice and Social Service Professionals. CAMH Publications, June 2014.

King M, Smith A, King M.E. Chapter 22: Youth - Education and Language. First Nations 3^rd Regional Longitudinal Health Survey. First Nations Information Governance Centre, Ottawa, May 2012.

King M, Smith A, Gracey M. Indigenous Health part 2: The Underlying Causes of the Health Gap. The Lancet, Vol 374: 9683, July 2009.