Episkenew To Head Up Health Research Centre

Episkenew To Head Up Health Research Centre

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 12:08

Author Jo-Ann Episkenew is the new director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre (IPHRC).

The IPHRC is a partnership between the University of Regina, the First Nations University of Canada and the University of Saskatchewan.

Episkenew says the centre’s goal is to help communities become involved in health research.

“Our mandate is to build capacity in the province for Aboriginal health research, specifically community-based research. So that means that the communities direct the research, not the universities. So we’re out there to meet the communities’ needs,” she says.

Episkenew is an associate professor of English at the First Nations University of Canada.

She also works with Aboriginal youth, using theatre techniques to explore healthy decision-making.