Lundbeck Research Award

In 2002 I volunteered in a hospital in Haiti.  At the time I was grappling with how to support children facing complex issues such as malnutrition and HIV.   The problems were greater than I could understand. I wanted concrete skills in order to help.  That’s when I decided to become a nurse.

Along this journey I learned that being a nurse is more than just having “hands-on” skills.  As a public health nurse I enter people’s homes and see them in their most intimate environments.  This inside view has provided me with different perspectives that have helped shape my understanding of health and social inequities.  This unique perspective compels me to continue to develop a critical understanding of health access and to investigate how we, as health professionals, can better serve our clients.  For my doctoral research I want to examine how social and institutional structures (e.g. health policies and procedures) contribute to inequitable health outcomes for Indigenous children in Canada.  My goal is to discover the specific pathways, processes, and actions needed to ameliorate Indigenous child health inequities.

Thank you CNF and the Lundbeck research award committee for granting me this award.