UBC joins international project on indigenous peoples’ health

The UBC Faculty of Medicine is participating in a new international collaboration launched to improve the care of chronic disease among indigenous peoples. 

Betty Calam, associate professor in the Dept. of Family Practice; Leah Walker, clinical instructor in Family Practice; and Kendall Ho, associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of the eHealth Strategy Office, will team up with colleagues at universities in Canada, Australia and New Zealand to investigate correlations between indigenous peoples and health issues, such as diabetes.

UBC is joined by three Canadian universities (University of Calgary, Queen’s University, and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine) to form the Canadian contingent participating in the project. The five-year project is called “Educating for equity: Exploring how health professional education can reduce disparities in chronic disease care and improve outcomes for Indigenous populations.” 

The project is supported by the International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Program, developed and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Health Research Council of New Zealand, and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. CIHR will contribute $1.25 million to support the Canadian contribution to this project.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/media/Indigenous_health_collaboration.htm