Message from Dr. Christine Chambers: Spotlight on Indigenous health research and recent IHDCYH board meeting in Edmonton

This month, we recognize National Indigenous History Month in Canada and honour the leadership and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. CIHR’s commitment to building collaborative relationships and supporting Indigenous scholars and Indigenous-led health research is reflected in a message from Dr. Chelsea Gabel, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH), and CIHR President Dr. Paul Hébert. IHDCYH is committed to supporting an Indigenous Path in all our activities. Our Fall 2025 Institute Advisory Board meeting was held jointly with IIPH in Saskatoon and was a meaningful opportunity for our board members and Institute teams to exchange ideas, build relationships, and explore collaborations to advance Indigenous child, youth, and family health research. I’m also pleased to share a spotlight on several Indigenous-led research projects in this newsletter’s featured research section.

The IHDCYH Institute Advisory Board recently convened in Edmonton for our Spring meeting, which included a community event hosted by the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI). Connecting directly with WCHRI researchers was a great opportunity to strengthen relationships across the community and create opportunities for impactful collaboration to advance child and youth health. Thank you to WCHRI for hosting us! One of the topics Board members engaged on during our meeting was an update and discussion about current challenges in the peer review process which impact CIHR’s Project Grant program delivery, and I encourage all members of our community to participate in consultations on this topic through upcoming CIHR webinars on June 16 (in English) and June 25 (in French).

Sincerely,

Christine

Dr. Christine Chambers,
Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health

Date modified:

2026-06-15