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UNBC prof appointed to lead national Indigenous health group

Dr. Margo Greenwood is recognized nationally and internationally for her work in early childhood care and education of Indigenous children and in public health.
Christine Dalgleish
Christine Dalgleish
UNBC Dr. Margo Greenwood
Dr. Margo Greenwood, UNBC professor and academic leader is named interim scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Indigenous People's Health.UNBC photo

Dr. Margo Greenwood has been appointed interim scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH) for a term of three years.

The institute will be hosted at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George.

“I am deeply honoured to take up this new role and responsibilities as interim scientific director with the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health,” Greenwood said. “I look forward to continuing to build on the vital work set out in the strategic plans of CIHR and the IIPH. In this work it is critical to engage with Indigenous individuals, communities, and organizations across the country.”

Dr. Michael J. Strong, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, said Greenwood, will play a leadership role in advancing Indigenous self-determination in health research while building a trusting relationship with the Indigenous research community.

Greenwood is a highly acclaimed Indigenous scholar of Cree ancestry. She is currently the academic leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health and a professor in the education program at the university.

Greenwood is recognized nationally and internationally for her work in early childhood care and education of Indigenous children and in public health.

In December 2021, Greenwood was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for her scholarship in early childhood education and her transformational leadership in Indigenous health policy. From 2006 to 2013, Dr. Greenwood was a member and chair of the institute advisory board for CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health.

“I am super excited and so happy but at the same time this is a very big job,” Greenwood. “It’s a little too early to see what exactly this job is going to look like.”

There will be many conversations with the Indigenous communities, she added.

“And as we hold those conversations then we begin to see where the gaps are, we begin to see what some of the solutions are and in what direction we really want to go because we all want optimal health.”