Welcome!
I am proud that the Institute for Aboriginal Peoples' Health (IAPH) is one of the 13 founding institutes of CIHR and that I have the honour to be selected as its inaugural scientific director. It is a well-documented fact that Aboriginal peoples endure a profound gap in health status when compared to the general Canadian population. Whereas Canada has been ranked by the United Nations as the number one nation on the planet in terms of overall quality of life, aboriginal peoples living in their home communities are ranked 62 in the world. In my view, given the complexity and significant public health challenge, health researchers have a moral obligation to work with the aboriginal community to effect positive changes that aim to improve health.
To improve the health of aboriginal peoples in Canada, the IAPH needs to strive for research excellence and Aboriginal peoples should settle for nothing less. The IAPH must encourage health researchers from a diverse range of disciplines to work together and solve complex problems while building research capacity to improve the health of aboriginal peoples. We will need to demonstrate strong leadership within CIHR and effectively communicate with many stakeholders across Canada. It is time to tear down walls separating research disciplines, to unmask creative ideas through a synergy that connects and respects different 'ways of knowing' and to foster new approaches toward the health research enterprise. The IAPH has the potential to be a concrete demonstration of the innovative, trans-disciplinary, transformative and value-added potential of CIHR itself. Developing virtual networks of researchers, building capacity, improving health; this should be our collective vision. Working together we will make it happen.
