Using a combination of web- and teleconference connectivity across Northern Ontario, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held its quarterly meeting of the Indigenous Reference Group (IRG) and Ogichidaang Gagiigatiziwin—NOSM’s Circle of Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers—on Tuesday, September 26, 2017. Members began their one-day meeting with an opening prayer from Elder Tom Chisel, followed by a welcome from Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean, and Dr. David Marsh, Deputy Dean and Associate Dean, Community Engagement.

Indigenous Reference Group Co-Chairs, Drs. Charles Branch and Shannon Wesley, alumni of NOSM’s Family Medicine residency program, led the meeting. Members of the IRG and Ogichidaang Gagiigatiziwin received updates from NOSM’s MD and postgraduate education programs; Charlene Carson, second-year NOSM medical student, who spoke about her first-year placement in her home community of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg—also known as Pic River First Nation; and, Alethea Kewayash from Cancer Care Ontario, who spoke about the Aboriginal Cancer Strategy (ACS) III.

During the meeting, details were provided about NOSM’s newest class of medical students who began the MD program in September 2017

• 92% of the medical students are from Northern Ontario;
• 8% are from other rural and remote areas of Canada; and,
• 11% of the class has self-identified as Indigenous.

The Indigenous Reference Group serves as a resource for the medical school in the fulfilment of its social accountability mandate as it relates to Indigenous health education and research. Reporting to the Dean of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the IRG provides advice to the School’s initiatives, including research, administration, and academic issues in the promotion of excellence in higher learning and accommodation of the Indigenous world view.

“We were pleased to have the Ogichidaang Gagiigatiziwin join the Indigenous Reference Group for this meeting,” said Tina Armstrong, NOSM’s Director of Indigenous Affairs. “The contributions of Ogichidaang Gagiigatiziwin and the Indigenous Reference Group ensure that NOSM’s senior leadership understand the needs of Indigenous Peoples in our region. Their involvement helps the School constantly evolve its programs and policies to better serve Indigenous Peoples in Northern Ontario.”

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s next Indigenous Reference Group meeting is scheduled to occur in December 2017.

Dr. Marina Ulanova, researcher and professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), recently received a grant awarded by the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) for the project titled Studies in support of a new vaccine to prevent invasive Haemophilus influenzae type a (Hia) disease in Canadian Indigenous communities.

The funding is provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to the Canadian Immunization Research Network to support 15 research projects across Canada. Ulanova, one of 15 principal investigators in Canada supported by these funds, received $423,518 of the budget allocated for the NOSM project for a period of two years.

Ulanova, who has been studying Haemophilus influenzae type a (Hia) at NOSM for more than ten years, says she knew from her previous research in Russia and Sweden that there were specific population groups who are vulnerable to infections—one of those groups being North American Indigenous Peoples. “I was always puzzled as an immunologist,” says Ulanova. “What is behind this? Why would people be more prone to develop certain infections in certain population groups? This is why I initiated the research, and it evolved from there.”

Having established collaborations with researchers across Canada and in Alaska, Ulanova and her team have contributed to the development of a new vaccine which is at the final stages of development at the National Research Council in Ottawa. “The goal of our current project is to provide evidence in support of immunization to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type a in Indigenous communities,” says Ulanova.

The project is in collaboration with researchers across Canada, including the Vaccine Evaluation Center(University of British Columbia), the Canadian Center for Vaccinology (Dalhousie University), the National Microbiology Laboratory, the National Research Council, the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Alberta, the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and others. Lakehead University faculty members, Drs. Kristin Burnett and Chris Sanders, and NOSM medical student, Eli Nix, are co-investigators on this project, which also involves collaboration with physicians at the Meno Ya Win Health Centre in Sioux Lookout and several regional Indigenous health centres.

This grant is an extension of one-year CIRN funding of $165,000 (2016-2017) awarded to Ulanova for the project titled Determination of burden of invasive Haemophilus influenzae type a (Hia) disease in Indigenous communities and study of their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours about Hia disease, vaccine, and clinical trials via a community engagement.