Background and Mission
The Manitoba First Nations Centre for Aboriginal Health Research (MFN CAHR) is a research centre of excellence that initiates, conducts and supports world class research in the following areas:
Crosscutting themes include gender, life-course, research/biomedical ethics, community-based, knowledge translation, and training/capacity-building.Population and public health Health services Clinical Biomedical-genetics Health information systems
The MFN CAHR is a unit under the Section of First Nation, Metis and Inuit Health of the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine at The University of Manitoba.
The MFN CAHR was established through a generous contribution from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to the fundraising campaign of the Foundations for Health for the construction of the Buhler Centre for Health Research at The University of Manitoba Bannatyne Campus. Development of the MFN CAHR was also facilitated by a research infrastructure grant awarded to the University of Manitoba by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Manitoba Innovation Fund. Operating funds are secured from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). These funds are supplemented by federal contracts awarded by Health Canada First Nations and Inuit Health (HC FNIH), the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and Development (DIAND), and other government agencies.
Research programs integrate scientific, indigenous and transformative research and evaluation methodologies to produce new knowledge about the health and wellbeing of indigenous peoples, provincially, nationally and internationally.
Elders and research advisory committees provide research direction consistent with indigenous principles of ethical research. Research advisory committees include membership from the University, First Nations, Metis, Inuit and other indigenous communities, affiliated territorial or tribal organizations, and government agency stakeholders representing Health Canada First Nations and Inuit Health, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Manitoba Health, CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, or other health authorities when required.
For research focused on First Nations health and social issues, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Health Information and Research Governance Committee (HIRGC) takes a lead role in ensuring that research is based on First Nations principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP). The HIRGC consists of representatives from the northern and southern Tribal Councils and Independent First Nation communities in Manitoba and is accountable to the Chiefs Committee on Health of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. Research addressing Metis health and social issues are conducted in partnership with the Manitoba Metis Federation Department of Health and Metis community health authorities. Representatives from Inuit communities, regional health boards, health and social organizations, and relevant government agencies direct research for Inuit. MFN CAHR and affiliated First Nation and Metis population, public health, and health and social services research is conducted in partnership with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at The University of Manitoba. MFN CAHR and affiliated research pertaining to cancer disparities is conducted in partnership with CancerCare Manitoba located at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.