'Kungatsiajuk':

Dr. Martin’s research and teaching efforts focus on issues related to Aboriginal peoples’ health. Debbie is a member of NunatuKavut and has worked closely with NunatuKavut on a number of community-based health research projects. She holds deep regard for diverse Indigenous perspectives on health and wellbeing, and believes that much can be learned about the health of people and the planet if we listen to the knowledge held by Indigenous peoples worldwide.

In addition to her role on this oral health project, Dr. Martin is a co-principal investigator of the Atlantic Aboriginal Health Research Program (www.aahrp.ca) and is a Research Associate with the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre (www.ahprc.dal.ca). She lives in Nova Scotia, with her husband and young son and works as an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University.

Research Areas

• The health and well-being of Aboriginal peoples
• Indigenous social determinants of health
• Qualitative Indigenous research methodologies and perspectives
• Food justice and food studies
• Social and environmental health inequities

Mary McNally is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia where she has been a faculty member for the past 18 years.

During the first nine years, she balanced part-time teaching with a full-time general dental practice in rural Nova Scotia. She joined the faculty full-time in 2001.

Dr. McNally has a multidisciplinary education with an undergraduate science degree in Nutrition and a Master of Science in General Pathology. She completed a Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1992 and a Master of Arts in Philosophy in 2003.

Her clinical and academic interests include caring for elders, oral health promotion, and health care ethics focusing on social justice and access to care for vulnerable populations. She recently completed a CIHR Fellowship (Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research – Primary Health Care) to develop research capacity in the area of primary health care.

Dr. McNally has been involved in health services and policy research projects focusing on the development of pragmatic solutions and policy recommendations to address inequity and access to oral health care for Nova Scotia seniors.

Her current research projects explore possibilities for effective promotion and integration of oral health care for frail and dependant older adults residing both at home and in continuing care settings. In addition to developing research meant to inform policies and programs to promote better oral care practices, Dr. McNally and her multidisciplinary team are interested in gaining a better understanding of the ethical implications of personal mouth care. Her research includes careful attention to knowledge translation strategies with the involvement of end-users and decision makers as an integral part of the research process.

Dr. Heather Castleden is a Health Geographer and Assistant Professor in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University. She has an established track record of competitive grant funding from SSHRC, CIHR, NSHRF, AllerGen NCE, and the Canadian Water Network NCE; she has published widely in the health, environment, and education literatures. Dr. Castleden is a Co-Principal Investigator of the Atlantic Aboriginal Health Research Program and Research Director of the Healthy Environments and Communities (HEC) Research Lab. In 2010, the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) presented Dr. Castleden with the Julian M. Szeicz Award for Early Career Achievement in Environment, Health, and Indigenous Geographies.

Dr. Debora Matthews is an alumnus of the University of Alberta. She practiced general dentistry in Alberta for 11 years after which time she obtained her Diploma in Periodontics from the University of Toronto. She has a Master’s degree in Health Research Methodology from the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University and is currently Chair of the Department of Dental Clinical Sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Dr. Matthews is a member of the Critical Review Panel for the American Dental Association Center for Evidence Based Dentistry website and serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association and the Evidence Based Dentistry Journal.

Her research interests are two-fold:

• Translating clinical research knowledge into clear and useful formats for clinicians and their patients
• Addressing the deficit in oral health experienced by vulnerable populations

Dr. Mark Filiaggi is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Applied Oral Sciences within the Faculty of Dentistry at Dalhousie University, with cross-appointments in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Radiology. His core research program on bone-interfacing biomaterials and implants, with an emphasis on novel processing approaches and applications, has in recent years been complemented by his involvement in provincially based population health studies focused on oral health assessments and links to the overall health and well being of marginalized or underserved populations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Biomaterials Society and is currently Secretary-Treasurer for the Canadian Association for Dental Research. He held the position of Assistant Dean (Research) for the Faculty from January 2006 to December 2012, and in July 2012 took on a half-time role as Associate Vice President Research within Dalhousie Research Services.

Joanne Clovis is a full time professor in the School of Dental Hygiene. Her research and teaching have focused on population health including health promotion, health policy, oral epidemiology, knowledge translation and research utilization.

Dr. Ferne Kraglund (Assistant Professor, Dalhousie Faculty of Dentistry) is a clinical dentist and a dental public health specialist. Her research and work interests involve providing dental care to marginalized individuals, including Aboriginal populations. She currently leads an outreach education program that provides opportunities for dental students to provide dental care to a variety of individuals who have difficulty accessing dental care.

Dr. Jennifer MacLellan is an assistant professor in pediatric dentistry at Dalhousie University and a staff pediatric dentist at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jennifer has expertise in oral health screening and prevention programs for children. Her research and clinical interests include early infant oral health care promotion, elimination of barriers to dental care and treatment of children in underserved populations.

Dr. Bornstein completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science at Harvard University. He is currently Co-Director of SafetyNet, a Community Alliance for Health Research that studies occupational health and safety of marine and coastal work. Dr. Bornstein has also been the Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research since the Centre’s establishment in 1999. At the Centre, he leads the Contextualized Health Research Synthesis Program, an integrated knowledge translation program that addresses pressing health services, policy and technology questions for the provincial health system. From 1991 to 1995, Dr. Bornstein served as Assistant Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Government of Ontario and Ontario Representative to Quebec. He is a full professor in the Department of Political Science and in the Division of Community Health and Humanities of the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University.

Darlene Wall is the Health & Social Sector Manager with NunatuKavut in Labrador. As an Aboriginal woman, this position gives her a great sense of personal and professional pride. She can use her passion for change to help her organization and her people. Darlene has spent most of her life as a volunteer for many groups and organizations. She believes that the skills she acquired from doing this has transferred into her professional life, giving her more enthusiasm and being able to work as a member of a team. Darlene’s background is in education and leading many different youth groups, workshops, etc. She continues to use these skills on a daily basis as she writes proposals for health & social projects, including research projects, as well as help carry out the projects, while working with community on all levels. She also represents her people at many tables locally, provincially and nationally.

Darlene believes strongly that if we encourage our Aboriginal youth with a “can do” attitude they will gain more self-confidence and be ready to find their unique identity. She believes that research which truly involves community in all phases can truly make a difference for the future of her people and communities.

After extracting one too many teeth from children wearing diapers, Dr. Rosamund Harrison resolved to develop interventions to decrease the extent and severity of dental caries in young children. She has had the good fortune to work on health promotion projects and randomized controlled trials with urban Vietnamese and IndoCanadian moms and tots, low-income high risk pregnant women, and First Nations communities in British Columbia and Quebec. Her collaborators are from dental public health, psychology, dental hygiene, nursing, private dental practice, and, most importantly, from community. These projects, funded by CIHR, NIH, and other agencies were also supported by huge amounts of volunteer time and enthusiasm. The Canadian Dental Association awarded Dr. Harrison and her co-investigators their 2004 Oral Health Promotion Award and, in 2006, she received Honourary Membership in the B.C. Dental Association in recognition of her health promotion activities. She was the 2010 recipient of the 3M-Espe-ACFD National Dental Teaching Award. Dr. Harrison is a pediatric dentist and is currently Professor and Chair of Pediatric Dentistry and Head, Department of Oral Health Sciences at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry.

Dr. Peter Hornett has worked in the Labrador-Grenfell Health region since February 1985. He is responsible for the delivery of dental services to designated clinics, hospitals and communities within the health region.

Dr. Hornett maintains a clinical practice in general dentistry and also has operating privileges at the Charles S. Curtis Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony. Since 1993, Dr. Hornett has been the Chief of Dentistry for Labrador-Grenfell Health and its predecessor organization, Grenfell Regional Health Services. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, he also has a keen interest in promoting population oral health through development of appropriate strategies, including multidisciplinary approaches linked with strong service delivery models.

Dr. Hornett is a graduate of the Dental School at the University of Wales, Cardiff, U.K. He holds a Master of Science degree in Dental Public Health from the London Hospital Medical College at the University of London. Dr. Hornett holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment at the School of Dental Hygiene at Dalhousie University, this enabling him to help facilitate an externship program for dental hygiene students from that institution in Labrador-Grenfell Health clinics throughout northern Newfoundland and southern Labrador.

Dr. Hornett is a past president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Dental Association. He may be reached by e-mail at peter.hornett@lghealth.ca or by phone at (709) 454-0163.

John Graham has been working as a full-time consultant in Newfoundland and Labrador for the past twelve years. Prior to setting up his own consulting firm he worked for various community based organizations as well as the provincial government as District Manager with the NL Department of Social Services. His consulting work has included working with community organizations to develop funding proposals, research proposals, strategic plans, community consultations, community needs assessments, workshops and conferences. He is presently on contract with the Atlantic Aboriginal Health Research Program as their regional coordinator for Newfoundland and Labrador. He is also a member of the Labrador Aboriginal Health Research Committee, Canadian Evaluation Society and the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education. The breadth and nature of his experience reflects an interest in tackling challenges and working with communities to find innovative and creative solutions based on good evidence. John can be reached at graham.john709@gmail.com.

Sandra is an experienced collaborator with over 20 years of research management experience. She has a background in health policy and a particular research interest in the area of seniors’ oral health.

Iona is Project Coordinator for Kungatsiajuk: Supporting the Healthy Smiles of NunatuKavut Children and Coordinator for the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research. Iona has experience managing and carrying out numerous research and consulting projects across a broad range of sectors. As such, Iona is very familiar with all aspects of the research process including preparation of proposals and ethics submissions; conduct of environmental scans, literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews; management and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data; and dissemination of research results to a wide variety of audiences. Iona also has financial management experience including monitoring and reporting on overall financial performance and cash flow; preparing and analyzing financial statements, budgets, and projections; and cost-benefit analyses to support assessment of strategic options. Iona has a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Statistics.

Michelle Clarke joined Kungatsiajuk: Supporting the Healthy Smiles of NunatuKavut Children as the Healthy Smiles Coordinator in April 2012. Michelle has a background in office administration, finance and employment/ career counseling in group and individual settings.

Michelle have worked with her local municipal government, employment assistance services, Memorial University projects and other organizations that assist in the betterment of life for the people of her region, this is where her interest is found.

Michelle is the on the ground organization and contact person for this project in Labrador. Gathering information and research through local business, organizations and residents.