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Weaving Wisdom: Laurentian Professor Co-Investigates Groundbreaking $24M Project to Transform Brain Health Assessments

Weaving Wisdom: Laurentian Professor Co-Investigates Groundbreaking $24M Project to Transform Brain Health Assessments

Project rooted in collaboration, mentorship, and community will develop culturally safer brain health tools for Indigenous Peoples.

(May 12, 2025) – Laurentian University Assistant Professor, School of Indigenous Relations, Sharlene Webkamigad (Anishinaabe-Kwe, Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory) is helping lead a transformative community-led research initiative focused on improving brain health assessment for Indigenous Peoples across Canada and internationally. 

The six-year project, awarded $24 million in funding by the New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation Stream, will develop a culturally grounded bundle of dementia assessment tools that are safe, trauma-informed, and reflective of Indigenous values, language, and knowledge systems. Webkamigad, is co-investigating key components of the initiative, including engagement with Indigenous Peoples with lived and living experience of dementia and their caregiving communities as well as contributing to healthcare preparedness and training. 

To ensure that the project is culturally informed and based in community, key partners include Indigenous co-researchers from community-led organizations such as Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services, Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, Manotsaywin Nanotoojig Inc, Métis Nation of Alberta, Six Nations of the Grand River and the Two-Spirit Program at the Community-Based Research Centre. Researchers from Lakehead University, Queen’s University, University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan and Western University, as well as KITE Research Institute at University Health Network will also support this work. 

“This project brings so many of us with different talents together. It’s a collective, it’s about community, it’s mentorship—it’s heart work…. My role is about listening, building, and creating space for community members to guide this work and shape how healthcare can better serve them,” said Webkamigad who elaborated that community perspective on holistic brain health may include discussions of elements typically required for a diagnosis of dementia, such as cognition, depression, and other potential components such as quality of life. 

For Webkamigad, whose Ojibwe and Odawa roots help guide her, the collaborative efforts of this project are well represented by the metaphor of a black ash basket; each strip weaved together to make a stronger whole. “Each person brings their own gifts to this project. We all share the responsibility to work on this equally. That’s what true interdisciplinary collaboration means to me.”

Before pursuing her MA in Interdisciplinary Health and PhD in Rural and Northern Health, Webkamigad was a graduate of Laurentian’s School of Nursing (BScN). With more than fifteen years experience in Indigenous health care as a Registered Nurse, she recognizes National Nursing Week, an annual initiative centered around International Nurses Day (today - May 12th), however, proudly celebrates Indigenous Nurses Day on April 10th, a date that honours Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture, a Kanien’kehà:ka woman who, despite barriers placed on Indigenous women such as the Indian Act, was the first Indigenous registered nurse in Canada in 1914. We honour the health care contributions and achievements of all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis nurses, educators, and students in Canada.

Webkamigad’s journey into research began during her BScN studies when she worked as a research assistant for a diabetes-related project, in her home community of Wiikwemkoong. “I saw firsthand how Indigenous voices are often overlooked in mainstream health models,” she said. “While healthcare providers can continue to educate people on health-related topics, it’s what they face in the real world that impacts how they are using the information we share with them… It comes down to social determinants of health. The health needs of Indigenous Peoples are unique, and health outcomes derived from colonialism, must be accounted for.” Her journey in research continues to evolve as does her curiosity, and Webkamigad is motivated to provide a healthcare environment that reflects the needs and priorities of the most crucial people in Indigenous communities: older adults and Elders.  

When it comes to dementia, an umbrella term for several diseases that affect memory, thinking, and the ability to perform daily activities, Alzheimer’s disease is most common, accounting for approximately 60 to 70 per cent of cases, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. 

The Landmark Study released by the Alzheimer Society of Canada in 2024 estimated that by 2050, the number of people with Indigenous ancestry living with Alzheimer’s disease will increase by 273 per cent. This is significantly higher than the 187 per cent increase the report estimates for the overall population in Canada. “The health models we’re building are meant to last because they’re built by those who’ve lived the experience. This isn’t about applying Western models—it’s about honouring Indigenous beliefs in developing meaningful ones. That’s how we reclaim brain health for future generations of Indigenous Peoples,” said Webkamigad.

As an early career researcher who benefited from mentorship programs and financial grants from the Wikwemikong Board of Education, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health, the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, Indspire, the Canadian Nurses Foundation and the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association, Webkamigad is passionate about mentorship and capacity-building within Indigenous communities and academic settings. Through this project and others, she is eager to co-develop mentorship pathways for graduate students, emerging scholars, and community co-researchers, similar to the opportunities she had in her journey.

“Mentorship in research isn’t only found in University settings,” she described. “It’s in conversation with an Elder. It’s in stories shared around a kitchen table… The teachings I’ve received—from my grandparents, from my mother, from my late step-father, from my aunties and uncles, from community, from mentors, have shaped me…. I carry those teachings forward.” 

While her PhD dissertation, which she successfully defended earlier this month, focused on older First Nation adults and Elders living with multiple chronic conditions, and community-level supports during the COVID-19 pandemic, her overarching research interests are on advancing access to culturally safer health care for Indigenous peoples, specifically older adults, in rural and northern landscapes. 

When it comes to the timeline of this project, various milestones have been determined: 

  • Year one: Build relationships, community protocols, ceremony 
  • Year two: Components of a holistic brain health assessment  
  • Year three: Clarity on constructs from community perspectives 
  • Year four: Piloting and content validity for assessments 
  • Year five: Reliability and validity testing in community sites 
  • Year six: Returning the bundle and sharing it 

By centering Indigenous knowledge and lived experience, this project is not only advancing brain health and dementia care—it’s reshaping what Indigenous health research can and should be.

 

Dr. Susan Manitowabi: A Legacy of Indigenous Leadership and Community at Laurentian University

Dr. Susan Manitowabi: A Legacy of Indigenous Leadership and Community at Laurentian University

As Laurentian University continues to celebrate its 65th anniversary of incorporation on March 28, 2025, we reflect on this history with members of our campus community in this series of interviews.

As Laurentian University continues to celebrate its 65th anniversary of incorporation on March 28, 2025, we reflect on this history with members of our campus community in this series of interviews.

April 2, 2025 - Dr. Susan Manitowabi is a distinguished alumna, educator, and administrator whose journey embodies the resilience and growth of Indigenous education at Laurentian.

Dr. Manitowabi’s connection to Laurentian began in 1977, when she enrolled as a first-generation university student, pursuing a sociology degree with a minor in Native Studies. At a time when Indigenous representation in postsecondary education was limited, she found inspiration in the newly established Native Studies program, led by Dr. Ed Newbery.

“I was the first person in my family to go to university,” recalls Dr. Manitowabi, who is from Whitefish River First Nation. Her decision to pursue higher education was deeply influenced by her ogiin, a residential school survivor, who instilled in her children the importance of education. “My mother always insisted that we prioritize our education,” says Dr. Manitowabi. “She wasn’t given the same opportunities and didn’t pass on her language. I made sure that I fulfilled her dream.” 

After completing her Masters at U of T, she returned to Laurentian in 2001 as a professor in the Native Human Services Program, started the next chapter in her career in teaching. Her dedication to academia came through once again when she completed her PhD in Rural and Northern Health in 2021.

Dr. Manitowabi’s approach to education was also shaped by her mother’s wisdom, which became her lifelong teaching philosophy: “Never think about what you can teach people; think about how you facilitate learning. Everybody in the classroom has something to offer, and the best learning environment is one open to sharing.” This perspective guided her throughout her career and helped shape generations of students at Laurentian. 

Throughout her career, Dr. Manitowabi co-chaired the (former) Native Human Services Program, was the founding Director of the School of Indigenous Relations, served as Interim Associate Vice-President, Academic and Indigenous Programs, and shortly before retiring, she co-founded the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute and helped develop the course Anishinaabemowin Immersion in the Four Directions. 

Dr. Manitowabi played a pivotal role in advancing Indigenous education at Laurentian, from the accreditation of the Native Human Services program in 1998 to the establishment of the Master of Indigenous Relations. She encouraged the growth of Indigenous faculty representation and helped build a learning environment rooted in Anishinaabe ways of knowing, being, and doing.

Dr. Manitowabi credits the strength of Indigenous community as a driving force behind the success and perseverance of Indigenous programs at Laurentian. While Indigenous teachings, including the Seven Grandfather Teachings and the medicine wheel, are foundational to weaving Indigenous culture into the University, Dr. Manitowabi says that the biggest lesson for Laurentian comes from Indigenous peoples’ resilience and connectedness.

“Our programs and people have always been sustained by Indigenous community support,” she says. “We come together, raise each other up, and meet over fire no matter the hardship we face. That’s how we keep our culture strong—sharing our way of knowing, being and doing has helped the university through challenging situations. It has helped to show a different way and build relationships with the wider university community.”

Dr. Manitowabi dedicated her life's work to Indigenous culture and education, ensuring that future generations had opportunities that her mother never did. From student, to educator and administrator, she made a significant impact on the University’s Tricultural Mandate and commitment to Indigenous education. 

As Laurentian University celebrates its 65th anniversary and looks ahead at the next chapter in its history, Dr. Manitowabi’s legacy stands out as one that has made a lasting impression on the Laurentian community and will continue to guide Indigenous relations at Laurentian for years to come.


Photo credit: Mary Laur

PhD in Rural and Northern Health Celebrates Graduate Milestone

PhD in Rural and Northern Health Celebrates Graduate Milestone

40 graduates now influencing health care in northern and rural settings

November 28, 2023 — When faculty members at Laurentian University were dreaming up what the PhD in Rural and Northern Health program could do for students and the community, they likely had thoughts of influencing health care in both Northern Ontario and rural settings in Canada and abroad. Those dreams from the mid 2000s have since become a reality as the program recently marked a milestone with their 40th graduate now in the field. 


The program, now under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Wenghofer has seen its graduates take on critical roles in education and health care since their first graduate in 2009. 


With a focus on increasing research capacity in the realm of rural and northern health, the program has not only met but exceeded its objectives. Wenghofer emphasizes the importance of the graduates as "Champions for the North", representing and addressing the unique health issues faced by Northern Ontario communities. 


Reflecting on the program's impact, Dr. David McNeil, a graduate and now CEO of Health Sciences North, attests, "The PhD in Rural and Northern Health allowed me to expand my understanding of health care in Northern Ontario and provided me with the skills to advocate for small communities."


Dr. Cindy Peltier, another program graduate and now professor at Nipissing University, echoes these sentiments, "the program prepared me to further explore topics in Indigenous Health and greatly influenced my research today. I am fortunate to now guide PhD students interested in similar topics and prepare them to work with Indigenous communities in meaningful ways". 


The program's success lies not only in the quantity but the breadth of its graduates. "A diverse class of 40 graduates, including those with backgrounds in health and social sciences, management, education, and a wide variety of health professions, benefits from different viewpoints, making them high-quality researchers and advocates. They work together to expand their understanding, as well as my own, as not a class goes by that I don’t have the privilege of learning," said Dr. Wenghofer. 


The legacy of the Rural and Northern Health program is strong. Dr. Wenghofer shared that many of the graduates maintain an enduring relationship with the program by working with current students and staying connected to the rural and northern communities that were part of their research. She notes, “the areas of research among graduates is vast with topics ranging from mental health, to occupational health, to health professions education, to healthcare services for vulnerable and underserved populations”. Many graduates have become professors and many continue to shape the future of health through their work and research across the globe.


In response to the program's growth and future trajectory, Dr. Wenghofer expresses her vision, saying, "l'd like to see the program expand its capacity to accommodate more students and further develop community partnerships. We aim to become the go-to place in Canada for research in rural communities."


"We have had quite a few students working with Indigenous and Francophone communities, showcasing the program's commitment to the health care needs in Northern Ontario,” added Dr. Wenghofer. 


Applications for a September 2024 start in the PhD in Rural and Northern Health program at Laurentian University are open until January 31, 2024. As the program continues to flourish, the university anticipates a continued positive impact on healthcare in rural and northern regions. Questions about the program can be directed to Dr. Elizabeth Wenghofer.


About our Graduates
15 are professors or post-doctoral candidates 
12 are professors at Laurentian University, including: 

9 are working for governmental or research organizations