Staff

Susan Chatwood, Executive & Scientific Director

Susan received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of British Columbia in 1987 and a Masters in Epidemiology from McGill in 1996. She has also recently been appointed as assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She has spent most of her career in remote and northern communities, working in the clinical setting, public health, and research. She has an interest in building sustainable health research capacity in northern regions. She helped establish the Northern Cochrane Network Site, and currently serves as territorial Co-Rep.

Current projects within ICHR include the applications of ethical guidelines in the NWT, knowledge synthesis and dissemination of evidence for northern populations, participatory projects with a focus on community wellness and the facilitation of a number of research projects and related activities in the circumpolar regions that are listed in this report. She is President of the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health.

Email: susan.chatwood@ichr.ca

Virginia Cayen, Director of Finance & Administration

Virginia joined the ICHR team in November 2007 from the Yamózha Kúé Society (Dene Cultural Institute). Through her role at ICHR, Virginia brings with her experience of working closely with Dene Elders in order to maintain, preserve, and strengthen Dene Culture within Denendeh. Virginia currently holds a Practical Nursing Diploma from Norquest College and an Accounting Diploma from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and is a student of the C.G.A. Program.

Email: virginia.cayen@ichr.ca

Rajiv Rawat, Director of Communications & Technology

Rajiv earned his B.A. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY in 1996 before working at the Harvard School of Public Health in the HIV/AIDS field as a research assistant, internet communications specialist, and scientific editor. Upon returning to Canada, he earned a Masters in Environmental Studies from York University in 2004. His thesis focused on historical and contemporary forest movements, women’s empowerment, and peoples’ institutions in the Indian Himalayas and marked the culmination of his lifelong ancestral interest in the region.

Rajiv is currently a PhD Candidate in Geography at York University where he serves as the web coordinator for the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability and the IPY GAPS initiative as well as various other sundry projects. Upon arriving in the NWT, he completed a term of service as a coordinator for the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy as well as three semesters as a course instructor at Aurora College.

Email: rajiv.rawat@ichr.ca

Bryany Denning, Public Health Officer (PHAC)

Bree graduated with honours from Queen’s University in 2006 and moved to Yellowknife in May 2008 where she completed her Master’s degree in epidemiology, under the joint supervision of Queen’s University and ICHR. Her graduate research involved place of birth and health outcomes for childbirth in the Northwest Territories and was funded by PHAC and the CIHR Team in Circumpolar Health.

Since November 2009, Bree has served as a Public Health Officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada. She is based out of the ICHR office.

Email: bryany.denning@ichr.ca

Candice Lys, Research Associate

A Fort Smith native, Candice is pursuing a PhD in Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto while she continues to lead on several projects for ICHR.

In 2009, she completed her MA in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University. Her research spotlighted youth sexual health in Northwest Territories. Earlier, she earned a BA (Honours) in sociology from the University of Alberta and traveled the world on the Ship for World Youth to Japan and various points in the South Pacific. She is also the only staff member with her own trading card as part of the NAHO’s National Aboriginal Role Models Program.

Email: candice.lys@ichr.ca