Vision

The Institute for Circumpolar Health Research [ICHR] is an independent research organization located in the Canadian North devoted to health research relevant to the circumpolar regions and their people.

Our vision:

Building on the strengths and knowledge of all cultures to achieve health

Our mission:

Fostering partnerships for the development of northern health knowledge through research, facilitation, education, and knowledge synthesis

What is our purpose?

The Institute for Circumpolar Health Research grew out of the Arctic Health Research Network, founded in 2005 by Northern community members, doctors, academics, and scientists who believed that advancing the health and wellness of Northern people and communities as an important area of scientific inquiry and public policy. ICHR focuses on specifically on bringing people, facilities, and resources to bear on health-related research in the Northwest Territories, as well as on raising health and wellness issues throughout the region’s communities and the broader circumpolar world.

Who are our members?

Our membership does not represent organizations but includes concerned individuals living in different communities in the NWT. Our organization consists of a volunteer board that brings together volunteer and paid staff, and organizational members who are interested in participating in ICHR activities. Our board includes medical doctors, indigenous community activists, cultural experts, health and environmental experts, and community members. Our staff includes an epidemiologist, socio-cultural anthropologist, and community development expert. Together we have experience working in all NWT communities in areas including:

• individual and family health and wellness,
• designing and conducting medical, social science, and traditional knowledge research,
• cultural revitalization,
• community development and consultation,
• health education,
• indigenous self-determination, and
• environmental and social determinants of health.

Who are our people?

• Staff
• Students & Scholars
• Board
• Advisors
• Partners

Who are our partners?

On a project by project basis, ICHR enlists a broad base of partners, who are engaged because the research area has particular relevance to their organization. Our partners include Indigenous governments, policy makers, health care providers, and community organizations. The partners provide guidance on research priorities and are involved in project implementation and interpretation of research findings. Such a partnership model thrives within a northern culture of consensus and close-knit communities and organizations.

What type of research do we do?

We have identified five research themes for development. These themes were selected for their strategic advantage because of our physical location in the North and likelihood for long-term sustainability. They also reflect current capacity and the availability of northern based researchers to serve as group leaders —

• Developing youth driven, community based participatory methods
• Improving health systems performance
• Monitoring changing population health status
• Understanding socioeconomic determinants of health
• Assessing the impacts of health research

The Institute appoints senior research fellows from universities across Canada and also in other circumpolar countries who will participate in these research programs and mentor our northern-based researchers. Two senior members of the Institute research staff have also received faculty appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health of the University of Toronto.

How are we governed?

ICHR is an independent, non-profit organization incorporated under the Northwest Territories Societies Act. Our Board of Directors is comprised of committed northerners from different regions with diverse expertise and experience. The board determines overall policies and strategic directions for the Institute.

The Institute is under the overall direction of an Executive and Scientific Director supervising a research staff and an administrative staff. An International Scientific Advisory Council consisting of eminent circumpolar health scientists provides strategic advice to the Director.

What other activities are we engaged in?

While conducting research is our major focus, we are also actively engaged in —

Research Facilitation

We provide logistical, technical, and administrative support to northern communities and organizations, regional health authorities and national and international research teams conducting research in the North.

Research Training

We support the development of a new cadre of health researchers based in the North by providing scholarships, fellowships, and research allowance to graduate students, supervising trainees’ practicum and thesis research, and sponsoring and organizing workshops and training modules in specific health topics and research methods.

Research Synthesis, Exchange, and Dissemination

To ensure rapid translation of research results to health policies, programs and services, the Institute promote and maintains close linkages between researchers and decision-makers through workshops, briefings, and conferences. We synthesize and adapt research evidence for northern populations through systematic reviews, practice guidelines, expert panels, and consensus conferences.

The Institute is a co-publisher of the International Journal of Circumpolar Health and Circumpolar Health Supplements. Our website provides valuable links to individuals, organizations, and resources related to circumpolar health research. We have a rapidly growing reference library and repository of circumpolar health books, reports, statistical data, and research protocols.

How are we funded?

To date we have received substantial financial support through grants, contracts, and contribution agreements from territorial and federal government departments, national research granting agencies, and private foundations. We are the only health research organization to receive a grant from the Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund in 2009 which enables us to develop research space in close proximity to the regional health and social services authority in Yellowknife.