Summer Institute for Circumpolar Health Research

In 2010, the Summer Institute in Circumpolar Health Research met with great success in its first outing as an annual site for international research training. Hosted by the National Institute of Public Health of Denmark and co-organized by the University of Alaska (Anchorage), University of Oulu, ICHR and its Greenlandic counterpart, the summer course offering was organized at the same time as the Annual Meeting of the International Network for Circumpolar Health Research (INCHR) in Copenhagen, May 2010. This took full advantage of the gathering of professionals and scholars for a memorable week of activities.

The first of the two-day graduate courses focused on dietary assessment methods used in primary epidemiological studies of Arctic populations including nutritional anthropometry and methods of measuring physical activity. The second day reviewed the theoretical and methodological perspectives on health disparities as well as basic epidemiological concepts for measuring disparities and causes of disparities. An international team of eminent scholars led both courses, sharing their extensive experience with up-and-coming researchers from across the circumpolar world.

The Summer Institute laid a strong foundation for international graduate training and a vibrant circumpolar health community.

The Institute was so successful that new course offerings were organized for the next Annual Meeting of INCHR in Oulu, Finland, 2011.