National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health announces new Academic Co-Leads
UNBC faculty Dr. Sheila Blackstock and Dr. Daniel Sims are stepping into the roles of Academic Co-Leads at the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, as longtime Academic Lead Dr. Margo Greenwood moves on into her new role as Senator in the federal government.
After 20 years of visionary leadership, Dr. Margo Greenwood, a scholar of Cree ancestry, is moving on from the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health to her new appointment as a Senator representing British Columbia in the federal government. Dr. Sheila Blackstock and Dr. Daniel Sims, both Indigenous scholars and Associate Professors at the University of Northern British Columbia, will begin their new roles as Academic Co-Leads of NCCIH on February 1, 2023.
Dr. Sheila Blackstock is a Gitxsan scholar and Associate Professor in the School of Nursing in the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences at UNBC. She has over 32 years of nursing experience ranging from acute care to rural health, Indigenous and occupational health nursing.
Born and raised in Prince George, historian and author Dr. Daniel Sims is a member of the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of First Nations Studies in the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities with over a decade of experience working with communities in northern British Columbia.
Blackstock and Sims credit 20 years of ground-breaking work by founding Academic Lead Dr. Margo Greenwood for elevating NCCIH to prominence as a national and international research powerhouse. Sims and Blackstock, both of whom now call Prince George their home, are committed to continuing to build on NCCIH’s decolonizing approach to advancing Indigenous public health and knowledge translation and exchange. Working in partnerships with communities to improve the health outcomes of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples is the heart of what Blackstock and Sims will be doing.
“I am honored and humbled to be a co-lead alongside Daniel Sims, and grateful to be part of the NCCIH team,” says Blackstock. “I am excited to enhance connections among interdisciplinary teams and traditional knowledge keepers to support innovations in holistic health approaches. The aim in all of our work is to improve outcomes for First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Aboriginal peoples.”
Sims says, “I’m really excited to be working with Sheila Blackstock and the excellent NCCIH team. Our shared roles allow us to lead together and build off each other’s strengths in collaboration. I look forward to enhancing connections to the social sciences and humanities in this work.”
