Tackling Health Inequities: National Funding to Support Indigenous-Led Arthritis Research
June 19, 2025 (Vancouver) – June 20, 2025 (Vancouver) – Dr. Cheryl Barnabe, a Senior Scientist at Arthritis Research Canada, and an Indigenous-led team have secured a grant to understand the risk of inflammatory arthritis in Indigenous communities and to provide culturally appropriate care for Indigenous people already living with different forms of the disease.
“Inflammatory arthritis occurs at a higher rate in Indigenous peoples compared to the general population, and individuals from Indigenous communities face increased barriers to accessing care,” said Dr. Barnabe, who is also a member of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government. “This funding will enable us to take a patient-centred approach to help guide and create treatment choices that meet the holistic health needs of Indigenous patients.”
The two-part study will first focus on screening people from Indigenous communities to understand their risk of inflammatory arthritis, including individuals from rural and urban communities of all ages and genders, while taking into account genetic, environmental, and social triggers of inflammatory arthritis.
Second, it will strive to understand how to provide culturally appropriate care for Indigenous people already living with inflammatory arthritis. This will include plans informed by persons from Indigenous communities that reflect the needs and traditions of those communities.
This research is made possible through existing research relationships with southern Alberta First Nations communities (Siksika First Nation and Kainai First Nation), the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, and the Elbow River Healing Lodge, which is an urban Indigenous Clinic in Calgary.
“The research team is Indigenous-led, with three Indigenous women as co-principal investigators and multiple co-investigators also self-identifying as Indigenous,” Dr. Barnabe said. “We will prioritize training Indigenous undergraduate and graduate students in our research activities and hiring community members into the research team.”
For Dr. Barnabe, the ultimate goal of this research is to improve health outcomes for Indigenous patients. The daily experience of Indigenous patients in the Canadian health system is one of racism, mistrust and stereotyping.
“This study is a vital step toward advancing health equity and improving outcomes for Indigenous peoples living with, or at risk for, arthritis,” Dr. Barnabe said.
This research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and will be conducted over five years.
To learn more about this research, click here.
