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.

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Arthritis Research Canada is the largest clinical arthritis research institution in North America. Our mission is to transform the lives of people impacted by arthritis through patient-centred research and engagement. Arthritis Research Canada’s scientific director, Dr. Diane Lacaille, leads a team of over 100 researchers, trainees and staff whose life-changing research is creating a future where people with arthritis have the knowledge and tools to triumph over pain and disability. Arthritis Research Canada is now conducting arthritis research from coast to coast with centres in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia and scientists affiliated with ten major Canadian universities: University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Western University, Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke and Dalhousie University. Arthritis Research Canada is leading research aimed at preventing arthritis, facilitating early diagnosis, finding new and better treatments, and improving quality of life.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Heather Caulder
Senior Officer, Marketing and Communications
Arthritis Research Canada
604.207.4010
hcaulder@arthritisresearch.ca