Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair in Ecosystem Approaches to Health

Chaires de recherche en partenariat

Domain(s):

Recherche sur le Nord
Sciences de la santé et de l’alimentation

Mélanie Lemire

Associate professor

Faculty of Medicine

Mélanie Lemire is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval. A Junior 2 FRQS research scholar, she is also a researcher in Population Health and Optimal Health Practices at CHU de Québec — Université Laval and at the Institute of Integrative Biology and Systems (IBIS) at Université Laval. Ms. Lemire is the Canada-designated expert for the Human Health Assessment Group of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (HHAG-AMAP). Her projects are transdisciplinary, intersectoral, and participatory, and focus on the study of environmental contaminants, ocean change, and nutrition as they relate to the health of Indigenous and coastal populations. Her findings are used to inform decisions, decision aids, and programs and policies at the local, national, and international levels.

Expertise

Ecosystem approches to health
Health of northern populations
Environmental health
Public health
Collaborative research with Indigenous populations

Objectives

Contribute to the biomonitoring of environmental contaminants in local foods and in Indigenous populations.
Study the effects of contaminants on human health and the effects of contaminant/nutrient interactions in foods and on health.
Study the impacts of climate and ecosystem changes on local food systems (availability, access, quality, uses, sustainability) and on the health of Indigenous and coastal populations.
Mobilize knowledge into action:
- Integrate, share, and discuss research findings with decision makers, key stakeholders, and communities involved in the projects
- Co-develop, implement, and evaluate intervention or adaptation projects, especially with young people, and in collaboration with local and regional partners
- Build the capacity of Indigenous youth in research and of practitioners working in health, social services, the environment, and education
- Contribute to regional and national risk assessment initiatives and to the implementation of public health recommendations and policies
- Participate in national and international expert boards and committees on Indigenous health and environmental contaminants

Ecosystems are changing rapidly, and Indigenous and coastal populations are particularly vulnerable to these changes. While older, persistent organic pollutants are declining, the presence of mercury in local foods in the North remains a topic of concern. In addition, new chemicals are introduced on the market every year, and are subsequently found in the North, with unknown impacts on human health. Climate and environmental changes are also exerting increasing pressure on marine ecosystems and eventually on food security, which is already precarious in several Indigenous and coastal communities. Local, or country, foods are important for health, social cohesion, cultural continuity, and food sovereignty.

Foods from the sea are also exceptionally rich in nutrients such as selenoneine, a selenium compound recently identified in marine food sources in the Arctic. These local foods offer unique potential to compile different knowledge to help prevent chronic diseases, to promote healthy pregnancies and children, and to counteract the harmful effects of environmental contaminants on the health of people of all ages.

Mission

The Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair team conducts interdisciplinary research and intervention projects, in close collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and coastal populations, to innovate in research and gain a better understanding of the complex effects of environmental changes on health. The team also seeks to take preventive action at the regional, national, and international levels, to improve the communities' resilience to global changes and to foster healthy ecosystems to support the health and well-being of Indigenous and coastal populations.

Partners

Funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, Sentinel North allows Université Laval to draw on over a half-century of northern and optics/photonics research to develop innovative new technology and improve our understanding of the northern environment and its effect on human beings and their health. This new Chair is part of the major transdisciplinary research program at Sentinel North, whose mission includes training the next generation of researchers that will help address some of the complex challenges facing the changing North.

Sentinel North
Northern Contaminants Program (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC))
Éric-Dewailly Population Health Fund
Hector-Saint-Gelais Medical Scholarship Fund
Air Inuit
Indigenous Services Canada

Benefits

This work, carried out in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and coastal populations, will help us better understand the complex effects of environmental change on health with a view to enhancing ecosystem conservation and taking preventive action for the health and well-being of local inhabitants. The Chair's results will be used to inform
decisions, the development of decision aids and knowledge mobilization tools, and the implementation of programs and policies at the local, national, and international levels. In addition, the Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair on Ecosystemic Approaches to Health will provide an opportunity to increase the number of students and researchers involved in environmental health and Indigenous health.

This Research Chair will support the work carried out in Population Health and Optimal Health Practices at Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec — Université Laval and at the Institute of Integrative Biology and Systems (IBIS) at Université Laval in order to step up the training of highly qualified personnel, the recruitment of new researchers, and the mobilization of knowledge.