2012/02/14

We are proud to announce the two successful recipients of IPHRC's 2012 Postdoctoral Fellowships:

Dr. Yvonne Boyer is a member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan and is the principal and owner of Boyer Law Office, specializing in providing holistic services that blend mainstream western law with Indigenous laws. Yvonne is the former General Counsel to the Native Women’s Association of Canada and Commissioner with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (2008-2011).

Yvonne spent several years working at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) and its “sister” organization the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO). At AHF she was the Director of Programs where her work was critical in addressing healing from the legacy of sexual and physical abuse resulting from residential schools in Canada. At NAHO Yvonne was employed as Legal Advisor/Senior Policy Analyst and published the Discussion Paper Series, Aboriginal Health Legal Issues jointly with the Native Law Centre of Canada. This series has gained acclaim both nationally and internationally.

Yvonne holds an LL.B. (96) from the University of Saskatchewan, LL.M. from the University of Ottawa (03), LL.D. (11) from the University of Ottawa.  Her PhD dissertation is titled First Nations, Métis and Inuit Health and the Law: A Framework for the Future and is currently being reworked into a manuscript for publication at the UBC Press. She is a member in good standing of the Law Society of Saskatchewan (97) and the Law Society of Upper Canada (02). Her Post Doctoral research will focus on Aboriginal health and the law specifically the incorporation of the constitutional status of Aboriginal and treaty rights into public policy that affects Aboriginal health. She has authored an extensive list of publications and received many awards and recognitions. Yvonne Boyer is a board member of several Aboriginal organizations, but most notably she is a mother to four children.
 

With roots in both Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, Dr. Karen Wood is an IPHRC postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jennifer Poudrier. Drawing from an interdisciplinary background in early childhood, social work, education and health, Karen’s Ph.D. (Community Health and Epidemiology, Saskatchewan) investigated women’s narratives of healing from child sexual abuse. She has direct practice experience in early childhood, mobile crisis response, youth probation, mental health services, education and, more recently, as the director of a healing centre funded in part by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation to support healing from the legacy of the residential schools. Incorporating a feminist analysis with an emphasis on embodiment, Karen’s current research is a community-based exploration of the complexity of healing from both the impact of the residential school system and child sexual abuse. Karen lives in Saskatoon with her husband Kevin and, at any given time, at least one of her three children.  
 

For more information about either of our research fellows or their work, please contact:

Cassandra J. Opikokew
Knowledge Translation & Communications
Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre (IPHRC)
CK 115 University of Regina
3737 Wascana Parkway
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Ph: (306) 337-2510
Cell: (306) 537-2043
Fax: (306) 585-5694
Email: Cassandra.Opikokew@uregina.ca