Advancing rehab in First Nations communities 

Two major wellness initiatives launched in the spring through a partnership between First Nations communities and UM’s College of Rehabilitation Sciences. 

Wiiji Bimoseyang Binesi (Thunderbird Helping Them Walk), a 10-unit housing complex in Sagkeeng First Nation, supports adults who have lived with disability and homelessness. 

Grow Our Own Specialists through Education (GOOSE) addresses the shortage of rehabilitation health-care professionals in northern Manitoba and the underrepresentation of Indigenous people in rehab careers. Read more 

Dr. Kellie Thiessen, Dr. Hope Anderson and Dr. Josée Lavoie

Three new leaders take the helm 

Dr. Kellie Thiessen – an associate professor, midwife clinician-scientist and registered nurse – was appointed dean of the College of Nursing on Feb. 1. She previously led the development of UM’s midwifery program and directed it from 2015 to 2023. Read more 

On July 1, Dr. Hope Anderson became dean of the College of Pharmacy. A professor and principal investigator with the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine at St. Boniface Hospital, Anderson brings expertise in cardiovascular health and academic leadership. Read more 

As of Aug. 1, Dr. Josée Lavoie leads the new College of Community and Global Health as its inaugural dean. A professor of community health sciences, she directed Ongomiizwin Research – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing from 2014 to 2023. Read more 

Drs. Henry Friesen and Estelle Simons

Remembering health pioneers 

The Rady community paid tribute to two influential figures from the Max Rady College of Medicine. 

Dr. Henry Friesen, a UM medical alum and visionary leader, died April 30 at age 90. His work led to the founding of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research 25 years ago. Read more 

Professor emerita Dr. Estelle Simons died Nov. 5 at age 80. A pioneer in pediatric allergy research, she was renowned for her groundbreaking research on allergic diseases. Read more 

Mpox virus

Mpox on the move 

Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, Canada Research Chair in molecular pathogenesis of emerging viruses and associate professor at the Max Rady College of Medicine, is part of an international team tracking the rapid spread of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

The research team had a study featured on the cover of the prestigious journal The Lancet. It found that mpox has now spread to nearly every region of the DRC, with cases rising from 18 provinces in 2010 to 24 provinces in 2023. Read more 

(From left to right) Terry Duguid, Dr. Anastasia Kelekis-Cholakis and Dr. Doug Eyolfson

$6.1M for better access to dental care 

The Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry received more than $6.1 million in federal funding to improve access to care for marginalized Manitobans and give students experience in caring for underserved populations.  

The funding supports four UM projects through Health Canada’s Oral Health Access Fund, which supports initiatives that reduce barriers to care for groups including children, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers and seniors. Read more

Dr. Sabine Mai gives a tour of the Nano and Cell Imaging Facility during its grand opening.

New home for Nano and Cell Imaging Facility 

The Rady Faculty’s Nano and Cell Imaging Facility (NCIF) has a new home on the Bannatyne campus. 

After three years of planning and renovations, the facility moved from CancerCare Manitoba to the department of physiology and pathophysiology on the fourth floor of the Basic Medical Sciences Building. 

NCIF is open to students, faculty and researchers from across Canada and beyond. Read more 

Elder Charlotte Nolin

Honouring transgender lives 

More than 60 people attended the first Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony held on the Bannatyne campus. 

The day is observed on Nov. 20 to remember transgender people who have been lost to transphobic violence, suicide and other violent deaths. Speakers called for safety for all trans people. 

Elder Charlotte Nolin, a two-spirit Elder-in-residence at Ongomiizwin, urged those in attendance to speak out when they witness discrimination toward trans people. Read more 

Md. Abdul Aziz, Deanne Nixie Miao and Barrett Monchka.

Vanier Scholars from Rady Faculty 

Three of the four UM PhD students awarded Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships in 2025 – each worth $150,000 over three years – hail from the Rady Faculty.  

Md. Abdul Aziz, College of Pharmacy, is studying patterns of antidepressant use in Manitoba, and why some patients discontinue treatment. Read more  

Deanne Nixie Miao, Max Rady College of Medicine, is researching the genetics of permanent hearing loss caused by cisplatin, a common cancer drug. Read more 

Barrett Monchka, College of Community and Global Health, is improving data-linkage techniques to enhance research reliability, efficiency and privacy. Read more 

Nitesh Sanghai

New hope for ALS patients 

Nitesh Sanghai, a PhD candidate in the College of Pharmacy, and his supervisor, Dr. Geoffrey Tranmer, co-invented a promising new drug candidate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), earning Sanghai the Mitacs Innovation Award. 

The drug, borsantrazole, offers an improved version of edaravone, one of the few treatments currently available in North America to slow ALS progression. 

Still in pre-clinical testing, borsantrazole has shown strong safety and efficacy in lab mice engineered to mimic the disease. Read more 

Dr. Tamara Taillieu will study population data to understand the effects of legalization on vulnerable children and youth in Manitoba.

Funding boost for early-career researchers 

Five assistant professors from the Rady Faculty were among 24 recipients of nearly $1.8 million in New Investigator Operating Grants from Research Manitoba.  

The program supports researchers within four years of their first academic appointment, providing up to two years of funding to help establish research programs, build collaborations and generate results for future national-level grants. Read more 

“Art is how some projects need to be realized,” says the assistant professor of occupational therapy. “Creative methods are a versatile way for people to share stories.”

Burghardt, who holds a PhD in critical disability studies from York University, became a faculty member of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences in 2023.

One of her current projects focuses on objects that may hold traumatic memories for formerly institutionalized people with intellectual disabilities.

The objects are artifacts from the Manitoba Developmental Centre (MDC), a facility in Portage la Prairie that closed in 2024, after the Manitoba government issued a public apology to former residents who had been mistreated there.

Through a class action lawsuit filed by former residents, Burghardt was able to retrieve artifacts that were considered to have historical or social value.

Keys that symbolized the control the MDC
staff had over residents.

Over the last year, she’s been working with a group of MDC survivors to decide what to do with the items, such as newspaper clippings, photos, medical equipment, a child’s crib and a leather strap that was used to restrain a person in their bed.

The survivors have responded to the objects through artistic methods such as photography, collage, movement and improvisation.

“One participant picked up this old black phone from the MDC and ‘called’ the institution, improvising with the phone, literally talking back to the institution. And then others followed. It was so powerful.”

Another object that evoked a strong response was a set of skeleton keys that staff carried with them. Burghardt says a local metalworker is collaborating with the group to create a sculpture of a bird, using the keys to represent freedom.

“The keys symbolized the control the staff had. But today they also represent freedom, because the survivors have transitioned to community living and now have keys to their own homes.”

Working with artists Natalie Baird [B.Env.Sc.(Hons.)/14, M.ENV./20] and Toby Gillies [BFA/09], Burghardt and the survivors hope the objects they are “transforming” can one day be shared in a human rights-themed exhibit.

A phone from MDC that a participant used to ‘call’ the facility.

“The participants have been very clear in saying, ‘Our rights were violated,’” the professor says.

Burghardt grew up near Hamilton, Ont., and earned her degree in occupational therapy (OT) at the University of Toronto in 1987.

She started out working with children with disabilities, first in northern Ontario and then in Zimbabwe.

“What appealed to me about OT was it had a real creative element to it. You’re problem-solving to support people in living a meaningful life.”

Burghardt has published research in journals such as the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. Her doctoral research, which examined the experiences of institutional survivors and their families in Ontario, led her to author a 2018 book, Broken: Institutions, Families, and the Construction of Intellectual Disability.

She also has a role at the St. Amant Research Centre, where she is currently involved in a project with children’s caregivers in a respite program.

“I hope that these projects will support people with intellectual disabilities to share some of their experiences,” Burghardt says.

“And I hope that my work helps to transform traditional attitudes about people with intellectual disabilities.”

The associate professor in the College of Pharmacy is driven to understand what goes wrong inside the islets – small “islands” of hormone-secreting cells in the pancreas – that leads to diabetes.

In the islets, how does a toxic protein buildup called amyloid kill beta cells that produce the essential hormone insulin? And can amyloid formation be slowed or prevented?

Publishing in journals such as Diabetes, Diabetologia, Endocrinology and Molecular Endocrinology, Marzban has relentlessly investigated the molecular mechanisms of the disease.

“We are one of the few labs in the world studying amyloid formation in diabetes,” she says.

Through more than a decade of intensive study (2008 to 2019), Marzban’s lab was the world’s first to identify the process by which amyloid destroys insulin-producing beta cells in human pancreatic islets.

Those findings have now enabled her team to develop a blood test that detects amyloid formation in the pancreas.

“It’s the first diagnostic tool of its kind that can detect amyloid at a very early stage, before it damages cells,” she says.

Amyloid starts forming years before diabetes symptoms appear, Marzban says. By the time symptoms show up, it’s often too late to prevent significant damage to beta cells.

“Currently, there is no treatment to remove amyloid once it forms. But in our lab experiments with cultured human islets, we have identified several drugs that show promise for limiting amyloid formation.”

For individuals at risk of Type 2 diabetes, Marzban says, early detection and treatment to reduce amyloid formation could help protect insulin-producing cells, potentially delaying the onset and progression of the disease.

For people with Type 1 diabetes who have received transplanted islets from deceased donors, reducing amyloid formation could improve the long-term survival of the transplanted islets, decreasing the need for insulin injections.

Marzban earned her PhD in pharmacology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2001. She later pursued postdoctoral work at UBC, the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the University of Geneva in Switzerland. After returning to UBC, she joined UM in 2019. She is also a researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba.

“I spend a lot of time with my trainees and students,” she says. “One of the most important parts of my job is preparing the next generation for their future careers as successful scientists.”

Marzban has long studied diabetes in lab animals. In order to investigate the disease’s effects in humans and compare diabetic with non-diabetic individuals, she receives post-mortem pancreatic tissue, for which she is immensely grateful.

“A loved one has just passed away, and the family needs to make the difficult decision of donating their tissue. It’s their sacrifice that has led to all these discoveries.”

Marzban and her team are now preparing for clinical trials and a patent for the amyloid blood test. “We’re confident the test works well,” she says. “Now it’s about bringing it to market and scaling up production.

“Once our strategy is out there, others will build on it, opening the door to new therapeutic strategies.”

For the full story, please visit CTV News.

For him, the two roles complement each other.

“To be an effective researcher, it helps if you do clinical work. I don’t think you can guide research the same way if you don’t understand what’s on the ground,” says Bullard, a professor of pediatrics and child health who is cross-appointed in medical microbiology and infectious diseases.

Bullard, a UM faculty member since 2010, is a pediatric infectious disease specialist and medical microbiologist. What motivates him, he says, is answering research questions that arise through his work with patients at the Children’s Hospital.

Very early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Bullard wanted to know how long people stayed infectious with the virus. At the time, he was associate medical director of Manitoba’s Cadham Provincial Laboratory. He assembled a research team and discovered that people with COVID were contagious for seven or eight days.

Bullard’s team was one of the first in the world to report this finding. His results were published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases and used to inform self-isolation guidelines by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and public health agencies in the United Kingdom.

Bullard also published research in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showing that children were less infectious than adults. “Our lab findings correlated well with what we were observing clinically,” the scientist says.

Congenital syphilis, which occurs when syphilis passes to a baby during pregnancy, is another area of expertise for Bullard. He leads a national surveillance study that has confirmed a known high rate of the disease in Manitoba. Provinces such as British Columbia and Ontario are now seeing increasing rates, he says.

“I can help those provinces by suggesting actions they can take to get on top of the disease while the case numbers are still small.”

Bullard, who is also affiliated with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, is currently working on a project about vaccine-preventable diseases and hopes to join a study focused on measles.

“Seeing kids suffering in hospital with diseases that are preventable through vaccines, including measles, really motivates me to understand these infections –  and just as importantly, the thought process for why caregivers would opt not to provide vaccines.”

Bullard was born in Nassau, Bahamas and moved to Winnipeg with his family at age three. His mother, who is from Winnipeg, and his father, from the Bahamas, met while attending UM.

Bullard, who held his leadership role at the Cadham lab for 12 years and also served as director general of medical and scientific affairs at the National Microbiology Laboratory, says he has a long list of UM professors who guided and influenced him.

One of those mentors was Dr. Joanne Embree, a professor of pediatrics and child health who told Bullard that he didn’t have to enter internal medicine to pursue a sub-specialty in infectious diseases, but could do it through pediatrics. That changed the course of his career.

As a pediatrician, Bullard gets to see firsthand the impact his research has on children.

“I know that what I’m doing benefits them. That’s the main part of what drives my research.”

Her original students from 1974 may be well into retirement, but the four-time UM alum is still going strong, teaching leadership to graduate students and supervising their thesis work.

“I love what I do,” she says. “It gives me intellectual stimulation, a great sense of fulfilment, and I’m just so proud of the students.”

Last May, the Faculty of Graduate Studies honoured Scanlan with the 2025 Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award in the health sciences category. How does she sum up mentorship?

“Be authentic,” she says. “Develop relationships. Relationships are absolutely essential to my work.”

Raised in small communities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Scanlan followed her mother into nursing, graduating with a diploma from Regina General Hospital in 1963. She worked for a few years, but felt drawn toward higher education.

Arriving at UM, she earned a nursing certificate in teaching and supervision in 1966, then her bachelor of nursing in 1967. “I didn’t know where my education would take me, but it was the smartest thing I ever did,” she says.

At the time, nursing students – Scanlan was in a cohort of about 25 – had to climb the stairs to the top floor of what is now the UM Administration Building for their classes. “We got very fit very quickly,” she remembers.

Most courses were taught by the legendary Margaret Elder Hart [LLD/93], director of the School of Nursing from 1948 to 1972. Students weren’t addressed by their first names, so the then-single Scanlan was “Miss Parnell.”

“You would go to Peggy Hart’s office for help with writing a paper, and she would say, ‘Miss Parnell, I think you should read this article.’” To this day, Scanlan says, she does the same thing, steering students toward resources to expand their thinking.

Scanlan earned her master’s in education and joined the full-time faculty in 1983. She completed an interdisciplinary PhD in 1996.

Her accomplishments include leading innovative revisions to the master of nursing program while serving as associate dean of graduate programs, and working with institutions in China and Cuba to help them modernize, develop and upgrade their nursing education programs.

In her international work, she was acknowledged for responding to local priorities, rather than coming in with an attitude of knowing what was best.

“You listen, and you try to meet our needs, not yours,” she was told with gratitude. She carries that with her, she says, as the essence of both nursing and teaching.

Scanlan is now working on a research study of early-career nurses’ leadership aspirations. With young nurses quitting the profession in high numbers, she says, it’s important to understand the perspective of millennial and Gen Z members of the nursing workforce.

“We know from research that if there’s a good leader in a clinical area, people will stay, because that leader has developed relationships with their people, made them feel valued and tried to meet their needs.

“That’s why I think what I do is important. I’m helping to nurture that next generation of leaders who will be able to make a difference.”

Training people with lived experience of these illnesses will help the research team to formulate questions about patients’ needs, said study leader Dr. Yoav Keynan, a professor of internal medicine and medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the Max Rady College of Medicine in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

It will also give people from marginalized communities a voice in designing clinical trials that test the effectiveness of different approaches to care.

For example, Keynan said, a trial could look at improving engagement and retention in care by providing sexually transmitted infection care together with opioid agonist therapy, used to treat opioid addiction.

People with lived experience could include those with HIV, experiencing homelessness or struggling with injection drug use, Keynan said.

“This is a first-of-its-kind project in Canada, in that we are combining people with lived experience and researchers to be part of clinical trials training and co-creation,” he said.

“This project is so important right now because Manitoba has the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in Canada. And HIV and STBBI rates in the Prairie provinces have been the highest in the country for more than a decade and show no signs of slowing down.”

The project recently received a four-year grant of $800,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Pan-Canadian Network for HIV/AIDS STBBI Clinical Trials Research.

Keynan said the project is building on and leveraging the success of Increasing Capacity for Maternal and Pediatric Clinical Trials (IMPaCT), a clinical trials training program funded by the CIHR.

“We are excited to partner with IMPaCT and get this project rolling,” he said. “There will be opportunities for people who are community-based researchers, front-line workers and people with lived experience to work together to define what the most important priorities are for them, and it’s bringing more people to the table.”

The funding will help train more than 12 people from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The one-year immersive training program will include how to develop responsive and respectful clinical research.

The trainees will form the foundation of what is being called the Strengthened Prairies Integrated Knowledge Exchange (SPIKE).

Keynan said that people with lived experience will help researchers and care providers better understand the relationship between HIV and STIBBI transmission rates and systemic factors, such as colonialism, mental health and substance dependency.

“We believe that this type of participatory research is needed to make sure that the questions asked, and the answers we receive, are meeting the needs of the community,” Keynan said.

“It grounds the research in the needs of the people that it’s supposed to serve, and it makes sure that the clinical research is relevant to those who need it most.”

Each year, undergraduate students from the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences’ doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program anonymously select instructors for the Outstanding Teacher Awards. The educators with the most votes from first-, second- and third-year classes were recognized at the ceremony.  

Year 1: Dr. Sheila Ng 

Dr. Sheila Ng, a senior instructor, teaches first-year students in the applied pharmacy practice lab. She also teaches in other practice lab and clinical courses across the PharmD program.  

“Sheila has always been caring towards our class and showed how much she wants us to succeed,” said one student. 

“She gave us tons of opportunities to improve and practice … as well as offered great feedback. Sheila has always been approachable, especially when it came to asking for additional help.” 

Ng, who joined the college in 2011, said being recognized by students is “incredibly meaningful”. 

“It tells me the learning environment we work so hard to create is making a positive impact,” she said. “I am inspired to help students develop a strong foundation for delivering compassionate, person-centred care in our communities.” 

Year 2: Kristi Watson    

Dr. Lavern Vercaigne with Kristi Watson.

“Kristi not only empowers her students through her engaging teaching style that pushes us outside of our comfort zone and allows us to grow, she also cares so deeply about each and every student. The program is lucky to have her,” said one of the students who nominated Kristi Watson for the award. 

Watson teaches second-year PharmD students in the applied pharmacy practice lab, as well as first- and second-year students in courses such as clinical therapeutics, toxicology and pharmacology for dental hygiene.  

She joined the College of Pharmacy in 2022 after an 18-year career as an oncology pharmacist – a specialist in medications used to treat cancer – at CancerCare Manitoba. 

“Knowing that I have made an impact on a student’s journey to become a pharmacist is truly special,” said Watson. “It’s a long, tough road for them and we hold them to high standards. I hope they know how much we’re cheering them on and want to see them succeed – not only in school but in their future careers.” 

Watson said she values seeing students engaged in learning and realizing it’s about more than completing assignments or passing exams.  

“They’re preparing to help someone understand a new medication, prevent a life-threatening drug interaction, manage a debilitating side effect or find a dosage form that will allow a child to take a medication,” she said. “I love when that connection to real-life practice is made and it starts to mean a lot more to that student.” 

Year 3: Joanne Johnson 

Joanne Johnson, who teaches third-year students the pharmacy management course and first-year students in the applied pharmacy practice lab, received the award for the first time. 

Joanne Johnson with Dr. Lavern Vercaigne.

“Joanne is a dynamic instructor who engages the classroom with relevant, thought-provoking discussion,” said one of the students who nominated her.  

“Joanne is one of the pharmacists we are lucky to have in our faculty because of how she inspires people both personally and professionally. Having Joanne as an instructor was a gift!” 

Johnson joined the College of Pharmacy in 2022 after spending 26 years in rural community pharmacy practice. 

“This recognition was incredibly meaningful because it affirmed that the time, care and energy I put into teaching is resonating with students,” said Johnson. “I’m deeply grateful to them for taking the time to nominate me, and I see this award as a shared reflection of the learning relationships we build together.” 

Johnson said transitioning from practice to teaching allowed her to bring real-world experiences into the classroom. 

“My goal as an educator is to share my passion and joy for pharmacy and help students feel confident and excited about the impact they can have as pharmacists.” 

When researchers analyzed the prevalence (number of existing cases) and incidence (new cases) of chronic illnesses – including arthritis, heart disease, congestive heart failure and dementia – diabetes was the only one to see a significant increase.

“Over the 20-year period from 2004 to 2023, Manitobans’ health improved overall,” said study leader Lindsey Dahl, an epidemiologist at MCHP.

“But the number of Manitobans living with diabetes and the number who are diagnosed each year climbed to an alarming degree. We’re not seeing progress with the diabetes epidemic the way we are with other conditions.”

In the decade from 2013 to 2023, there was a 46 per cent increase in the number of Manitobans living with diabetes. “People are being diagnosed at a younger age and living longer with diabetes,” Dahl noted.

Comparing the three-year period 2020 to 2023 with the period 2015 to 2018, the number of new cases of diabetes rose by 21 per cent. “That represents more than 6,000 additional Manitobans newly diagnosed, compared to the previous period,” Dahl said.

The study, The 2024 Regional Health Authorities (RHA) Indicators Atlas, marks the sixth time that MCHP, part of UM’s Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, has taken a broad look at Manitobans’ health status and health-care use, at intervals of about five years.

The researchers studied de-identified (anonymous) health data stored in the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository at MCHP. They analyzed more than 110 health indicators, from doctor and nurse practitioner visits to hospitalizations, procedures such as hip replacements and cataract surgeries, and tests such as CT scans and MRIs.

The nearly 400-page study report includes a 20-year trend analysis for almost all the indicators.

“Keep in mind that while the rates of many diseases dropped, the actual number of Manitobans living with these conditions continues to rise because of population growth, and because the proportion of the population that is elderly is growing,” Dahl said.

While the atlas doesn’t reveal the reasons for trends, it’s likely that the decline in most chronic diseases reflects better prevention, earlier diagnosis and improved treatment, the scientist said.

“We assume diabetes is the exception because of risk factors that include unhealthy diet, obesity and physical inactivity, as well as socioeconomic factors such as food insecurity that put residents of lower-income communities at greater risk.”

The study used census data to determine income levels by area, confirming the relationship between lower income and poorer health.

Other 20-year trends identified in the study include:

• The rate of hospital use decreased. The causes of hospitalization remained stable.
• The rates of cardiac catheterizations, percutaneous coronary interventions (coronary angioplasties with stenting), hip replacements, CT scans and MRIs increased, while the rate of coronary artery bypass surgery decreased significantly.
• Looking at primary care, the report highlights three negative trends: the percentage of people with asthma receiving appropriate care dropped in recent years; the percentage of people with diabetes undergoing eye examinations also decreased; and the percentage of heart-attack patients receiving appropriate beta-blocker medications decreased.
• On a positive note, prescribing of benzodiazepines for older adults (not recommended because these sedating drugs carry risks for that age group) decreased significantly.
• The number of different prescription drugs dispensed per user increased significantly. Residents of lower-income areas received more types of drugs.
• The percentage of Manitobans dispensed an opioid decreased. Lower-income areas had a higher percentage of people dispensed an opioid.

“A key conclusion is that reducing health gaps related to income and the social determinants of health – such as nutritious food and stable housing – should remain a priority in Manitoba,” Dahl said.  

Manitoba’s five regional health authorities will use the findings in the atlas to help them assess the health of their communities and create strategic and operational plans.

The full study is available online.

The assistant professor of community health sciences has traced the transmission of infections such as COVID-19 and mpox in specific populations.

But his greatest interest is in sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), such as HIV and gonorrhea. As a social epidemiologist, Shaw aims to understand how social structures influence people’s health in ways that are not equitable.

“STBBIs are infections of inequity,” he says. “They are far more prevalent in groups that are marginalized by factors such as poverty and racism. Examining these inequities and partnering with those most affected can illuminate the public health policies that we need to ensure no one is left behind.”

In a study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Shaw found that female sex workers in Kenya had widely varying rates of HIV infection, depending on which area of Nairobi they worked in.

“With this kind of knowledge, we can target the specific places with higher prevalence to make the most impact,” says Shaw, who joined the UM faculty in 2021 and holds a Canada Research Chair in program science and global public health.

“Program science” is an approach that embeds research into public health programs so findings can quickly be translated into better care. “This is why we do research, so it doesn’t just sit on a dusty shelf,” he says.

Shaw was five years old when he and his family fled Laos for Canada as refugees. He grew up in Winnipeg and is a three-time UM alum.

As a member of UM’s Institute for Global Public Health, he has collaborated on research in countries such as Colombia, India, Pakistan and Nigeria.

In Manitoba, he has formed relationships and conducted research with non-profits such as Nine Circles Community Health Centre, Sunshine House and Ka Ni Kanichihk.

In a study in the International Journal of STD & AIDS, he compared data from two Winnipeg gonorrhea outbreaks, in 2012 and 2016.

The first outbreak was in areas where gonorrhea was historically recorded. The second took place in those hotspots, but also spread to different areas of the city.

“It was a sign of things to come. We’re now seeing exploding HIV and syphilis rates.”

Shaw is now working with Indigenous partners on a study that focuses on decolonizing gonorrhea epidemiology. Indigenous people in Manitoba have gonorrhea rates eight to 10 times higher than the general population, he says.

“This study has Indigenous community members asking the questions and interpreting the results,” says the professor, who worked for 10 years as an epidemiologist with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Shaw says one of the best aspects of his job is drawing on multiple fields for his research.

“My work involves understanding history, politics, policy and sociology, which shape the health of individuals.

“As a refugee from war-torn Southeast Asia, I’ve witnessed how forces out of our control can determine our well-being. Through my research, I hope to extend the lifeline that was given to my family and find ways to achieve a more just society through public health policy and programs.”