SPECTRUM: a partnership approach to producing impactful research
About the Speakers
Dr. Marni Brownell uses comprehensive administrative health and social services databases to study child health and well-being, focusing on social and structural influences on health. She is the director of the SPECTRUM Partnership funded by a SSHRC Partnership Grant. SPECTRUM brings together academics, government staff and representatives of community organizations to co-create impactful social policy research.
Anita Durksen is a doctoral candidate in the department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She obtained a BSc in Physiology and Physics (2000) and her MSc in Physiology (2003) at McGill University. Anita worked for several years as a research assistant in the Biology of Breathing group and later the DREAM (Diabetes Research Envisioned and Accomplished in Manitoba) team of the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM). Anita has been involved as a fellow with SPECTRUM since it began in 2019.
Scott Sinclair was appointed as Deputy Minister of Health on March 20, 2023. Prior to assuming his current role, Scott was Deputy Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services, Deputy Minister of Labour, Deputy Minister of Crown Services and Deputy Minister of Infrastructure. Scott has held other senior roles as the Associate Deputy Minister of Finance | Central Services and Assistant Deputy Minister, Advanced Learning Division in the department of Education and Advanced Learning.
Stephanie Sinclair is an Anishinaabe woman from Sandy Bay First Nation. She is a mother of two children and the daughter of a residential school survivor. Stephanie works at the First Nation Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba as the lead for Data Sovereignty. Stephanie is also completing her Ph.D. in Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. Stephanie has worked in various positions over the last 20 years with the goal of improving health and mental wellness services for First Nations people.