Research Chairs

Current Research Chairs

Dr. Robert Ohle

Dr. Robert Ohle has been appointed Heart and Stroke Foundation/NOSM University Chair in Indigenous and Rural Health Research for a five-year renewable term.

Dr. Ohle will advance research on cardio- and cerebrovascular disease with Indigenous and rural communities, collaborate with Indigenous partners with an aim to build capacity in rural health across Ontario. Working in concert with Indigenous and rural research units, he will consult with elders, Indigenous leaders, health systems managers, government officials, and the public to better understand the challenges faced in these communities.

Northern Ontario has a higher rate of chronic disease than the provincial average. Leading efforts across a large geographic area with diverse populations, Dr. Ohle will promote a shared vision for cardio- and cerebrovascular disease research and share best practices and clinical guidelines to improve quality of care and patient outcomes.

Dr. Ohle, who immigrated to Canada from Ireland, is the Vice-President, Academic and Research Impact, at Health Sciences North (HSN) and Health Sciences North Research Institute (HSNRI), an emergency room physician at HSN, and an Associate Professor at NOSM University. His previous work has involved developing national guidelines for diagnosing and treating acute aortic syndrome, and co-founding the Northern City of Heroes initiative, which aims to increase survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest through improved access to CPR training and AED utilization.

Strategic partnerships such as this are key to changing population health outcomes in Northern Ontario. The position was established in 2013 through a collaboration between NOSM University and Heart & Stroke.

Dr. Darrel Manitowabi

NOSM University and Associated Medical Services (AMS) are pleased to announce the historic appointment of Dr. Darrel Manitowabi as the NOSMU-AMS Hannah Chair in the History of Indigenous Health and Indigenous Traditional Medicine for a five year renewable term effective July 1, 2020.

Dr. Manitowabi is Three Fires (Odawa, Ojibwa, Potawatomi) Anishinaabe from the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory and currently resides in the Whitefish River First Nation. He recently served as the Director of Northern and Community Studies at Laurentian University, and at NOSM University was the Director of Indigenous Affairs in 2018 and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies in 2019.

An Indigenous anthropologist with research interests in Anishnaabe ethnohistory and oral history, Indigenous gambling, Indigenous social determinants of health, Indigenous healing, Indigenous-state relations and Indigenous self-determination, Dr. Manitowabi’s research and publications examine how the historical legacy of colonialism impacts the health and wellbeing of First Nations communities. His research in the history of Indigenous health situates the place of Anishinaabe language (Anishinaabemowin) and knowledge (kendaasawin) in conceptions of holistic wellbeing (mino-bimaadiziwin) and ill health (maanaaji-bimaadizwin).

As the NOSMU-AMS Hannah Chair in the History of Indigenous Health and Traditional Medicine, Manitowabi will work to promote the discussion of the inherent, constitutional, Treaty and international rights of all Indigenous Peoples and communities and the protection of traditional knowledge and medicines from appropriation. Dr. Manitowabi’s research focus, as the Chair, will be in the history of Indigenous Health and he will contribute to NOSM University’s role in leading scholarly activity in the history of Indigenous Health.

Endowed through the generosity of AMS, Dr. Manitowabi joins seven other AMS Hannah Chairs in medical schools across Canada, where they are integral members of undergraduate and graduate education in the health professions, especially medicine.