New UBC chair will study how cancer outcomes of Indigenous people in B.C. can be improved

Canada's first female Indigenous general surgeon has been appointed to a newly created position at the University of British Columbia dedicated to improving cancer outcomes and wellness among Indigenous peoples.

Dr. Nadine Caron will study the experiences and unique needs of Indigenous cancer patients, survivors and their families in her role as the First Nations Health Authority chair in cancer and wellness.

Over the course of her five-year term, Caron will collectand report onIndigenous cancer experiences and outcomes, and aim to better understandthe health-care system's responsiveness to Indigenous cancer care needs.

She told CBC her focus will be on figuring out if traditional cancer research and treatments work as well for Indigenous peopleas they do for the rest of British Columbians.

She said that until now, no one has ever researched how well standard of care what the evidence has shown works for a particular cancer works for Indigenous people.

"We're using data and research based on a different population. It might work, it might not," Caron said in an interview with On The Coast'sGloriaMacarenkoon Monday.

Another large part of her focus will be on wellness. She plans to meet with Indigenous communitiesto figure out if wellness should be measured in the typical academic sense or if there is a new way to look at it.

Caron said this could be an opportunity to merge Western medicine with traditional Indigenous healing practices to improve cancer outcomes.

Research on cancer rates

Two years ago, Caron was the senior author on a study that found First Nations people in B.C. are less likely to survive a cancer diagnosis than non-First Nations people.

The study, published in the journal Cancer Causes & Control, also found some cancers, including colorectal and cervical, are significantly more common among First Nations, although the overall cancer incidence rate is lower.

Caron, who lives in Prince George, B.C., already serves as the co-director of UBC's Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health and also provides surgical cancer care to rural populations.

The position is supported by a $1.5 million contribution from the First Nations Health Authority with matching funds from the university.

Click the link below to listen to the full interview: