meeting agenda
Keynote Address
Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis & Dr. Blair Stonechild
10:00am EST
Canadian Indigenous Skin Conditions: Highest Priorities for Researchers, Policy and Decision Makers, and Stakeholders
Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis
10:15am EST
From Toronto to Southern Saskatchewan: A Dermatologist's Experience of Moving to a Critically Underserviced, Ruralized Area
Dr. Brittany Waller
10:35am EST
Virtual Care and Indigenous Skin Health: Practical Pearls
Dr. Anna Chacon
11:05am EST
Arctic Dermatology: The Greenland Experience
Dr. Carsten Sauer Mikkelsen
11:15am EST
The Eczema School
Dr. Lone Storgaard Hove
11:35am EST
Household Mold and Atopic Dermatitis: What is Known?
Dr. Jordanna Roesler
12:00pm EST
Working Toward Closing Gaps in Atopic Dermatitis with Cree Indigenous Communities in Quebec: Initiatives From McGill and Needs in Northern Quebec
Dr. Carolyn Jack
12:10pm EST
Arthritis Liason: A First Nations Community-Based Patient Care Facilitator Conducted Out of Siksika
Dr. Cheryl Barnabe
12:25pm EST
The Role of Indigenous Nurses: Bringing Health Services To Our Community
Kris Blind
1:00pm EST
Nurses Specialized in Wounds, Ostomy & Continence and Indigenous Core Programming
Bev Smith & Michelle Buffalo
1:15pm EST
Introduction to Dermatopathology in Skin of Colour
Dr. Archana Kakadekar
1:30pm EST
Black and Indigenous Underrepresentation in Atopic Dermatitis Clinical Trials: A 10-Year Cross-sectional Analysis
Edgar Akuffo-Addo
2:00pm EST
Broadband Internet Access in First Nation Reserve Communities and Maldistribution of Canadian Dermatologists: An Ecologic Study
Eric McMullen
2:10pm EST
Social Determinants of Health in Atopic Dermatitis: Addressing Challenges in Health Literacy
Vincent Wan
2:15pm EST
A Final Call to Action
Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis
2:40pm EST
conference faculty
Dr. Rachel Nehate Asiniwasis
Dr. Rachel Netahe Asiniwasis is a board-certified Dermatologist currently operating her own practice in her hometown of Regina, Sask., and seeing a wide base of patients in southern Saskatchewan. Since 2015, she and her small team have expanded to service several remote and northern First Nations communities around Saskatchewan through a mixture of in-person and teledermatology clinics.
Dr. Asiniwasis is of Plains Cree and Saulteaux background on her father’s side, and her mother is an English immigrant. Her last name, “Asiniwasis”, translates into “Stone child” in oral Cree, and it has been passed down to her that her middle name, “Netahe”, means “my heart”. Her father is a residential school survivor of nine years, and one of her most recent passions is learning more about health care challenges in remote and First Nations populations and developing proactive approaches to these challenges through a Truth and Reconciliation framework.
Dr. Asiniwasis also has a Master’s degree in clinical and translational research, and with this background hopes to continue to advocate for underserviced populations in Canadian Dermatology. She is the founder of Origins Dermatology Centre based in Regina, Sskatchewan.
Dr. A. Blair Stonechild
Dr. Alexander Blair Stonechild is Professor of Indigenous Studies at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Muscowpetung First Nation, attended Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School and Campion Collegiate, obtained his Bachelor’s degree from McGill, and Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the University of Regina.
In 1976, Dr. Stonechild became the first faculty member at First Nations University; he has been Dean of Academics and Executive Director of Development. Major publications include Loyal Till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion (1997); The New Buffalo: Aboriginal Post-secondary Policy in Canada (2006); Buffy Sainte-Marie: It’s My Way (2012); The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality (2016) and Loss of Indigenous Eden and the Fall of Spirituality (2020).
Dr. Brittany Waller
Dr. Brittany Waller is a board-certified dermatologist in both Canada and the United States of America. She obtained both a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and a Medical Degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Waller then completed her 5-year dermatology residency and a subspecialty fellowship through the University of Toronto.
After 10 years away, Dr. Waller returned to her roots and hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan to practice alongside Dr. Asiniwasis. Her father, Thomas Waller, has done extensive work in Indigenous Business Law and land claim negotiation over the last 50 years in the province. Dr. Waller is excited to share her perspectives of practicing medicine in both large urban and critically underserviced settings and learning from the other speakers and participants during this meeting.
Dr. R. Gary Sibbald
Dr. R. Gary Sibbald, MD FRCPC (Med, Derm), MACP, FAAD, MEd, FAPWCA, is the founder and Executive Director of WoundPedia as well as the lead of Project ECHO Ontario Skin and Wound. He is a dermatologist and internist with a special interest in wound care and education. Dr. Sibbald is also a professor of medicine and public health at the University of Toronto.
As a wound care educator, clinician, and clinical researcher, he is an international wound care key opinion leader.
Dr. Sibbald is the co-founder (1999) and course director of the International Interprofessional Wound Care Course (IIWCC). He is the director of the Masters of Science in Community Health (Prevention and Wound Care) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and an investigator with the Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners.
Dr. Sibbald is the former president of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies 2008-2012. He is a co-editor and chapter author of the Chronic Wound Care textbook. He has over 200 publications and is the current co-editor in chief of the journal, Advances in Skin and Wound Care.
Dr. Anna Chacon
Dr. Anna Chacon is a renowned board-certified dermatologist from Miami. Inspired by her father, a critical care pioneer, she chose a career in medicine. Dr. Chacon is the only dermatologist serving the secluded Alaskan Bush region, often travelling by bush place for patient care. She also provides vital dermatology services to Indigenous tribes across Florida, Alaska, and California, and offers teledermatology services. Dr. Chacon holds medical licenses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She also founded Indigenous Dermatology, a nonprofit focusing on dermatologic health in rural and tribal areas.
Dr. Carsten Sauer Mikkelsen
Dr. Carsten Sauer Mikkelsen is a board-certified dermatologist in Denmark and Norway since 1999. He has a passion for global dermatology with an interest in minority groups and a special interest in the Inuit culture and arctic dermatology. He has worked in multiple places in Greenland (Nuuk, Qaqortoq, Narsaq, Narsarsuaq, Maniitsoq, Qaanaaq and Ilulissat) and Norway (Kirkenes, Vadsjøen, Bodø, Vesterålen, Mosjøen, Ålesund, Stavanger, and Egernsund). He did his PhD research, epidemiological study in Guinea-Bissau (1999-2001) in West-Africa about Rotavirus in cihldren under five years of age. The study was financially supported by WHO and the Danish State Serum Institute. He has worked in private practice in Brønderslev, Denmark since 2009. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Research Center, Department of Dermato-venereology in Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark. He has published 135 articles registrered on Research Gate and works with digital solutions within dermatology in Norway and Denmark. He is a member of the International Society of Dermatology and makes presentations abroad. In his spare time, he travels a lot—to 86 different countries to date.
Dr. Lone Storgaard Hove
Lone is aiming to make research available for the local inuit population of Greenland under the motto; if research is conducted in Greenland, Greenland must benefit from, and have access to that research.
Lone is currently working on bringing preventive and prophylactic information about specific dermatological issues prevalent in Greenland.
She also facilitates research and treatment in all of Greenland, to alleviate pressure on health, and the healthcare sector, as well as address healthcare challenges for patients in the rural indigenous populations in Greenland.
She initiated the School of Child Eczema (Eksemskolen Kalaallit Nunaat) which is a traveling eczema school with focus on parent education in the inuit population and also education of the local healthcare personal in the rural regions of Greenland.
Dr. Jordanna Roesler
Dr. Jordanna Roesler is a UBC Dermatology Resident and member of Dene First Nation. She completed her MD at UBC and served as the VP of Indigenous Health for the UBC Medical Undergraduate Society. Dr. Roesler’s clinical interests include medical dermatology, Indigenous dermatologic health, and social determinants of health. She has multiple publications in these areas of interest. She is an active researcher who is committed to closing knowledge gaps and improving cultural safety.
Dr. Carolyn Jack
Dr. Carolyn Jack (MDCM, PhD, FRCPC) is an Assistant Professor, Dermatology, at McGill University, and a Junior Scientist at the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. In 2018, Dr. Jack founded the McGill University Hospital Network Center of Excellence for Atopic Dermatitis, the first tertiary care centre in Canada dedicated to adult atopic dermatitis. She is the co-founder of EczemaQ, an award-winning mobile health application, and the registered non-profit Patient Advisory Committee known as Eczéma Québec. As an FRQS Clinical Research Scholar, her research goal is to identify disease-modifying interventions in chronic atopic dermatitis.
Dr. Cheryl Barnabe
Dr. Cheryl Barnabe is a member of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government (formerly Métis Nation of Alberta), a Rheumatologist, and a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. She is the Deputy Director for the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health. She is a Canada Research Chair in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune Diseases, and her research program focusses on equity in health service delivery and arthritis outcomes, most specifically for Indigenous populations in Canada. Over the past decade she has provided rheumatology clinical care in the Treaty 7 territory in both urban and rural settings, and provided continuing medical education training in building relationships with Indigenous patients.
Kris Blind
Kristian Blind is a registered nurse who has been working primarily as a Community Health Out-Reach nurse for home communities in Southern Saskatchewan in the Touchwood File Hills under the Touchwood Agency Tribal Council. In their role for the communities, they help with phlebotomy and pay special attention to chronic and communicable diseases. Over the years, Kris has been given opportunities to expand knowledge and practice to help community members with skin and wound care issues.
Kris will be speaking about their community at the 2023 Indigenous Skin Spectrum Summit, paying special attention to barriers for accessing care.
Bev Smith
Bev Smith is originally from Nova Scotia, and she is very proud of her Mi’kmaq heritage and her ancestors who called Potlotek First Nations their home. Bev moved to Alberta in 1997 and worked for four years as a Healthcare Aid in long term care. Bev graduated in 2005 from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Bev worked for several years in acute care and had the opportunity to work alongside the hospitals NSWOC. Bev knew immediately this was her passion. She enrolled and graduated from the then CAET- ET program in 2008. Bev accepted an NSWOC position in Edmonton Continuing Care, where she has been practicing now the past 15 years. In the fall of 2018, Bev accepted the amazing opportunity to become the NSWOCC Core Program Leader for Indigenous Wound, Ostomy and Continence Health and in May 2023 became the NSWOCC Reginal Director for Prairies, Yukon, and NWT.
Michelle Buffalo
Michelle grew up in rural northern British Columbia on a large cattle farm and moved to Alberta in 2001. She is a Samson Cree Nation band member, which is one of the four First Nations Communities in Maskwacis, Alberta, a treaty 6 First Nations territory. Her journey began as a nursing attendant then graduating with a BScN from the University of Alberta in 2010. Furthering on, she graduated from the NSWOCC WOC-EP Program in May of 2021 and obtaining her CNA Certification in WOCC(C) soon after.
Michelle has had the opportunity to work in many different settings and connect with clients from various backgrounds, journeys and cultures. This is something she is very grateful for as it has brought such valuable understanding to her nursing experience and growth as a person.
She currently works alongside the Central Zone Wound & Ostomy Consult Team for Alberta Health Service’s Ostomy & Wound Specialists Department with fellow NSWOC’s. She is honored to be an active member of the NSWOCC Indigenous Wound, Ostomy,
and Continence Health Core Program, a program that continues to make changes that impact and improve the health and lives of Indigenous peoples across Canada.
Edgar Akuffo-Addo
Edgar Akuffo-Addo is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he obtained a B.S in Human Biology and a master’s in health administration. Edgar is interested in pursuing a career in dermatology. His areas of interest within dermatology include but are not limited to skin of color, health disparities and global health.
Eric McMullen
Eric McMullen is a final-year McMaster medical student and a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario. His clinical interests include Indigenous dermatology, teledermatology, and rural care.
Vincent Wan
Vincent Wan is a 4th year medical student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His family immigrated to Canada from rural China and growing up with caregivers with limited educational backgrounds meant that he was always cognisant of the unique challenges and discriminatory pressures that migrant populations face. Vincent is particularly passionate in identifying health disparities amongst vulnerable populations in recent years after entering medical school. During his presentation at the 2023 ISSS, he hopes to share a bit about his experiences taking care of his mother during her worst eczema flares as a young child, with a highlight on determinants of health and health literacy.