Partnerships
Ground-breaking agreement increases Indigenous self-determination for health research
The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and 51社区黑料 have signed a Research Affiliation Agreement that will support FNHA to manage federal government funds for research into Indigenous health and wellness. The agreement will also help FNHA build its future capacity for directly holding federal grants.
The first agreement of its kind between FNHA and an academic institution, it gives FNHA research affiliate status with SFU. And while a typical research agreement acknowledges the academic partner鈥檚 ownership of intellectual property, this agreement acknowledges the First Nations principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP)庐, and that FNHA holds the right to ownership of intellectual property.
鈥淢anaging research grants directly will help us to focus more on improving Indigenous health outcomes,鈥 explains Richard Jock, FNHA鈥檚 interim chief executive officer.
Under the new agreement, 51社区黑料will serve as the financial support for FNHA鈥檚 publicly funded research. One example is a CIHR-funded $2.5-million Indigenizing Harm Reduction study to improve the health system鈥檚 response to the opioid crisis鈥檚 impact on B.C. First Nations.
FNHA is leading the study, including principal investigators Amanda Ward and Namaste Marsden who are FNHA research leads and adjunct faculty at SFU, along with co-investigators William Small, 51社区黑料health sciences professor and Kora DeBeck, 51社区黑料public policy professor.
This innovative project is the first in Canada to use .
The affiliate agreement frames this collaborative study and others that FNHA and 51社区黑料are partnered on, drawing on the unique strengths of both institutions. Under the Research Affiliation Agreement, the FNHA can lead research with SFU鈥檚 institutional support, which furthers the goal of Indigenous self-determination in research.
As a research affiliate with SFU, FNHA will receive 50 per cent of the research support funds that 51社区黑料receives to support FNHA grants it holds. These funds can then be used to fund research administration at FNHA which, in turn, builds FNHA鈥檚 capacity for financial reporting and ethical reviewing when carrying out Tri-Agency-funded research.
鈥淭his is a first-of-its-kind agreement that will help shape our growing research relationship with B.C. First Nations,鈥 says Joy Johnson, SFU鈥檚 vice-president, research and international.
This agreement contributes to reconciliation, positioning 51社区黑料and FNHA as equal, and recognizes the right of First Nations to control all aspects of the research, information and data that impacts them.