Bloomberg Nursing PhD student Heather Burnside has received a patient-oriented fellowship award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR). She has received this award in support of her study “Understanding Sex and Gender Influences on Self-Management Practices of Indigenous Men, Women and Two-Spirited Individuals Living with Type 2 Diabetes: A Strengths-Based, Patient-Oriented Approach.”
Burnside’s research explores sex and gender differences among Indigenous men, women, and 2-spirited individuals living with type 2 diabetes, with the aim of improving the health of Indigenous People living with type 2 diabetes. Her work takes a patient-oriented, strengths-based approach, incorporating Indigenous research methodologies into her research.
Burnside is a second-year PhD student at Bloomberg Nursing, supervised by Dr. Monica Parry. She is completing a collaborative specialization in Indigenous Health at Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She earned her MScN in 2013 from York University and her BScN from McMaster University in 2009. Burnside has extensive clinical care experience, having worked in an ICU, ED, and as a community health nurse in rural and remote First Nation communities.