SFU Health Sciences welcomes Jeff Reading as Western Canada’s first chair in heart health research for First Nations peoples

Newly appointed SFU health sciences professor Jeff Reading is the inaugural First Nations Health Authority Chair in Heart Health and Wellness at St. Paul’s Hospital.  

The $2.5 million chair, co-located at SFU, St. Paul’s Hospital and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), places a holistic focus on First Nations and Aboriginal peoples’ cardiac health to drive research that can improve health outcomes.

While rates of heart disease and stroke are decreasing in the general Canadian population, they are still on the upswing in aboriginal communities where more than one-third of the population report having a chronic health condition.

“Such diseases are over represented among First Nations people whose traditional way of food gathering has been substituted with food that is store bought and highly processed,” says Jeff, who is a Mohawk from the Tyendinaga First Nation in Ontario.

As chair, he will focus on establishing critical policy aimed at mitigating chronic cardiac health conditions among First Nations people. Jeff will also spearhead research to further understand the social determinants that shape the health of Aboriginal communities and producing health knowledge applicable to both patients and caregivers.

 “I am particularly interested in taking a life course approach that integrates culture and knowledge with science and taking advantage of all the contemporary tools and methods we have available to us today.”

The three-pronged approach to aboriginal health between a hospital, a health authority and a university is a first in Western Canada which Jeff believes should be replicated across Canada and in the world.

“You have discovery, treatment and advocacy in a triangle working together and supporting each other,” says Jeff. “With the three entities coming together, we have a brilliant synergetic environment for nurturing heart health.”

He adds the timing is ripe for aboriginals to be optimistic about a healthier future.

“One of my main goals is to create conditions where the future generations of First Nations peoples will experience optimal physical, emotional and spiritual health,” says Jeff.

Reading comes to SFU from the University of Toronto where he recently concluded a one-year term as interim director of the university’s newly created Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.  

As interim director, Reading was instrumental in the institute’s establishment including securing a $10-million gift naming the institute and setting up a community advisory council of 20 aboriginal advisors.