Dr. Josée Lavoie
Rady Faculty announcement: Dr. Josée Lavoie appointed dean, College of Community and Global Health
Message from Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-provost (health sciences) and dean, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.
Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-provost (health sciences) and dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Josée Lavoie as the inaugural dean of the College of Community and Global Health. Her five-year term begins August 1, 2025.
Dr. Lavoie is a graduate of McGill University, earning her bachelor of science in 1986 and her master of arts in medical anthropology in 1993. She then completed her PhD in health policy and financing at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2005 in London, England.
Dr. Lavoie joined UM in 2003 as a research associate with the then Centre for Aboriginal Health Research and became an assistant professor of community health sciences in 2005.
From 2006 to 2013, Dr. Lavoie served as a professor at the University of Northern British Columbia’s School of Health Sciences.
Dr. Lavoie was recruited back to UM in 2014 as associate professor of community health sciences and became director of the Manitoba First Nations – Centre for Aboriginal Health Research. In 2017, she was appointed professor of community health sciences and director of Ongomiizwin – Research in the Institute of Indigenous Health and Healing, a position she held until 2023.
Dr. Lavoie, along with Dr. Linda Diffey, co-led the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funded mentorship program called Prairie Indigenous Knowledge Exchange Network, or PIKE-Net.
Additionally, Dr. Lavoie has engaged in several CIHR roles, served on Research Manitoba’s advisory board and currently serves on the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation board.
A key focus of Dr. Lavoie’s research is on improved access to primary health care for underserved and marginalized populations in rural, remote and inner-city environments and on shifting health policy. Her research program is conducted in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and other Indigenous groups across Canada, in Alaska, Norway, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand and circumpolar countries.
Dr. Lavoie’s research has been consistently funded through CIHR and other sources since 2005, attracting more than $8.8 million as a principal investigator and just under $19 million as a co-principal investigator.
Please join Dr. Nickerson in congratulating Dr. Lavoie on her appointment as the Rady Faculty launches the College of Community and Global Health.