A Decade of Partnership: First Nations Data Governance in Ontario with Dr. Jennifer Walker and Ca...

How has First Nations data governance in Ontario transformed over the past decade? In this episode, Jennifer Walker and Carmen Jones discuss how the ICES and Chiefs of Ontario partnership has evolved—reflecting on its origins, its current impact, and the goals shaping its future. 


Dr. Jennifer Walker is a member of Six Nations of the Grand River with a Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences (Epidemiology) from the University of Calgary. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health Data and Aging at McMaster University and is a Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact. 


Dr. Walker has demonstrated significant national and international leadership in aging and dementia research as well as Indigenous data sovereignty and governance. She is co-Lead for the Indigenous Cognitive Health Program within the Canadian Consortium for Neurodegeneration in Aging, a national CIHR-funded dementia research network. Her research program has contributed to significant advancements in culturally safe approaches for dementia prevention and diagnosis, including the validation and implementation of the Canadian Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool, and a new transformative project on decolonizing wholistic brain health assessment.


Carmen Jones is a member of the Serpent River First Nation and was raised on the Garden River Reserve where her parents live. She has been with the Chiefs of Ontario for 10 years. Previous to becoming the Director of Research and Data Management she held the position as Health Director and Research for the Chiefs of Ontario. She oversees the new Research and Data Management Sector and is overseeing the development of the First Nation Information Governance Centre for Ontario supported by the Chiefs in Assembly. Here portfolio includes implementing the First Nation Data Governance Agreement with ICES and oversees work in research and data. Carmen is a Board Member of First Nations Information Governance Centre, and she has a ministerial appointment to the Ontario Health Data Council.  


Early in her career she spent many years working with First Nation communities in the remote north and with Indigenous organizations. She also worked with the Ontario government for about 14 years in various positions in community development, strategic planning, policy development and constitutional matters.


Carmen is co-investigator on various research projects such as: Unlocking Health Information for Older First Nations Populations, First Nation Opioid Surveillance, the First Nations Chronic Disease Surveillance study and the Intergenerational impacts of diabetes among First Nations mothers and their children.


 


OCAP Principles Training 


The First Nations Principles of OCAP® - The First Nations Information Governance Centre (https://fnigc.ca/ocap-training/)


Learn more about the COO and the ICES/COO partnership


Research and Data Management - Chiefs of Ontario (https://chiefs-of-ontario.org/)


ICES | Partnerships & Collaborations | Indigenous Partnerships, Data and Analytics (https://www.ices.on.ca/indigenous/)


ICES | Applied Health Research Questions | AHRQ (https://www.ices.on.ca/applied-health...)


 






EPISODE CREDITS:


Produced, edited and mixed by Will Mcintyre, Richard Villeneuve and Pop Up Podcasting (https://popuppodcasting.ca/)
Artwork designed by Stella-Luna Ha
Music licensed through Melodie Music (https://melod.ie/)


LINKS:


Be sure to follow and tag ICES on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/icesontario....) , X (https://x.com/ICESOntario) , Instagram (  / icesontario  ) and LinkedIn (  / ices-research-institute  ) . To find out more about our organization, visit us at ices.on.ca (https://www.ices.on.ca/)