Gwen Healey Akearok

Dr. Healey Akearok was born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut where she continues to work and raise her family. Dr. Healey Akearok is the Executive and Scientific Director of the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre (AHRN-NU) in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Dr. Healey Akearok's research has and continues to focus on elevating the pathways to wellbeing that exist in Arctic communities to address local health concerns. Dr. Healey Akearok co-founded the independent, community-led Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre (AHRN-NU) in 2006. The goal of Qaujigiartiit is to enable health research to be conducted locally, by Nunavummiut, in a supportive, safe, culturally grounded and ethical environment. The Centre promotes a model in which Inuit Qaujimajatuangit and western science knowledge are incorporated into all projects. Dr. Healey Akearok was a Fulbright Arctic Initiative Scholar (2018-19) and is currently a Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College.

During her time at Dartmouth Dr. Akearok will explore relation-building and holistic well-being perspectives around the Arctic, with a focus on research, COVID-19, community voices, and building capacities. She also plans to host a meeting of the leads of the Arctic Council's ongoing "Arctic Community Perspectives on Covid-19 and Public Health" study.