Tracey Galloway

Biography

The focus of my research program is the assessment of chronic disease risk and the reduction of the impact of chronic disease through applied and health policy research to reduce health inequities and promote health system improvement in northern Indigenous populations. Assessment research examines patterns of child growth and nutrition; prevalence of overweight and obesity; and incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases such diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease and cancer in Indigenous populations. Related methodological research examines the use of international reference standards for growth and obesity assessment in Indigenous populations. Applied research investigates the impact of community-based nutrition, physical activity and hunter-education programs on health patterns among Inuit children and youth. Health policy research examines the impact of federal health and food subsidy policy in northern Indigenous communities with the goals of increasing community access to federal health programs and reducing food insecurity. I am currently Principal Investigator on two CIHR-funded studies: “The impact of proposed change in federal health funding policy on health programs operating in Yukon First Nations communities” (CIHR Bridge Fund No. 134071, $100,000 over 1 year); and “A qualitative study of the experience of cancer and death from cancer among Inuit residents of Nunavut” (CIHR Operating Grant No. 133655, $405,000 over 3 years). I also hold a 5-year CIHR New investigator Salary Award entitled “Assessment, applied health and health policy research to improve health outcomes in northern Indigenous populations” (Grant No. 201512NFI-361597-113787). I am Deputy Editor for the International Journal of Circumpolar Health and a member of the Canadian Association of Physical Anthropologists, the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health, and the Canadian DOHaD Society. In Fall 2017 I became a Member of the College of Reviewers of the Canadian institutes of Health Research.

Research Interest

Indigenous health, circumpolar populations, nutrition transition, food security, chronic disease, child growth, public health policy