Brittany Wenniserí:iostha Jock, PhD, a proud member of the Bear Clan from the Akwesasne Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Territory, has dedicated her career to advancing Indigenous health equity. An Assistant Professor in McGill University’s Department of Family Medicine, Prof. Jock combines academic rigour with community-driven approaches to reshape health programs and ensure they address the unique needs of Indigenous Peoples.
A journey to public health
Prof. Jock’s academic path began with a chemistry degree from Syracuse University. A summer internship at Health Canada shifted her focus. “I found I was really enjoying the public health aspect, looking at policies and the science that informed policy, which brought me to epidemiology,” she recalls.
While she found epidemiology fascinating, she grappled with its limitations in Indigenous contexts. “If I were to come back to my community and say, ‘Here are the risk factors for diabetes,’ well I think everyone already knows that,” she explains. “The big problem is what do we do about it?” This realization led her to pursue advanced degrees in Epidemiology and Social and Behavioural Interventions at Johns Hopkins University, where she developed tools to connect research with community-led action.
Joining McGill and the KSDPP
Prof. Jock’s appointment at McGill University allows her to deepen her commitment to participatory research, specifically through her involvement with the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Program (KSDPP). The trailblazing participatory research initiative in Kahnawake, a sister community to Akwesasne, has pioneered community-led diabetes prevention strategies for the past 30 years. Established in 1994 through collaboration among Kahnawake community members, health professionals, educators, and academics, notably from McGill University’s Department of Family Medicine, such as Kahnawake community member, KSDPP co-founder and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Alex McComber. The program has maintained a strong research partnership with the department since its inception.
“I’m excited to work alongside Indigenous colleagues in the Department,” says Prof. Jock. “Family medicine is very collaborative in nature. Part of what drew me to McGill is that study in the KSDPP program is one of the foremost examples of participatory research.” One of her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded research projects aims to support the integration of Indigenous knowledges and methodologies into health research, with a focus on Kanien’kehà:ka (Mohawk) knowledge.
Prof. Jock’s current work with KSDPP includes a follow-up study titled “Mobilizing resilience through community-to-community (C2C) exchange: Seven Generations thinking for wellness and diabetes prevention,” funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Team Grant. This study focuses on mobilizing lessons learned in Kahnawake to other First Nations communities, expanding access to successful primary prevention strategies.
Redefining research with Indigenous knowledge
Central to Prof. Jock’s work is integrating of Indigenous knowledge systems into health research. Western frameworks often fail to capture the unique dynamics of Indigenous communities, so Prof. Jock collaborates with others to develop approaches rooted in Indigenous knowledges.
“A lot of things that are important, we can’t measure,” she notes, “There are validated scales that have been tested over time and in different settings, but they don’t always make sense for Indigenous communities—or we just don’t have measures for things that matter.”
To address these gaps, Prof. Jock uses mixed methods research, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. These approaches prioritize Indigenous ways of knowing and values storytelling, community narratives and qualitative insights alongside numerical data. She believes this balance is essential for capturing the holistic nature of health in Indigenous communities, where physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects are interconnected.
“Health is inherently social, it’s something that is relational. We can’t always put a number on it. We need to understand people’s experiences,” Prof. Jock explains. “That’s why I really like using qualitative (textual) methods to complement quantitative (numerical) methods— the limitations of one are the strengths of the other.”
Participatory research remains at the heart of her methodology. By involving communities in decision making from start to finish, her work works to break the traditional dynamic where researchers make decisions about communities without their input. This approach not only enhances the relevance of research findings, but it also builds trust and assures that the results are more meaningful and impactful to the people they want to serve.
“I see my role as bringing a participatory approach to all my projects. Meaning that community is at the table and making decisions about the research, rather than us as outsiders— as researchers— making decisions about the community without community. That dynamic has to change, and it is changing.”
A vision for change
Prof. Jock takes part in other initiatives that share her vision. Internationally, she co-leads a special interest group, called the Indigenizing Wellbeing Research Circle, within the International Society for Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity. This endeavour is part of a larger movement to Indigenize research and ensure Indigenous perspectives inform scientific discourse on health and wellness. “We’re coming together to explore how we can centre Indigenous knowledge in research,” she explains.
As Prof. Jock continues her work at McGill, she hopes to inspire a shift in how research is conducted—one that prioritizes equity, respect and collaboration that will pave the way for meaningful change in Indigenous health, promising a future where community-driven solutions take centre stage.