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Faculty Member

Earl Nowgesic RN, BScN, MHSc, PhD, FCAN

Email Address(es)
earl.nowgesic(at)utoronto.ca
Division(s)/Institute(s)
Social & Behavioural Health Sciences Division
Position
Adjunct Professor
SGS Status
Associate Member

Research Interests

  • Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) health
  • Population and public health
  • Health services and policy
  • Epidemiology
  • Nursing
  • Social and behavioural health sciences
  • HIV prevention and intervention

Education & Training History

  • Degree – PhD, Public Health Science (Social and Behavioural Health Sciences Specialization), University of Toronto, 2015
  • Certificate – Advanced Training in Qualitative Health Research Methodology, Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research, University of Toronto, 2012
  • Certificate – Field Epidemiology Training Program, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Protection Branch, Health Canada, 1999 (now the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program of the Public Health Agency of Canada)
  • Degree – MHSc, Health Science (Community Health and Epidemiology Specialization), University of Toronto, 1994
  • Degree – BScN, Nursing, University of Ottawa, 1990
  • Certificate – Nursing Assistant, Algonquin College, Ottawa, 1985

Other Affiliations

  • Gull Bay First Nation/Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek, Member
  • Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association, Regular Member
  • Canadian Academy of Nursing, Member and Charter Fellow
  • Canadian Nurses Association, Member
  • College of Nurses of Ontario, Registered Nurse
  • Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, Member

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

Doctoral qualifying examination committees; master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation supervisory committees; and thesis and dissertation defense committees (e.g., doctoral final oral examination committee).

Professional Summary & Appointments

Earl Nowgesic, RN, BScN, MHSc, PhD, FCAN is Anishinaabe and a member of Gull Bay First Nation / Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (KZA). He is the son of the late Frederick Nowgesic of KZA and the late Deana Nowgesic (née MacLaurin) of Fort William First Nation who attended St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s Indian Residential Schools, respectively, in Ontario. Dr. Earl Nowgesic has over 25 years of experience working in the health sector.

Dr. Earl Nowgesic is the Visioning Director of CAAN Communities, Alliances & Networks. He has experience in First Nation and non-First Nation arenas, being employed as the first Epidemiologist for the Assembly of First Nations, the Director of the First Nations Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization, and the Associate Director of Research and Data Management at the Chiefs of Ontario. Within two Health Canada branches—the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch and the Health Protection Branch—Dr. Nowgesic held positions as the National HIV/AIDS Program Specialist and a Canadian Field Epidemiologist, respectively. He has been Interim Director and Associate Director of the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH), University of Toronto (U of T). Dr. Nowgesic was the inaugural Associate Scientific Director and Assistant Director of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He was the Director of Parliamentary Affairs in the Office of The Honourable Margo Greenwood, Senator, Senate of Canada.

Dr. Nowgesic is an Adjunct Professor in DLSPH with a cross-appointment to the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, U of T. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. He has held competitive grants, including the CIHR Fellowship in Health Services and Population Health HIV/AIDS Priority Announcement. He has published papers on HIV, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, health services, nursing, public health, research capacity and infrastructure, and Indigenous Peoples.

Dr. Nowgesic has volunteer experience participating on numerous councils, boards and committees including: the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada (now the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association) Board of Directors; the Canadian Academy of Nursing Advisory Committee of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA); the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network Community Advisory Committee; the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Advisory Committee; the CIHR Institute Advisory Board on Health Promotion and Prevention; the CNA Aboriginal Health Nursing and Health Advisory Group; the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics Guiding Consortium for the Development of the Tri-Council Policy Statement Guidelines for Research Involving Aboriginal People (now Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada); the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) National Aboriginal Council on HIV/AIDS; the PHAC-supported National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health Advisory Committee; the Public Health Ontario Board of Directors; the U of T Truth and Reconciliation Commission Steering Committee’s Indigenous Research Ethics and Community Relationships Working Group as the Working Group’s Co-Chair; and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) Indigenous Alumni Council. Dr. Nowgesic is a past President of the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health and past Vice-President of the International Union for Circumpolar Health.

Dr. Nowgesic was the Eagle Feather Bearer in the U of T Chancellor’s Procession at the Fall 2022 Convocation ceremony involving four faculties (i.e., Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health) and the School of Graduate Studies. He is a Charter Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing. His other distinctions, recognitions and research awards include: the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network LaVerne Monette Scholarship; the CIHR Cy Frank Award for Evaluation; a CIHR Fellowship; the Health Canada Deputy Minister’s Award for Team Excellence; the Indspire Building Brighter Futures Scholarship; the K.M. Hunter Graduate Scholarship in Aboriginal Health; the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Aboriginal Health Careers Scholarship; the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Universities Without Walls Fellowship; the U of T/McMaster University Indigenous Health Research Development Program Graduate Scholarship; the U of T Open Fellowship; and a U of T President’s Award for Outstanding Indigenous Student of the Year.

Dr. Nowgesic holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health Science (specializing in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences) and a Master of Health Science in Community Health and Epidemiology from U of T and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from uOttawa. He has a certificate in Advanced Training in Qualitative Health Research Methodology from the U of T Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research, and he is a graduate of the Field Epidemiology Training Program of Health Canada, Health Protection Branch, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (now the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program of PHAC).

Appointments

Visioning Director (2023 to present), CAAN Communities, Alliances and Networks

Adjunct Professor (2023 to present), Dalla Lana School of Public Health with a cross-appointment to the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto

Associate Member (2015 to present; and 2001 to 2004), School of Graduate Studies, Public Health Sciences Graduate Unit, University of Toronto

Associate Director (2023), Research and Data Management Sector/department, Chiefs of Ontario

Associate Scientific Director (2020 to 2023), Assistant Scientific Director (2017 to 2020), Associate Director (2004 to 2008) and Assistant Director (2001 to 2004), CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (formerly known as the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health)

Interim Associate Director (2015 and 2017) and Interim Director (2016), Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Assistant Professor (2017 to 2023, status only; and 2015 to 2017, contractually limited term appointment), Dalla Lana School of Public Health with a cross-appointment (2020 to 2023) to the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto

Lecturer (2017 to 2020, adjunct), Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto

Assistant Professor (2005 to 2008, adjunct), Faculty of Human and Social Development, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

Assistant Professor (2001 to 2004, status only), Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Honours & Awards

  • 2020 Charter Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing (FCAN)
  • 2015 University of Toronto President’s Award for Outstanding Indigenous Student of the Year
  • 2014-2015 K.M. Hunter Graduate Studentship in Aboriginal Health
  • 2014-2015 Indspire Building Brighter Futures Scholarship
  • 2013 Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network LaVerne Monette Scholar
  • 2011-2014 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship – Health Services and Population Health HIV/AIDS Priority Announcement
  • 2009-2014 University of Toronto Open Fellowship
  • 2011-2012 Ontario HIV Treatment Network Universities Without Walls Fellowship
  • 2010-2012 National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Aboriginal Health Careers Scholarship
  • 2009-2010 CIHR University of Toronto/McMaster University Indigenous Health Research Development Program Graduate Scholarship
  • 2007 CIHR Cy Frank Award for Evaluation
  • 1999 Health Canada Deputy Minister’s Award for Team Excellence

Representative Publications

  1. MacLachlan, J., Andersen, A., Benoit, A., Nowgesic, E., & Nixon, S. (2022). Developing an accountability framework to support bridging Inuit worldviews and the critical paradigm in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, 1-13. doi:10.1177/16094069221113114
  2. Benoit, A.C., Jaworsky, D., Price, R., Whitebird, W., Benson, E., Nowgesic, E., Nicholson, V., Ranville, F., Loutfy, M., Beaver, K., Zoccole, A., Nobis, T., Kellman, C., Jackson, R., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Walsh, T., Keshane, M., Tom., J., Tynes, T., Brennan, E., Giles, S., Hanuse, B., Campbell, D., Paul, D., Samji, H., Hull, M., & Masching, R. (2020). Building bridges: Describing a process for Indigenous engagement in epidemiology. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 14(4), 461-470.
  3. Monchalin, R., Smylie, J., & Nowgesic, E. (2020). “I Guess I Shouldn’t Come Back Here”: Racism and discrimination as a barrier to accessing health and social services for urban Metis women in Toronto, Canada. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 7(2), 251-261. doi:10.1007/s40615-019-00653-1
  4. Benoit, A.C., Younger, J., Beaver, K., Jackson, R., Loutfy, M., Masching, R., Nobis, T., Nowgesic, E., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Whitebird, W., Zoccole, A., Hull, M., Jaworsky, D., Benson, E., Rachlis, A., Rourke, S., Burchell, A.N., Cooper, C., Hogg, R., Klein, M., Machouf, N., Montaner, J., Tsoukas, C., Raboud, J., Building Bridges & the Canadian Observational Cohort Collaboration. (2017). Increased mortality among Indigenous persons in a multisite cohort of people living with HIV in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(2), e169-e175.
  5. Benoit, A.C., Younger, J., Beaver, K., Jackson, R., Loutfy, M., Masching, R., Nobis, T., Nowgesic, E., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Whitebird, W., Zoccole, A., Hull, M., Jaworsky, D., Rachlis, A., Rourke, S., Burchell, A. N., Cooper, C., Hogg, R., Klein, M. B., Machouf, N., Montaner, J., Tsoukas, C., Raboud, J., Building Bridges & the Canadian Observational Cohort Collaboration. (2017). A comparison of virological suppression and rebound between Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons initiating combination antiretroviral therapy in a multisite cohort of individuals living with HIV in Canada. Antiviral Therapy, 22(4), 325-335.
  6. Nowgesic, E., Meili, R., Stack, S., & Myers, T. (2015). The Indigenous Red Ribbon Storytelling Study: What does it mean for Indigenous peoples living with HIV and a substance use disorder to access antiretroviral therapy in Saskatchewan? Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research, 7(Winter), 27-40.
  7. Nowgesic, E. (2013). Getting the Canadian HIV epidemic to zero: Valuing Indigenous cultures through holistic research. Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research, 5(Winter), 60-70.
  8. Nowgesic, E. (2010). Addressing HIV/AIDS among Aboriginal people using a health status, health determinants and health care framework: A literature review and conceptual analysis. Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research, 3(Winter), 35-47.
  9. Clark, M., Riben, P., & Nowgesic, E. (2002). The association of housing density, isolation and tuberculosis in Canadian First Nations communities. International Journal of Epidemiology, 31(5), 940-945.
  10. Reading, J., & Nowgesic, E. (2002). Improving the health of future generations: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health. American Journal of Public Health, 92(9), 1396-1400.
  11. Marsden, N., Schneider, D., Copley, T., Skaling, B., & Nowgesic, E. (2000). Attitudes and beliefs towards HIV and AIDS among Aboriginal peoples living in British Columbia. Native Social Work Journal, 3, 183-191.
  12. Nowgesic, E., Fyfe, M., Hockin, J., King, A., Ng, H., Paccagnella, A., Trinidad, A., Wilcott, L., Smith, R., Denney, A., Struck, L., Embree, G., Higo, K., Ip Chan, J., Markey, P., Martin, S., & Bush, D. (1999). An outbreak of yersinia pseudotuberculosis in British Columbia – November 1998. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 25(11), 97-100.
  13. Nowgesic, E., Hockin, J., Larder, A., & Fyfe, M. (1999). An outbreak of shigella sonnei in British Columbia – September 1998. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 25(8), 73-78.
  14. Nowgesic, E., Skowronski, D., & King, A. (1999). Direct costs attributed to chicken pox and herpes zoster in British Columbia, 1992 to 1996. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 25(11), 100-104.