UVic Faculty of Health

06/04/2026

"This award is meaningful because it underscores the importance of relational, inclusive teaching in health education."

Warmest congratulations to UVic - School of Nursing's Kim Daly, who recently won the Faculty of Health's Teaching Excellence and Educational Leadership Award.

As associate director of the undergraduate nursing program and fulltime faculty member since 2018, Daly is known for a warm, humorous, ‘shoot-from-the-hip’ approach grounded in real-life nursing practice.

"I’m fortunate to work with colleagues and students who are committed to equity, collaboration, and transformative learning, and this recognition reflects that shared vision," she says.

Read more: https://www.uvic.ca/health/stories/health/kim-daly-wins-teaching-excellence-award.php

05/26/2026

How can health research connect community? On May 1, UVic's Faculty of Health and UVic Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health co-hosted an annual health research symposium.

The sold-out event included more than 30 presenters who explored the conference theme, advancing health through community, culture and change.

Open to students, faculty members, industry partners, and community members, presenters explored pressing issues including health care access and inclusion; mental health interventions; and substance use, harm reduction and policy.

“Health Research Day was an opportunity to show, from graduate level students up to seasoned faculty members, the depth and impact of research at UVic," Acting Associate Dean Research Sam Liu says.

We also celebrated an important milestone in the Faculty of Health—our first birthday!

Check out some photo highlights from the day. Read the full story:
https://news.uvic.ca/2026/health-research-connects-community/

05/25/2026

Congrats to UVic - School of Nursing, which celebrated its 50th anniversary recently. Check out the photos from the celebration.

05/21/2026

Warmest congratulations to Mona Lisa Bourque Bearskin, who was honoured last week with a prestigious national Indspire award for health.

A Cree Métis Registered Nurse, scholar, and national leader from Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory, Bourque Bearskin is an associate professor at the UVic - School of Nursing and a leader in UVic's Master of Nursing in Indigenous Wellness.

For over three decades, Bourque Bearskin has reshaped Indigenous health nursing in Canada, grounding systems of care in Indigenous knowledge. She is one of six inaugural Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health (CIHR-IIPH) Indigenous Health Nursing Research Chairs in the country.

Her work is internationally recognized for advancing Indigenous nursing leadership, health equity, and the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems across nursing practice, education, policy and research.

Read more: https://indspire.ca/laureate/dr-mona-lisa-bourque-bearskin

Watch a video: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1X9MGbBhCU/

Image credit: Billie Jean Gabriel

05/13/2026

How many amazing nurses do you know? During National Nursing Week, we’re honoring the myriad ways that nurses can transform health.

At this critical time in healthcare, meet three UVic Nursing alum who are determined to have a lasting impact on the health of people in BC:

- Tarah Reece, an Indigenous family nurse practitioner
- Katie Hennessy, a clinical nurse specialist in palliative and end-of-life care
- Alyssa De Medeiros, a recent nursing graduate who plans to work in emergency care

Read our Tale of Three Nursing Careers: https://www.uvic.ca/health/stories/health/a-tale-of-three-nursing-careers-during-national-nursing-week.php

UVic - School of Nursing

05/11/2026

It's time to celebrate nurses, the backbone of our healthcare system. We'll be sharing more stories about nurses over National Nursing Week, but for now, thank you, nurses, for all you do!

This National Nursing Week, we proudly recognize the dedication, compassion, and leadership of nurses in our communities and beyond.

To our students, faculty, alumni, and nursing professionals — thank you for the care you provide and the impact you make every day. Your commitment continues to inspire the future of healthcare. 💙

05/07/2026

Warmest congratulations to Nursing's Leanne Kelly and Health Information Science's Erdem Yazganoglu who were honoured last week at UVic's REACH awards.

Kelly was the recipient of the Nəc̓əmaat kʷəns čeʔi ʔay̓ šqʷeləqʷən | ĆȺNEUEL OL ÍY, ŚḰÁLEȻEN | Work together with a good heart and mind Award for Decolonization and Indigenous Anti-Racism.

A Metis/Cree nurse, originally from the Qu’appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, she has dedicated her career to First Nations health. At UVic, she developed NURS 484: Understanding Indigenous Health and Wellbeing, now a core course, which follows the TRC calls to Action.

Yazganoglu was the recipient of the Gilian Sherwin Alumni Award—Excellence in Teaching.

He creates culturally and psychologically safe classrooms, adapting to student feedback and flipped classroom learning to deepen critical thinking. Guided by curiosity, he incorporates GenAI in ways that push students beyond surface-level answers into higher-order analysis.

🔗Read more about them at https://www.uvic.ca/faculty-staff/academics-research/awards-honours/reach-awards/current/index.php

University of Victoria - School of Nursing School of Health Information Science, UVic

05/06/2026

We are so proud of the work chemistry student K'sana Wood Lynes-Ford has done with supervisors Laura Arbour and Leigh Anne Swayne, from the School of Medical Sciences, to study the impacts of genetic variants on the health of the Gitxsan People.

Read the full story about K'sana's work which led to her being named one of the 2025 UVic Co-op Students of the Year.

Chemistry student K'sana Wood Lynes-Ford (she/her) is passionate about engaging in work that advances medicine and research for Indigenous communities.

As a member of the Kwakwakaʼwakw (‘Namgis), Gitxsan (Gitanyow), and Tsimshian (Gitxaala) First Nations, she found co-op experiences that aligned with this goal, completing three work terms with the Swayne Lab and Community Genetics Research Program (CGRP) at the University of Victoria, leading to her being named one of the 2025 UVic Co-op Students of the Year.

K’sana worked with supervisors Dr. Laura Arbour and Dr. Leigh Anne Swayne to study the impacts of genetic variants on the health of the Gitxsan People.

Some genetic variants found in the Gitxsan First Nation have been associated with health conditions such as heart arrythmias, fainting, seizures, and brain aneurysms. This research is an example of community-based participatory research, where the research is driven by the community interests and needs.

“This project’s subject matter has personally affected me and my loved ones and because of this research I can personally aid in the effort to understand health issues affecting my community,” says K’sana.

“Throughout my time with the CGRP and Swayne Lab, I have visited the Gitxsan First Nation on two separate occasions to share my research contributions to my community.”

These WIL experiences have contributed to K’sana’s increased confidence in the lab and as a scientist – even leading to two publications.

K’sana is named after the Skeena River, known as the ’Ksan River, which runs through the heart of Gitxsan traditional territory. Her name loosely translates to “Woman of the River”.

Outside of co-op, K’sana is an active member of the UVic Indigenous student community. She currently serves on the Native Students Union Council as Firekeeper and has previously worked in the First People’s House as a campus cousin.

K’sana plans to become a medical doctor and continue to support Indigenous communities through ethical medical practice and research.

Read more about K'sana's experiences: https://ow.ly/w7Va50YGGY2

UVic Faculty of Health
UVic Faculty of Science

04/28/2026

Congratulations to University of Victoria - School of Nursing's Nancy Clark, who is taking part in Science Meets Parliament (SMP), an initiative of the Canadian Science Policy Centre that brings researchers and politicians together at the British Columbia Legislature for two days.

Clark studies the health and well-being of immigrants and refugees when they arrive in Canada, and the social, economic and structural factors that shape their health over time.

To understand how healthcare systems and services respond to the needs of immigrant and refugee populations, she’s currently developing a model of refugee mental health systems to understand what approaches work, for whom and why.

Read more: https://news.uvic.ca/2026/uvic-scientists-head-to-the-bc-legislature/

04/27/2026

Are psychedelics an effective treatment for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)? 🍄 🧠

In a first-of-its-kind study, University of Victoria clinical psychology researchers found evidence of TBI survivors experimenting, and finding relief, with psychedelics to manage mood, cognitive and somatic symptoms.

When asked to rate how effective their psychedelic use was on their TBI-related symptoms, 90% of the sample self-reported some level of symptom improvement.

It’s early, self-reported data, but it hints at an area that’s largely unexplored.

💬 “Although research into using psychedelics to manage TBI symptoms remains quite limited, the field is gaining momentum as awareness grows around how widespread brain injury is globally and its impact on the quality of life of those who experience a TBI,” says study co-author and UVic clinical psychology professor Mauricio Garcia-Barrera.

🔗 Learn more: https://ow.ly/C5vu50YPwsS