Miawpukek First Nation Partnership
Miawpukek is a First Nation Reserve located at the mouth of Conne River on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland. In March 2022, Miawpukek First Nation (MFN) issued a Band Council Resolution to create opportunities for collaboration and integration of projects related to healthcare access, research and development, education, and health industry collaborations. Indigenous communities lack access to health research that could directly benefit them and future generations. In the case of genomics research, this has resulted in the lack of reference variants, which are necessary for early and accurate diagnosis and prognosis of both rare and common medical conditions.
MFN will work closely with EXCITE on many of its future projects, to address service gaps. Goals of the partnership include supporting the recruitment and retention of Indigenous health professionals and connecting the next generation of Indigenous health researchers to new regional and national opportunities.
EXCITE cannot become a true national rural health innovation hub without including Miawpukek First Nation as an essential partner. EXCITE is committed to using the First Nations Principles of OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access & Protection) in launching this new research partnership with Miawpukek First Nation.