Sandra Juutilainen
Sandra Juutilainen is a member of Oneida Nation of the Thames and also of Finnish-Canadian heritage. She has experience working in the area of Indigenous health at the community, provincial and federal level in Canada and with Sami communities in the Nordic countries. She completed a PhD in Health Sciences at the University of Oulu, Finland in 2017. Upon return to Canada, she received a Health System Impact Fellowship award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Her work was embedded at Public Health Ontario and University of Waterloo. She is currently assistant professor – Indigenous health and nutrition, in the School of Nutrition, Toronto Metropolitan University.
She holds an adjunct assistant professor appointment at the University of Waterloo where she is the principle investigator on a SSHRC funded study "Truth Telling: gardens, farming and food experiences at the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School" (SSHRC-Insight Development Grant No. 430-2018-0341, $68,194 over two years). The study, in collaboration with University of Waterloo, McMaster University, Public Health Ontario and Six Nations of the Grand River, describes experiences and perceptions of gardens, farming and food in relation to Indian Residential Schools; and, the Indigenous community-led programs designed to improve food access and food sovereignty.
Current membership: Truth and Reconciliation Strategic Plan Working Group (Toronto Met); Centre for Studies on Food Security (Toronto Met); Alternate board member for the Center for Mental Health and Addiction Research Ethics Board; Dietitians of Canada; Aboriginal Nutrition Network.