Melody Morton Ninomiya

I am a Japanese and Swiss-German Mennonite (heritage and upbringing) researcher, educator, and mediator with experience in Indigenous health and wellness, critical public health, mental health and addictions, community-based and decolonizing research methods and methodologies, and knowledge mobilization. I currently hold a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Community-Driven Knowledge Mobilization and Pathways to Wellness.

Prior to starting at Laurier, I held a CIHR postdoctoral fellowship at Well Living House, St. Michael’s Hospital, and postdoctoral position at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Since 2018, I was a project scientist at CAMH on projects with First Nation communities in Ontario and Labrador. I received a PhD in Medicine (Community Health and Humanities) from Memorial University, MEd (Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning) from Memorial University, BEd from Queen’s University, and BA from Wilfrid Laurier University.

My research projects and interests lie in the areas of Indigenous health and wellness, community and culturally-defined indicators of wellness, knowledge mobilization principles and practices in community-based research, mental health and addiction, critical public health, and decolonizing research methodologies.

Ongoing projects involve working directly with First Nation communities in the area of health and wellness; conducting systematic and literature reviews on knowledge mobilization in Indigenous health research and Indigenous community wellness strategies; explicating how ethical guidelines and principles for Indigenous wellness research are put into practice; and defining and implementing FASD prevention in local community contexts.

I have limited research assistantships for students interested in my areas of research. If you are an Indigenous student interested Indigenous health research, please contact me for more information.

• Kennedy, M., Morton Ninomiya, M.E., Morton Ninomiya, M.*, Brascoupé, S., Smylie, J., Calma, T., Mohamed, J., Stewart, P., Maddox, R. (2024). Knowledge translation in Indigenous health research: Voices from the field. Medical Journal of Australia. DOI: 10.5694/mja2.52357 
• Gault, S., McGarrity, M., Star, J., Chaves, D., Macdonald, R., Lee, F., Gilbert, O., Huber, K., Fischer, M., Stefanon, B., & Morton Ninomiya, M.E. (2023). Transitions into Adulthood for People Living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review of Promising Practices. Children & Youth Services Review, 155. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107239
• Morton Ninomiya, M.E., Burns, N., Pollock, N., Linton, J., Brubacher, L.J., Green, N., Keeling, A., Martin, J., Rand, J., & Latta, A. (2023). Indigenous communities and the mental health impacts of land dispossession related to industrial resource development: A systematic review. Lancet Planetary Health, 7(6), e501-517. DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00079-7
• Morton Ninomiya, M.E., Almomani, Y., Dunbar Winsor, K., Burns, N., Harding, K.D., Ropson, M., Chaves, D., & Wolfson, L. (2023). Trauma-informed approaches for pregnant and/or parenting women who use alcohol: A scoping review. Women’s Health, 19, 1-22. DOI: 10.1177/1745505722114830 
• Morton Ninomiya, M.E., Maddox, R., Brascoupé, S., Atkinson, D., Firestone, M., Robinson, N., Ziegler, C. P., & Smylie, J. K.  (2022). Knowledge translation practices in Indigenous health research: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 301, 114898. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114898
• Jull, J., King, A., Mashford-Pringle, A., Manitowabi, D., Walker, J., Brant, L., King, M., Morton Ninomiya, M.E., Gordon, M., & Ferrazzi, P. (March 15, 2021). Indigenous community research partnership can help address health inequities. The Conversation.
• Morton Ninomiya, M.E., George, J., Linklater, R., Bernards, S., Graham, K., Peach, L., Bull, J. George, N., Plain, S., Stergiopoulos, V., Kurdyak, P., McKinley, G., Donnelly, P., & Wells, S. (2020). A Community-Driven and Evidence-Based Approach to Developing Mental Wellness Strategies in First Nations: A Program Protocol. BMC Research Involvement and Engagement, 6(1), 1-12.
• Katz, A., Hardy, B., Firestone, M., Lofters, A., & Morton Ninomiya, M.E. (2019). Vagueness, power and public health: use of 'vulnerable ' in public health literature. Critical Public Health.

To view more of publications, visit Google Scholar profile.