Miriam Stewart

After finishing a Bachelor of Nursing Degree at McMaster in 1967, Dr. Miriam Stewart continued her education at Dalhousie University with a Masters degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1988. She has held numerous awards and national positions, including a prestigious Medical Research Council of Canada National Health Research Development Program Scholar Award to investigate social support over the life span. Miriam was commissioned by Health Canada and by the National Forum on Health to write synthesis papers regarding the population health determinants. She was also the invited keynote speaker to the 1994 World Health Organization's International Conference "Fostering Children's Resilience."

Stewart's research is in population health and the social determinants of health. This includes the links between factors such as socioeconomic status, culture, gender, and social support that affect one's health. She demonstrates an ability to coordinate and envision the overall research goals given that her research has involved multidisciplinary teams, multi-site research teams, building research capacity, creating research infrastructures, and establishing partnerships with public, practice and policy domains. The projects have ranged in scope from focusing on populations living in disadvantaged circumstances and testing interventions to improve health determinants, to identifying the implications of programs and services and disseminating the information. Her work in resilience has looked at the ability of children, families and communities to overcome challenges.

After serving as Principal Investigator and Director of the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre, she became the Director of the Centre for Health Promotion Studies at the University of Alberta. In 2000, Miriam was named as one of the 13 Scientific Directors for the Canadian Institute for Health Research. As the Scientific Director for the Institute of Gender and Health, her goal is to develop a research strategy in this area of health. She is also currently the Director and Chair of the Centre for Health Promotion Studies and the University of Alberta. Miriam has published five books, 23 chapters and over 60 articles. (From McMaster University Alumni Association)