SPECTRUM: A Partnership Approach to Producing Impactful Research

About the event:
SPECTRUM (Social Policy Evaluation Collaborative Team Research at Universities in Manitoba) is a partnership between community, academia and government aimed at solving complex social policy challenges through research and evaluation using linked administrative data from multiple sectors. This session provides an overview of SPECTRUM's partner organizations and their role in the research, highlighting how working together effectively improves prospects for inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. The presenters provide examples of research studies that demonstrate what kind of work is possible with the partnership approach.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Marni Brownell uses comprehensive administrative health and social services databases to study child health and well-being, focusing on social and structural influences on health. She is the director of SPECTRUM, funded by a SSHRC Partnership Grant. SPECTRUM brings together academics, government staff and representatives of community organizations to co-create impactful social policy research.
Dr. Anita Durksen is a postdoctoral researcher at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) primarily working with SPECTRUM. Anita obtained her PhD from the University of Manitoba in 2024, and her MSc (2003) and BSc (2000) from McGill University. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked as a research assistant, study coordinator and data manager and analyst in the Biology of Breathing group and later the DREAM (Diabetes Research Envisioned and Accomplished in Manitoba) team of the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM).
Scott Sinclair is the Deputy Minister of Health for the province of Manitoba. Prior to assuming this role, Scott was Deputy Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services, Deputy Minister of Labour, Deputy Minister of Crown Services and Deputy Minister of Infrastructure. Scott has held other senior roles as the Associate Deputy Minister of Finance, Central Services and Assistant Deputy Minister, Advanced Learning Division in the Department of Education and Advanced Learning.
Stephanie Sinclair is an Anishinaabe woman from Sandy Bay First Nation. She is a mother of two children and the daughter of a residential school survivor. Stephanie works at the First Nation Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba as the lead for Data Sovereignty. Stephanie is also completing her PhD in Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. Stephanie has worked in various positions over the last 20 years with the goal of improving health and mental wellness services for First Nations people.
About the Series
The Big IDEAs About Health Data Speaker Series features a variety of experts discussing how data can be used to advance health equity. It aspires to create a space for conversation about whether and how data can be used to advance equity in Canada; specific uses of and guidelines for the use disaggregated data (sex and gender, race and ethnicity, disability, income, housing, language etc.); and advancements in data research practices and methods that embed inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in algorithms, distributed analytics, community involvement and equity assessment tools.
Land Acknowledgement
We respectfully acknowledge that HDRN Canada is located on the traditional and unceded territories of the ʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, whom we acknowledge as the traditional owners and caretakers of those lands.