Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Angela Mashford-​Pringle PhD, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Research Interests

1. Land and Environment to address Climate Change using Indigenous traditional knowledge including land-based learning
2. Evidencing Inequities in Indigenous Peoples’ Health including criminal justice, child welfare, and food systems
3. From Research to Action: Indigenous Health Policies and Cultural Safety Training
4. Advancing Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Methodologies in Public Health Research
5. Indigenous land-based learning and pedagogies
6. Indigenous Health Policy research

Current Research Projects 2023 – for a fuller list see www.amplabresearch.com :

• Kijibashik: Turn It Around – Stories from Previously Incarcerated Indigenous Moms & Mom-Figures.    The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) found to break the cycle of criminalization and over-incarceration, Indigenous communities must be given the capacity, resources, and support necessary to inform meaningful and sustainable programming that aids women in the transition from prison to society. This project has identified the mental, spiritual, physical, and relational implications of incarceration for Indigenous mothers. In collaboration with Indigenous women, Elders, Healers, several key Indigenous organizations, and researchers, the knowledge generated will inform the development of programs and services that support Indigenous mothers transitioning out of prison from a gender-inclusive and community-led perspective.
• New Respect Online Cultural Safety Training with Profession-Specific Modules: This project has been co-developed with the Indigenous Content Committee comprised of Elders, Senators and Knowledge Keepers. The foundational modules lead to profession-specific modules.
• Akiikaa: Land Based Learning and Health and Well-being. This project provides land-based learning opportunities to learners at different stages of their learning journey to determine the impact that it has on the social, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. We are also interested in examining the attitudes before and after learning with Elders and Knowledge Keepers with Land-As-Teacher.
• KEEP2 – In collaboration with Indigenous organizations who work with previously incarcerated Indigenous peoples, we are co-developing a Guidance Council for Healing, providing care packages to organizations for Indigenous peoples who are released from incarceration, and we are recruiting previously incarcerated Indigenous men and 2 Spirited and LGBTQQIIA+ people to hear their stories about release and reintegration.
• Indigenous Child Welfare: A group of scholars and Indigenous community members heard the stories of Indigenous parents and caregivers who have had contact with child welfare/children’s aid in Ontario.
• Mamwi Gidaanjitoomin: Together We Change It.  The Mamwi Gidaanjitoomin project aims to privilege Indigenous knowledges to address the devastating amount of freezing deaths that occur among people experiencing homelessness in the winter months. This project intends to provide low-barrier shelter f in an urban setting. The project will increase awareness of Indigenous cultures, structures, and ways of living. The main aspects of the project provide unique opportunities for Indigenous peoples, people experiencing homelessness, and the general public.

*Note: Dr. Mashford-Pringle will be on sabbatical from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.

Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle is Algonquin (Timiskaming First Nation/Bear Clan). She is Associate Director at the Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. As the Indigenous Health Lead for DLSPH, she oversees the new Indigenous Post-Doctoral Fellowship program. She worked for over a decade at the federal government in Indigenous initiatives. Angela is the Director of the Master of Public Health – Indigenous Health program (MPH-IH),  and Founding Editor of the Turtle Island Journal on Indigenous Health (TIJIH). She works with Indigenous communities with issues related to Indigenous health including cultural safety, land-based learning, climate action, and policy analysis and development.

For more information on Dr. Mashford-Pringle, please visit the AMP Lab website.  If you are a graduate student or Indigenous community member interested in being a part of the Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health (TIJIH), please take a look at the journal’s website: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/tijih.

Dr. Mashford-Pringle teaches CHL5520 Indigenous Health as an intensive course in May for MPH-IH and SBHS PhD students only, and CHL5523 Indigenous Health and Social Policy in May.