On July 6, 2023, at a conference held in Kahnawake, Alex McComber was presented with the Caroline Daigneault Diabetes Shkaabe Award by the National Indigenous Diabetes Association (NIDA) for his achievements in the field of diabetes prevention.
McComber, a member of the Kanien鈥檏eh谩:ka community of Kahnawake and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Family Medicine, has been involved with the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Program (KSDPP) since its early beginnings where he was a Diabetes Prevention Intervention Facilitator, Training Coordinator and Executive Director.
Plucked from his post as principal of Kahnawake Survival School, McComber was one of two people first tasked with carrying out KSDPP鈥檚 vision of addressing elevated rates of Type 2 diabetes in Kahnawake鈥檚 children. He has also been helping Diabetes Action Canada develop research programs that had Indigenous Patient Partners at the forefront, and which supported his message of personal empowerment for healthy lifestyles as a key to healing multigenerational trauma.
Dr. Treena Wasonti:io Delormier, an Associate Professor in the School of Human Nutrition at 捆绑SM社区, recalls attending events in health promotion and diabetes prevention circles and being asked about McComber, a sign of the impact he has had even outside Kahnawake. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very much focused on community, valuing our cultural teachings as a way of promoting wellbeing, and wellbeing as a way of promoting our values as Indigenous people,鈥� said Dr. Delormier. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very, very deserving.鈥�
Today McComber is involved with Indigenous-focused curriculum development for medical residents to develop and nurture cultural safety when working with Indigenous patients and community and is a coordinator in the development of a partnership between Family Medicine, 捆绑SM社区 and the Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtiake.
Watch a recording of the award ceremony:
Congratulations Professor McComber!
