Join us in the Dunker Family Lounge (REN 1303) to hear Dr. Melody Ninomiya speak on FASD prevention. Refreshments will be provided and there will be a chance to meet her following the presentation.
Presentation Topic:
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is frequently cited as the “leading preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disability.” In the context of public health, interest in FASD is often focused on girls and women who consume alcohol in their reproductive years. Melody is co-leading the development of the first community-wide FASD prevention strategy in two Indigenous communities in Canada. Work in the area of FASD is complex and involves overlapping fields of study, rights and ethics frameworks, and knowledge systems. FASD prevention also crosses multiple jurisdictions such as health, justice, education, child welfare, and social services and is deeply implicated in colonialism as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Melody will begin to unpack the ethics, meaning, and implications of FASD diagnoses and prevention efforts.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Melody Morton-Ninomiya is an educator and community-based researcher with a background in Indigenous health and well-being, knowledge translation in research, curriculum development and teaching, and complex issues related to determinants of health. Her experiences of growing up in Japan and Canada, teaching high school, working in the field of restorative justice, and conducting community-engaged research inform much of her research and teaching interests. Melody is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health and a research associate at Well Living House, an action research centre focused on Indigenous health and well-being at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.