Colleen Anne Dell is the 2025 recipient of the SK Health Research Foundation 2025 Achievement Award.
Dr. Dell’s latest research has been featured by CNN, People Magazine, Canadian Press, NPR, MedScape, The New York Times and more!
Photo Credit: Distantides Photography
As the co-Founder and co-Director of the PAWSitive Support Canine Assisted Learning Program, along with Dr. Darlene Chalmers, Dr. Dell has the honor of working alongside some super dogs! Members of the 2023 pack with Drumheller Institution program participants are (L to R) Ruby, Reina, Molly,
E-Jay, Reacher.
This course is ideal for professionals in substance use and mental health, social service, and allied professions interested in enhancing their practice with animal aware approaches.
It is also suitable for anyone interested in understanding their own animal relationships, including individuals on their recovery journey.
I work and research with my team in the areas of mental health and addictions. One of my favorite topics is the connecting bonds between humans and canines.
Featured to the left is my early canine inspirations Subie, Anna-Belle and Kisbey.
Today I have the good fortune to work alongside Ruby E-Jay & Molly!
Molly
E-Jay & Molly
Ruby
E-Jay
“One Health is the collaborative effort of multiple health science professions, together with their related disciplines and institutions – working locally, nationally, and globally – to attain optimal health for people, domestic animals, wildlife, plants, and our environment.” One Health Commission. The foundation of Dr. Dell's work is situated within a One Health & Wellness framework.
Key to One Health is zoonosis - the transfer of disease from animals to humans. This zoonosis article addresses how a One Health pan-species approach can help us understand the current COVID-19 pandemic, for example, and ward off the next one. A favorite line of Dr. Dell's in the article is that "No one is safe unless everything is safe". That includes human, animal and planetary health.
Related, Dr. Dell's work increasingly recognizes the anthropocene, which is the current time period in which human-kind has caused lasting impacts on the environment. In response she considers post-humanism in her work, which attempts to de-centre human experiences.
Dr. Dell’s Chair builds on another component of One Health and that is zooeyia. Zooeyia is defined as “the positive benefits to human health from interacting with animals, focusing on the companion animal” (Hodgeson & Darling, 2021).
To learn more about zooeyia and a One Health approach from Dr. Dell, you can listen here and to her TedX Talk here, or read here.
Click here to learn how Dr. Dell considers animals a part of her team and how she is guided by positive animal welfare.
What if we included domesticated animals, and in particular dogs, into the recovery plans of people struggling with addictions? Working alongside community and academic partners, hear about Dr. Dell's animal assisted intervention research and practice focusing on healing from addictions and mental health.
Dr. Dell & Dr. Peter Butt's published a novel commentary (2023) in the Canadian Journal of Addiction, titled 'Recognizing the role of companion animals in addiction recovery'.
