Addictions

Prior to her appointment as the Centennial Enhancement Chair in One Health and Wellness, Dr. Dell held the provincial Research Chair in Substance Abuse at the University of Saskatchewan. Funded by the Government of Saskatchewan from 2007-2016, her work concentrated on research, community outreach and training. During this appointment, Dr. Dell secured nearly 4 million in external funding for her community engaged research program as a Principal Investigator and more than double that amount in her roles as a co-applicant and collaborator. In this work she addressed innovative areas in problematic substance use, ranging from horse assisted therapy for youth in addictions treatment to knowledge translation efforts addressing the role of identity and stigma in the healing journeys of Indigenous women from problematic substance use. Her work was successfully translated into over two dozen accessible artistic forms, including music videos, paintings and fact sheets. In this position, she also published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, with lead authorship on over half, and over a dozen book chapters. She co-edited a Special Edition of the Substance Use & Misuse journal, which included 20 articles representing 12 countries. She also published over 25 technical reports over her 9 year tenure as the chair.  A promotional video and product catalogue of this work is available. Dr. Dell continues to contribute to and lead studies in the addictions field, including as a co-Principal Investigator of the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM), Prairie Node. She explains CRISM in a brief video here.