Malcolm Disbrowe

I’m an undergraduate in the Psychology honours program at the University of Manitoba. I’m in my final year of the program, and Dr. Jessica Cameron, Director of Social and Interpersonal Dynamics, is my supervisor. I also completed a BA (general) in psychology in 2023.

Regarding my research interests, I want to explore 1) Indigenous Peoples’ health in isolated/northern communities, 2) substance use disorders, and 3) Indigenous research methodologies. The research I aim to do seeks to solve social issues like substance use-related mortality, where many parties need to work together to understand and deal with these complex, intersectional issues.

I first applied as a SPECTRUM student fellow to learn more about doing good research with different communities that SPECTRUM assists, such as Indigenous communities. It’s the ideal place to apply my skills to give back and assist in changing social policy. SPECTRUM, a partnership between communities, academic institutions, and government bodies, also holds a wealth of experience. My experience dealing with social policy is research-related, and my training has given me experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods. I, alongside my colleagues and mentors, have applied psychological, sociological, and anthropological theory and practice to understand social issues within Winnipeg and Canada broadly. One specific project that outlines this is the Indigenous Older Adults in Winnipeg Project. I assisted the research committee through data collection, interpretation, and dissemination to understand how housing (and barriers to good housing) impacts Indigenous older adults’ mental and physical health in Winnipeg.