To acknowledge that June is Pride Month and that June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day, this #TalkClinicalTrials blog is a ‘conversation’ with Dr. Jaris Swidrovich, Assistant Professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.
You can read more about Dr. Swidrovich and his research interests here.
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Jaris, which rhymes with Paris and has a hard J as in January. My last name is Swidrovich, which is from my father’s Ukrainian family line. On my mother’s side, I am Saulteaux (Anishinaabe) and a member of Yellow Quill First Nation, which is on Treaty 4 territory in Saskatchewan. I identify as Two Spirit (he/they) and queer and live with a permanent non-visible disability. My mother was a 60s Scoop survivor, and her mother and grandmother both survived Gordon Indian Residential School, which was the last residential school to close in 1996. I have spent most of my life in Treaty 6 territory and the Métis homelands (Saskatoon, SK) and, more recently, have relocated to Treaty 13 (Toronto, ON). I am a pharmacist and Assistant Professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.
Can you share a general overview of your research program and your research interests?
As an Indigenous academic, I primarily use Indigenous methodologies in my research and focus on Indigenous Peoples’ health, with special attention to HIV, chronic pain, and the health and wellness of Two Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQI+ people, inclusive of Two Spirit drag artistry and its role in health, wellness, education, and knowledge translation/mobilization.
You identify as a queer, Two Spirit, Saulteaux and Ukrainian pharmacist from Yellow Quill First Nation. Can you share how your lived experiences and identity have shaped your research interests, approaches, and outcomes?
My own lived experiences play a strong role in my research interests, approaches, and outcomes. In fact, my own experience as an Indigenous person in pharmacy prompted me to pursue a PhD in education, where I studied Indigenous Peoples’ experiences with pharmacy education in Canada. Indigenous representation in pharmacy education, practice, and research is remarkably low, and I feel a strong sense of responsibility to change that.
You have creative approaches to education, knowledge translation/mobilization – can you tell us about some of these approaches, and some of the outcomes?
I find such joy in the ways I approach education and knowledge translation/mobilization, especially through my drag persona. As a person whose original university and career plan was to become a high school drama teacher, I am overjoyed to be able to bring various aspects of performance art into my work as a pharmacist, professor, and researcher through the art of drag [learn more about Jaris’ drag work here]. In my Indigenous community-based research, I have learned from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members that health care, health information, and health promotion may be more accessible, less ‘scary,’ and even fun if/when delivered by a licensed pharmacist who shares one or more parts of their own identity, whether it be Indigeneity, gender diversity, or artistry. I know these approaches will not work or be considered acceptable to everyone; however, I am not doing this for ‘everyone,’ I am doing it for the people and communities who have told me this is what they would like to see and that they will trust what a Two Spirit Indigenous pharmacist drag queen professor has to say!
Is there something you might like to communicate about the importance of or building safe, inclusive spaces in research generally?
Without safe(r) and inclusive spaces in research, I would argue we would leave out many people, identities, and communities who have already been marginalized and experience dramatic gaps in health outcomes and without their participation, such research may not be applicable or transferable to such people, identities, and communities.
You have advocated, paved the way, and are opening doors as an Indigenous scholar and pharmacist. What might you like to share about your ‘path’ and your ‘passions,’ and what advice do you have for others in terms of how they can help or be an ally in their own organizations?
I admire the framing of me being an advocate, paving the way, and opening doors, but I want to emphasize that none of this started – nor will it end – with me. Many Indigenous Peoples – scholars and otherwise – paved the way for me to ‘pave the way’ in my own spheres of influence. I am sure my interest, desire, and motivation would have always been part of my life, but it was the strength, resilience, and determination of my family, community members, trans and Two Spirit advocates, and so many others who made my work exist within a realm of possibility, rather than only a desire or dream. I encourage others to find and keep people in your life who lift you up, who name you in rooms and at tables when you aren’t there, and who will support you as a complete human and not just one or more aspects of your work or identity. When we can exist fully as ourselves, we can bring our entire selves to all we do, and that is what our community needs of us. Decolonization, Indigenization, and Reconciliation are enormous and difficult paths to take, but through anti-racist / anti-oppressive education and practice and walking alongside people on the same journey as you, we will achieve all the things we must achieve to guarantee health, wellness, and living in a good way for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples alike.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
If or whenever you feel lost or don’t know what to do or where to go next, don’t let it immobilize you. Start/keep moving. If a person is lost in the middle of the forest, standing still is not going to take them anywhere. Start/keep moving. You may learn at some or several points along the way that you’ve gone in the wrong direction, but you can correct your course and continue toward where it is you/we need to go. Staying still – planted in the status quo – is not going to help any of us.