Mary Smith’s bio
Dr. Mary Smith holds a PhD in nursing from the University of Victoria and is a primary healthcare nurse practitioner in Ontario. She is also an Assistant Professor at Queens University in the school of nursing and is keenly interested in providing indigenous renal health through community driven and culturally safe research approaches. Her interests emerge from her own experiences as a living kidney donor and as a member of a First Nation community in Ontario. Mary has a volunteered with the Kidney Foundation of Canada and has provided presentations throughout Canada the United States and Australia on her experiences with kidney organ donation. Through the Kidney Foundation of Canada’s allied health grant Dr. Smith and her research team are currently engaged towards finding strength-based approaches indigenous solutions towards kidney health. In addition, she is also a volunteer member of the indigenous Peoples” Engagement and Research Council through the CAN-Solve CKD network. Furthermore, Mary has worked for over a decade in the provision of mental health care and is actively involved in mental health education.