‘Always working for my people’: DrPH Student Cheyenne Joseph wins Indigenous healthcare grant – UToronto
December 1, 2025
DLSPH student Cheyenne Joseph has held many titles. Nurse. Instructor. Piluwitahasuwin. Director of Health for the Assembly of First Nations. But no matter the role, First Nation community is at the heart of Joseph’s work.
“Being in community is when you build relationships. That’s really where that frontline prevention happens. That work is what keeps people out of the hospital,” says Joseph, whose home community is L’sitkuk First Nation in Mi’kma’ki (in the area also known as Nova Scotia).
Joseph’s deep commitment to improving First Nation health and wellness, specifically in Atlantic regions, was recently recognized with a 2025/26 Kausattumi Grant from the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network. The $15,000 scholarship is awarded to First Nations, Métis or Inuit doctoral students conducting “community-informed and supported health research that serves to benefit Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada.”
