Needs of prairie Francophone families post-pandemic

Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 12:00 pm - 12:50 pm via Zoom

with Dr. Sedami Gnidehou, PhD

The French-speaking population is a minority on the Canadian Prairies (AB, SK, MB). Access to health services offered in French is infrequent. We hypothesized that this aspect was certainly exacerbated during the SARS Cov2 pandemic. Very few studies have examined the impact of the pandemic on these populations. This presentation will focus on the impact of the pandemic on French-speaking families with children in the Canadian prairies, and on the factors influencing the post-pandemic needs of this neglected population.

Dr. Sedami Gnidehou, PhD is currently appointed as Associate Professor at Campus Saint-Jean and the Francophone lead of the ELITE (Experiential Learning in Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship) program for Black Youth. She is also appointed as Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and in the School of Public Health. Dr. Gnidehou's research mostly focuses on the characterization of novel Plasmodium (P.) falciparum antigens and establishes how these proteins are involved in placental sequestration pathways during malaria in pregnancy. Originally from the Republic of Benin, West Africa, Dr. Gnidehou obtained a doctorate degree in Molecular Biology from the Université Paris XI, France where she completed her degree in record time - - 3 years.

Along with her research team, she patented a vaccine candidate for pregnancy-associated malaria in 2011. That same year, the University of Alberta offered her an appointment as a research associate in its School of Public Health. Her research led to receiving the 'Canadian Rising Stars' award and a research grant in Global health as part of the Grand Challenges Canada program.