Associate professor
Max Rady College of Medicine
Community Health Sciences
Room 221 Human Ecology Bldg.
Fort Garry Campus
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3E 0W3
Andrew Hatala, PhD
Research summary
Dr. Andrew Hatala's research interests include arts-based methodologies, community psychology, community-based participatory research, critical social science, ethnography, Indigenous methodologies, medical and psychological anthropology, and qualitative health research. Dr. Hatala's research focuses on youth wellness, health, and resilience within urban Canadian contexts, as well as exploring diverse healing practices for mental illness and chronic conditions in both Canadian and Belizean Indigenous communities. He examines the social and cultural determinants of health as root causes of health inequities and supports cultural strengths, local Indigenous knowledge, and positive aspects of a community that are needed to promote resilience, health equity, and constructive social transformation. Dr. Hatala is accepting graduate students in both master's and PhD programs.
Keywords
- Arts-based methodologies
- Community psychology
- Community-based participatory research
- Critical social science
- Ethnography
- Indigenous methodologies
- Medical and psychological anthropology
- Qualitative health research
- Youth wellness
- Health equity
- Indigenous knowledge
- Social determinants of health
- Resilience
- Holistic healing
- Transcultural psychiatry
Research affiliations
- Research Scientist at Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)
- Research Affiliate at Ongomiizwin Indigenous Health Research Institute
- Member of the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) College of Reviewers
- Editorial Board Member of BMC Public Health
Biography
Dr. Andrew Hatala is an associate professor in community health sciences at the University of Manitoba. He is also a cultural psychologist, qualitative community-health researcher, and medical anthropologist with community-based research experience in urban Canadian contexts and rural communities in Belize.
Dr. Hatala became assistant professor in community health sciences after completing a CIHR post-doctorate fellowship in community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan investigating strategies of resilience and mental health among First Nations and Métis youth.
Dr. Hatala completed his PhD in the culture, health, and human development program in the department of psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. His dissertation involved a comparative analysis of the relationships between Q’eqchi’ Maya traditional healer conceptions of mental illness and Western conceptions outlined in the DSM-5, including how this relationship or lack thereof impacts health policy and practice in Belize.
His published works focus on qualitative methodologies, culture and spirituality, mental health, Indigenous healing and epistemology, Indigenous nosology of mental illness and disorder, and resilience and wellness among Indigenous youth populations.
Dr. Hatala was born in central Canada with Polish, English, and Finish ancestry. After growing up primarily in Treaty 7 area on Blackfoot lands (outside Calgary Alberta), he is now settled on Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg), the lands where First Nation Peoples have been living since time immemorial, and where the Métis have established their Homeland.
As part of his work at the University of Manitoba, he endeavours to be a good visitor on these lands by doing his part in decolonizing his worldviews and dismantling systemic white-supremacy, while building good and respectful relations with Indigenous Peoples. He is forever grateful for the land, the water, and the skies that have taught him so much and shown him the beauty of this place and its people.
Education
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Post-Doctorate Fellowship in Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, (2016)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in psychology, culture, health and human development program, University of Saskatchewan, (2014)
Bachelor of Arts (BA) with high honours in psychology, University of Saskatchewan, (2008)
Awards
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award (2017-2021)
Contact us
Community Health Sciences
Max Rady College of Medicine
Room S113 - 750 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3 Canada
204-789-3655