Valerie Gideon

Dr. Valerie Gideon is a member of the Mik’maq Nation of Gesgapegiag, Quebec, Canada.  She currently holds the position of Regional Director for First Nations and Inuit Health, Ontario Region, Health Canada.  From 2004-2007, she occupied the position of Senior Director of Health and Social Development at the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa, Ontario.  Dr. Gideon previously held the position of Director of the First Nations Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization.  She was named Chair of the Aboriginal Peoples’ Health Research Peer Review Committee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2004.  She graduated from McGill University (Montreal) in 2000 with a Ph.D. (Dean’s List) in Communications (dissertation pertaining to telehealth and citizen empowerment).  She previously completed a Masters of Arts in 1996 at McGill.  She is a founding member of the Canadian Society of Telehealth.