Dr. Wayne Inuglak Clark, EdD, MBA, MA, is an Inuk scholar and health systems researcher whose work focuses on Indigenous health governance, distinctions-based clinical trials, Inuit health and mental wellness, Indigenous data sovereignty, and health professions education. He completed an MA in Professional Communication at Royal Roads University, a BBA at the University of Winnipeg, an EdD at Athabasca University, and an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Clark’s academic work is grounded in more than a decade of leadership within Indigenous health systems and long-standing relationships with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and organizations. Before joining the University of Toronto, he held academic and leadership appointments at the University of Alberta, where he served as Executive Director in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. He has also held appointments at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Manitoba, Royal Roads University, and the University of Winnipeg. His research advances the proposition that governance itself is a determinant of population health: how decisions are made about health systems, research, data, and clinical care can shape health outcomes as profoundly as individual interventions.
The first major body of Dr. Clark’s research focuses on Indigenous governance of clinical research and the development of distinctions-based approaches to clinical trials. As Principal Investigator within the $38.9 million CIHR-funded Accelerating Clinical Trials Consortium, he has led the development of a distinctions-based clinical trials framework for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities that embeds Indigenous governance, relational accountability, and data sovereignty within clinical research. This work has supported the development of Indigenous-led clinical trial infrastructure and community-governed approaches to research across Canada. One application is a randomized feasibility trial undertaken in Arviat, Nunavut, examining access to country food as an intervention for depression and exploring relationships among mental wellness, cultural identity, social connection, and access to traditional food.
A second body of Dr. Clark’s scholarship focuses on Inuit health systems, mental health, and Indigenous data sovereignty. His work has examined Inuit health-service utilization, mental health service use, medevac systems, population health data, and community responses to COVID-19. Through long-standing partnerships with Inuit organizations, he has contributed to the development of Inuit-specific population health data and stewardship approaches intended to strengthen Inuit authority over how health information is collected, interpreted, and used. Increasingly, this work extends to land-based mental wellness and the application of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) to health systems and research design.
A third body of work focuses on transforming health professions education and institutional relationships with Indigenous communities. Dr. Clark has developed and implemented longitudinal Indigenous health curricula in undergraduate medical education addressing cultural safety, anti-Indigenous racism, Indigenous health systems, traditional healing, northern health, and clinically applied learning.
Dr. Clark’s scholarship and leadership have been recognized nationally and internationally. He is a Fulbright Arctic Initiative Scholar, a Braiding Knowledges Canada Research Scholar, and a POLAR Knowledge Canada Research Affiliate. He received the Jens Peder Hansen Award from the International Union for Circumpolar Health, Athabasca University’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the University of Alberta Faculty Teaching Award, and Royal Roads University’s Outstanding Associate Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Clark has also developed extensive national and circumpolar networks in Indigenous health research, education, and policy. He serves as President of the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health, Vice-Chair of the Academic Advisory Council of the National Circle for Indigenous Medical Education, and Co-Chair of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada Indigenous Committee. Across these roles, his work seeks to strengthen Indigenous authority within health systems and research and to create enduring relationships between Indigenous communities, universities, health systems, and governments.