While still early in her career, Taylor Morriseau is no stranger to the spotlight. She has been recognized by many of North America’s leading professional, media and academic organizations for her work investigating the relationship between genetics, diet and type 2 diabetes in Indigenous communities. A Cree woman of the Peguis First Nation, Morriseau is a rising Indigenous researcher who seeks to advocate for Indigenous peoples on a local and national level.
Growing up, Morriseau never envisioned herself researching diabetes; instead, she wanted to become a marine biologist. This changed after a co-op placement in pharmacology during her undergraduate studies at the University of Manitoba. Along with her experiences as a member of the Peguis First Nation, Morriseau realized the incredible value of research in empowering Indigenous youth and helping many others around the world. This passion and sense of responsibility led her to pursue her PhD at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba to study the molecular mechanisms behind type 2 diabetes. Her research explores how a particular gene variant HNF-1aG319S, commonly found among the Oji-Cree people, interacts with diet to cause type 2 diabetes. It was only within the last few decades that type 2 diabetes has been seen among Indigenous peoples, but the condition is quickly becoming prevalent within children of these communities. Currently, the rate of type 2 diabetes among Indigenous children in Manitoba is 20 times higher than the national average.
Typically, people imagine genes like a switch that is always either turned “on” or “off”. The reality, however, is much more complicated. Having a genetic risk to a certain health condition, such as type 2 diabetes, doesn’t necessarily mean a person will develop diabetes in their lifetime. While lifestyle and genetic risk contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, it is undeniable that the historical, economic, and political policies stemming from colonialism play a large role in explaining the high rates of type 2 diabetes in the Indigenous community. Due to colonialism, the Oji-Cree people’s diet shifted from a high protein and fat, low carbohydrate diet to a high-carbohydrate Western diet. Researchers like Morriseau believe that this shift may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes among Oji-Cree youth.
Outside of the lab, Morriseau has been an active voice in empowering Indigenous communities. She was previously a delegate of the Daughters of the Vote National Leadership Forum advocating for investments in Indigenous Health. In 2019, she was a keynote speaker at the 2019 Parliamentary Health Research Caucus and has testified to the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, advocating for better access to safe drinking water and equal rights for Indigenous communities. Currently, she volunteers as an Indigenous youth mentor for various organizations and is a member of the Canadian Chief Science Advisor’s Youth Council.
Combining her passion for research with social advocacy, Taylor Morriseau continues to strive for a brighter future where First Nation youths don’t experience diabetes, have access to safe drinking water and live long, healthy lives. For her research and work in this field, she was awarded the prestigious Vanier Scholarship in 2018, Canada’s equivalent of the United Kingdom’s Rhodes Scholarship. Moreover, she was recognized by the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and was included in Knights Corporation’s Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability in 2019 for both her research and social advocacy.
You can hear more from Morriseau in Beyond Insulin: Diabetes Research Across Canada.
— Written by Michael Limmena