Diane Kunyk

Diane Kunyk is a Registered Nurse with an interest in the theoretical and applied aspects of ethics as it informs health policy. Her particular focus includes the situations of individuals (and their families and work situations) with addictions and/or mental illnesses. Her doctoral research was on the situation of nurses with respect to addiction and her ideas were acknowledged in the feature article of the March 2011 Canadian Nurse. Her other research projects often involve vulnerable populations as well as service delivery in chronic disease prevention and management. Diane received numerous awards during her doctoral program of study including the University of Alberta Presidents Doctoral Award of Distinction, a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, and CIHR Strategic Training in Health Research Fellowship. Diane was particularly touched when she was a recipient of the Sandy McKinnon Memorial Scholarship in Nursing.Diane s experiential background includes program and policy development: research and evaluation; nursing education and clinical practice in the areas of public, population and community health;advocacy; and volunteering. She has been an invited speaker for the Grant MacEwan Nursing Symposium, Northern Alberta Cardiovascular Round Table, University/Mazankowski Hospitals Edufest, Alberta Tobacco Stakeholders Workshop, theContinuing Education Program with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta,and the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Diane recently co-authored a textbook for Canadian healthcare professionals and students on tobacco reduction and cessation.Diane received a Graduate Citizenship Award during her doctoral studies from the Government of Alberta for her extensive volunteer activities that included the formation of HealthCPR, a non-profit society focused on improving access to evidenced-based care for individuals with mental illness and/or addictions.She has also provided service contributions as reviewer for professional journals as well as grants proposals, and was Co-chair of the Scientific Committee for the National Conference on Tobacco or Health.