BRENDA HEMMELGARN
College Dean & Vice Provost, Health Sciences
Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn is the college dean and vice provost of the University of Alberta’s College of Health Sciences, which brings together the combined strength of the faculties of kinesiology, sport, and recreation, medicine and dentistry, nursing, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, public health, and rehabilitation medicine. It represents more than 770 faculty members and more than 7,200 undergraduate and graduate students.
Dr. Hemmelgarn will also retain her role as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn has led the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) since January 2020, helping it to navigate both restructuring and the global pandemic. Under her leadership, the faculty completed and has begun implementing its strategic plan, Vision 2025: a five-year roadmap for the future. Highlights of Vision 2025 to date include implementing the wâpanachakos: Indigenous Health Program, expanding the Office of Rural & Regional Health, and recruiting both a chief wellness officer to create a culture of health and well-being in FoMD as well as a social accountability lead.
Dr. Hemmelgarn has served for more than 35 years in various roles across health care, academia and administration. She earned her bachelor and master of nursing degrees from the University of Saskatchewan before going on to complete a PhD in epidemiology and biostatistics from McGill University, followed by an MD from McMaster University. Dr. Hemmelgarn additionally completed subspecialty training in nephrology at the University of Calgary, and continues to practice clinically to maintain front-line experience in health care and an in-depth perspective on health-care issues. She is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
Dr. Hemmelgarn’s research expertise focuses on using administrative and other secondary data sources to improve patient-oriented research, patient engagement, and integrated knowledge translation, and to move forward positive change in health policy and practice. She has received more than $20 million in funding as a principal investigator and has more than 500 peer-reviewed publications as an author or co-author. Dr. Hemmelgarn established the world-renowned Alberta Kidney Disease Network and is a founding member and co-team lead of the Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration.