Vera Caine
Growing up in rural Germany, Vera Caine ('98 BScN, '02 MN, '07 PhD) was always looking out for people who she felt were disadvantaged. As a child she would often skip school and spend hours talking with people who were homeless-listening to their stories.
Childhood experiences like these deeply affected Caine and she credits her mother, a kindergarten teacher, and her aunt-who led a boarding school for refugee women-for her curiosity for others and her sense of social justice.
Since moving to Canada in 1991, Caine has kept true to her childhood habits. With an interest in narrative research, cross-disciplinary work and health equity in the areas of indigenous health and HIV infections, Caine still spends hours talking with people who are marginalized, but now she's working to develop a program of research to help.
Caine-whose current research examines the lives of pregnant and early parenting women who either are HIV positive or at risk for HIV, and who live in precarious housing situations-is making valuable contributions to health research for vulnerable populations in Edmonton and abroad.
" Working with the least privileged in our society is an ongoing thread in Dr. Caine's research program. Dr. Caine, however, is not a young scholar who is only attentive to the theoretical and the scholarly. She is also deeply committed to making a difference in practice and in the lives of the individuals who live in social difficulties." - D. Jean Clandinin, professor and director, Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development
On Thursday, September 24, Caine will be honoured for these contributions with an Alumni Horizon Award. The award celebrates the outstanding achievements of University of Alberta alumni early in their careers.
"Vera's work truly represents community-engaged scholarship," said dean Anita Molzahn. "We are delighted that she is being acknowledged through this award."
Caine is proud of the lasting connections she's made with colleagues, students, practitioners, and communities, and how their research is closely linked to practice communities.
How does she see her research and connections impacting the community?
"Impact can be understood in so many ways," said Caine. "The sense that lives and people matter is important to my work as a narrative inquiry researcher and perhaps shows some of the immediate impact our work sometimes has."
"I am reminded of my conversations this summer. One of the research participants I have worked with for a long time had lost a very good friend. In our conversations she mentioned how important it was that someone believed in her despite the challenges she faced and that they saw possibilities in her and for her life."