Strengthening Trust through Equitable Methods (STEM Project): Reciprocal and respectful foundations for genetics-informed mental health treatment decisions for Indigenous Peoples in BC

The Strengthening Trust through Equitable Methods (STEM) Project is a Two-Eyed Seeing engagement project focused on planting seeds and creating nutrient-rich soil for thoughtful, respectful conversations about genetics-informed mental health care with Indigenous Peoples in British Columbia under the collective leadership of Drs. Brittany Bingham, J9 Austin, and Stirling Bryan.

This project is not about rolling out pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing for depression. Instead, STEM creates space for Indigenous communities, health leaders, and researchers to come together and ask foundational questions about cultural safety, data sovereignty, and if this is something Indigenous communities are interested in. By centring data sovereignty, cultural safety, and Indigenous leadership, the project addresses the legacy of harm and mistrust created by past genetic research. Through interviews and a gathering, we aim to uplift Indigenous perspectives on mental health, medication decision-making, and genomics, guided by Indigenous community priorities and protocols.

These conversations are understood as seed-planting. Some ideas may grow, others may not, but our responsibility is to prepare the ground with care, respect, and accountability. The STEM Project lays the groundwork and leans into the complexity of these discussions for a future Indigenous-led approach to PGx testing, only if and when Indigenous Peoples decide this is something they want. Through this work, STEM will generate community-validated calls to action and recommendations that support more ethical, culturally safe, and rights-based approaches to mental health and genomics for Indigenous Peoples in BC.

STEM is funded by Genome BC.