Kurbanova PHOTO: Vivian Kereki
By Vivian Kereki
A day in the life of Dinara Kurbanova, research assistant with UVic’s Centre for Aboriginal Health Research (CAHR) and communications coordinator for Network Environment Aboriginal Research BC (NEARBC), involves preparing newsletters, maintaining the centre’s website, posting events, providing administrative support and answering general inquiries from the organizations’ 500+ members.
She has long been interested in working in the health field. “It’s about yourself, your body, how it works and how to keep it working well, or how to fix it,” she says. “I feel it is a privilege to have that knowledge, and in the future I hope everybody will have access to that knowledge.”
Kurbanova has been working at CAHR since July 2007. Originally from Almaty, Kazakhstan, she moved to Canada with her Canadian husband, Mark, in 2003, a year after her graduation from Kazakh State Medical University. She had planned to practise medicine in Canada, but quickly discovered the difficulties that internationally trained doctors have finding residency placements. In 2003, British Columbia had only six spots available for international doctors, and while that number has since risen to 16, the competition remains high.
Kurbanova enjoys applying her medical knowledge at her job at CAHR while assisting with the production of projects, scientific papers and grant applications. And she feels a connection with Canada’s Aboriginal people. “It’s familiar to me because the same type of thing is happening in Kazakhstan with minority groups,” she says. Her mother is Tatar and her father is Uyghur. “My grandparents were prohibited from speaking their own language. My parents were not able to learn their language and history. Similar things happened in Canada with the Aboriginal people.”
When she is not at work promoting the health and well-being of Aboriginal people, Kurbanova, mother of two boys, is busy advocating for her five-year-old son, Timur, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Since then, Kurbanova has used her research skills to do all she can for Timur. Fortunately, she came across the Autism Research Institute based in San Diego, created by medical doctors, most of whom have children with autism. The institute approaches autism not only as a developmental disorder but also as a treatable biomedical condition. Kurbanova and her husband put Timur on the institute’s recommended diet and a range of supplements, and after 24 hours began to see improvements. In August the developmental pediatrician who diagnosed Timur two years ago discharged him from his care because of his significant progress. “So we have a lot of hope,” says Kurbanova.
Kurbanova is clearly committed to the people around her, but she also manages to find some time for herself. She is a serious yogi and an avid dancer who is experienced with many different dance styles, including traditional Russian folk dance, salsa and modern.
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