Professor Colette Cunningham-Myrie is a specialist family medicine practitioner who is also a well-established expert on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean. According to assessors the “practical utility of her research cannot be understated.” Her research on diabetes, physical activity, obesity, and sickle cell disease has practical application to real-world problems in low and middle-income countries. Another assessor finds commendable that several of her works utilise the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey and provide timely analysis of the public health resources. “Her work has contributed to the understanding of chronic disease burden and population responses such as physical activity in Jamaica, neighbourhood determinants and within articles, recommendations for policy are explored. More broadly, her work shares information on the trends in chronic diseases found as an example of population experiences in middle-income and developing countries.”
Professor Cunningham-Myrie has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles in reputable publications such as the British Journal of Haematology, Paediatrics, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, BMC Public Health and Helicobacter. Her record also includes one book chapter, 35 conference papers, 13 technical reports, 7 posters and several special presentations and invited lectures including for the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA). As one of Jamaica’s recipients of the prestigious Humphrey Fellowship under the United States’ Fulbright Program, she was also a Visiting Scholar at Tulane School of Public Health in 2014 and has served as Co-Investigator on several important research projects including the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development; the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey; and a collaborative research project with Yale University, UWI CAIHR and the Mona Campus Department of Community Health & Psychiatry titled ‘Understanding Food Insecurity and Hypertension Control in Jamaica.’
Recognised by The UWI as an excellent teacher, Professor Cunningham-Myrie has supervised 10 graduate researchers and continues to teach several undergraduate and graduate courses in Family Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health.
Professor Cunningham-Myrie’s public service includes her work with the Jamaican Ministry of Health and Wellness serving on its Essential National Health Research Committee, the Hypertension Guidelines Development Committee and Review Committee for Primary Health Care Reform 2021-2030 initiative. She has also worked with the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, first as a Volunteer Physician and then as a member of the Board. Since 1993, through the Association, she has been involved in conducting outreach clinics. She has worked as a trainer for community projects such as the ‘Lay Diabetes Facilitators’ Programme’ and ‘Foot Care Assistant Programme’. Through these programmes lay persons are trained in Diabetes Education and Care – both have received international recognition and have been exported to other Caribbean countries. Since 2020, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, the Caribbean’s NCD alliance of civil society organisations.
In 2016 Professor Cunningham-Myrie received The UWI Mona Campus Principal’s Research Award for ‘The Most Outstanding Researcher for the Faculty of Medical Sciences’ and in 2020 for ‘Best Research Publication for the Faculty of Medical Sciences’.
