Jennifer Wylie-Russell is a Canadian physician and the current Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Brunswick brought her widespread visibility.

Early life

Russell enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts with major in Music at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. She studied Science at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

, Medicine at

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

and was a resident in family medicine at Dalhousie University. Russell joined the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

(CAF) while studying medicine, through the CAF's

Medical Officer Training Program The Royal Canadian Medical Service (RCMS, french: Service de santé royal canadien) is a personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces, consisting of all members of medical occupations. Nearly all members of the RCMS, along with the members of the ...

Career

For half of Russell's ten years in the CAF, she served as Base Surgeon at

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

National Defense Medical Clinic National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. She got involved in preventive medicine and

immunization Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-sel ...

. Her years in the Forces also led her to

Canadian Forces Base Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

and she was briefly deployed to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

in support to Canada's mission to Afghanistan in 2006. Upon leaving the military, she worked briefly for Veterans Affairs Canada, then in family medicine and mental health at

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

, including six years at the Victoria Health Centre's

methadone clinic A methadone clinic, or substance use disorder services clinic (SUDS), is a clinic which has been established for the dispensing of medications used in the treatment of opiate dependence —historically and most commonly methadone, although buprenor ...

. Russell joined New Brunswick's public health department in August 2014 as Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health. She was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Health in November 2015. Russell was made a Member of the

Order of New Brunswick The Order of New Brunswick (french: Ordre du Nouveau Brunswick) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Instituted in 2000 by Lieutenant Governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, on the advice of the Cabinet under Prem ...

in 2021.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Russell became a familiar public figure to New Brunswickers during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, as she took part in daily televised briefings, explaining the extent of the epidemic and the measures put forward by the government to fight it. In addition to informations about the pandemic, Russell frequently suggests to viewers ways to improve their well-being and mental health while in confinement. She asked people to set aside dearly-held traditions such as

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

family gatherings and maintain discipline to limit the spread of the virus, even though new Brunswick is doing better than adjacent jurisdictions. She led or participated in various initiatives to inform New Brunswickers, including a video in which she explains the concept of social distancing to children. Russell makes good use of her proficiency in French, responding to questions in that language to convey information to the province's

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

population.

Music

Russell is a singer, composer and lyrics writer in

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

music. She holds a Bachelor in Arts (music) from Dalhousie University, with an emphasis on the piano and saxophone. She sang and played with various bands throughout her studies: concert bands, a saxophone quartet, a Celtic band, a Jazz band with other medical students and the Nova Scotia Wind Ensemble. Talking about her lifelong artistic pursuits, she said in 2017: "Music is like breathing, I need music in my life". In 2008, Russell was nominated for a Covenant Music Award (best

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

song of the year, jointly with Danny Crain), awarded by the Gospel Music Association Canada. Her swing album, ''Double Kiss'', came out in 2014. Her second swing album, ‘Triple Step’ was released in 2019 and was a fundraiser for Liberty Lane in Fredericton, NB.

References

External links

April 8, 2020, coronavirus news conference."Loose lips sink ships": A live swing performance in Fredericton in 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Jennifer Living people Canadian health officials Dalhousie University alumni Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Musicians from Bathurst, New Brunswick Physicians from New Brunswick Canadian jazz composers Canadian women jazz singers Canadian gospel singers Canadian women physicians 21st-century Canadian physicians Canadian public health doctors Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women composers Members of the Order of New Brunswick Women public health doctors