He’s a PhD scientist who leads Indigenous initiatives for more than 500 faculty, staff and trainees, and focuses his research on autism in Indigenous communities
Age: 39
Sixteen years ago grant bruno learned he was going to be a father. Since that day he has tested his biggest decisions by asking one question: How does this make me a better dad? The answers have led him to become one of five Indigenous pediatrics professors in Canada and director of Indigenous child health in the University of Alberta’s Department of Pediatrics.
When two of his children were diagnosed with autism, Bruno focused on researching autism among Indigenous populations. He is now recognized internationally as a leading scholar in the field.
Bruno and his colleagues discovered that many Indigenous cultures see autism not as a deficit to be fixed, but as the gift of difference. They work to find ways to accept autistic people as equal members of society.
“In our language, we say they are sacred,” says Bruno, a member of the Samson Cree Nation at Maskwacis.
He takes a hands-on approach to his research, ensuring scientific rigour and direct involvement with Indigenous culture and spirituality; he wants his research to have practical applications. Those include a support group for Indigenous parents of children with autism, setting up a sensory teepee for autistic children at the Maskwacis Powwow and helping parents of autistic children overcome barriers to support services.
“I try to do as much as I can, to see how we can better support families,” he says. At the same time, he recognizes that he also calls on their expertise. “There is so much to learn from them.”
He has research staff and partners around the world, But Bruno says it all ties directly back to his family.
“Being a dad has informed everything I do,” he says, “I’ve got to do this because I’m a dad.”
This article appears in the November-December 2026 issue of Edify
