Kue Young has played a pivotal role in the development of Aboriginal and northern health research in Canada and internationally. He was one of the first researchers in Canada to recognize the emerging diabetes epidemic among First Nations in the early 1980’s. He has contributed substantially to understanding the epidemiology and genetics of diabetes in that population, and its prevention and control. A population health research scientist of the first order, he received the CIHR Senior Investigator award 1998-2008. Dr. Young has authored six books on Aboriginal and circumpolar health, and a textbook in population health. For his contributions to Aboriginal and northern health, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010. He has served as Head of the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, TransCanada Chair in Aboriginal Health at the University of Toronto, and Dean of the School of Public Health, University of Alberta. He retired in 2019.