Health System Impact Embedded Early Career Researchers– 2024 Researcher Profiles
| Profile: |
|---|
Pre-hospital Emergency Services: Current and FutureName: Eric Mercier About You & Your Embedded Research Program:Pre-hospital emergency services act as a public safety net and are a key component of accessible health services, especially for its most vulnerable patients. Unfortunately, pre-hospital services are not fully integrated into the continuum of care and there is little scientific evidence to justify how they operate. With the support of our many partners, our team will study, optimize, enhance and work on integrating pre-hospital emergency services for the longevity of our care system and the good of its patients. The impact award gives us a one-of-a-kind opportunity to become leaders and improve care. Website: Eric Mercier |
Strengthening the health system response to violence against women in Eastern Canada: an embedded research program in the MaritimesName: Alexa Yakubovich About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:I am an Assistant Professor in Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. My research program focuses on what causes and can prevent interpersonal violence, and especially intimate partner and sexualized violence, the most common forms of violence against women (VAW). My embedded research at the IWK aims to strengthen responses to VAW and gender-based violence among patients; the provision of trauma-informed, inclusive, and culturally safe care; and health systems planning for women, gender diverse people, and families. My long-term goal is to inform systems-level interventions and policy change across Canada to prevent VAW and promote health equity. X: Alexa Yakubovich |
Advancing a Learning Health System for Chronic Pain Management in Alberta to Achieve the Quintuple AimName: Elena Lopatina About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:Chronic pain poses substantial clinical, social, and economic challenges in Alberta, Canada, and globally. Unfortunately, many patients living with chronic pain lack access to evidence-based care due to systemic gaps. Due to social and policy barriers created by settler colonialism, Indigenous patients are disproportionately affected by these health system gaps. The proposed research program will focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of the novel Alberta Virtual Pain Program, co-create services with Indigenous communities, and advance a learning health system for chronic pain management in Alberta. The ultimate goal of this work is to facilitate the Quintuple Aim. LinkedIn: Elena Lopatina |
Empowering Autistic People In Canada: National-level Solutions through Evidence and Inclusive ResearchName: Deepa Singal About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:Pursing embedded research at the intersection of policy and academia, my focus is on enhancing healthcare accessibility for autistic people. Driven by a passion for equity, my aim is to spread and scale innovative system solutions, champion inclusivity, and foster impactful policy change. By integrating evidence into the fabric of decision-making, I aspire to leave a lasting mark – a health care landscape that supports the needs of autistic people and a society that celebrates diversity, empowering autistic people to reach their fullest potential. In this vision, no one is left behind. |
Increasing Equitable Access to Kidney Transplantation: A Partnership with the Trillium Gift of Life Network-Ontario HealthName: Kyla Naylor About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:Many patients with kidney failure will live longer lives if they receive a kidney transplant compared to dialysis. Unfortunately, barriers prevent many patients from receiving a transplant. In collaboration with the Trillium Gift of Life Network, my research is focused on improving equitable access to kidney transplantation by developing a kidney transplant measurement framework, improving transplant educational resources, and understanding barriers in access to transplant, including developing and testing solutions to address barriers. Increasing equitable access to kidney transplant is aligned with the quadruple aim of healthcare: improved patient experience, improved provider satisfaction, improved outcomes, and lower costs. |
A Provincial Learning Health System for Kidney CareName: Danielle Nash About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:The main goals of my research program are:
My research program will focus on improving care earlier on the chronic kidney disease trajectory to help reduce progression to kidney failure, which requires expensive and debilitating chronic dialysis treatment. LinkedIn: Danielle Nash |
Bridging worldviews to transform culturally safe cardiovascular careName: Sahr Wali About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:Many racialized and socially disadvantaged populations have been labelled as 'vulnerable' or 'marginalized', without recognizing the societal constructs that have limited their ability for growth and well-being. This program of research aims to bridge the values from culture and innovation to co-develop a community-first pathway for digitally enabled cardiac care services. Motivated by the value of reflexivity and cultural context, Indigenous knowledge frameworks and art-based methodologies will be utilized to better enable the principles of cultural safety into clinical practice. X: Shar Wali |
Advancing access to prenatal screening with implementation scienceName: Elisabeth Vesnaver About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:I will be embedded within Prenatal Screening Ontario to support the equitable introduction of new prenatal screening technologies. My research program aims to develop a culture of implementation at Prenatal Screening Ontario that is rooted in equity-focused implementation science. Future introductions of prenatal screening technologies and practices will leverage evidence-based implementation strategies and interventions, which are tailored to the needs of a diversity of patients and health care providers. These strategies and interventions will be evaluated to continue to improve implementation and build our knowledge of what works, for whom and, under which conditions. |
Cultivating Organizational Ambidexterity within a Learning Health SystemName: Marissa Bird About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:Among the most pressing global health challenges is the need to increase healthcare system capacity to meet the needs of a growing and aging population. My work is embedded within a Learning Health Systems approach and examines the concept of Organizational Ambidexterity (OA) – the ability of health organizations to both sustain existing products and innovations (exploitative innovation), as well as generate new and creative solutions to problems on an ongoing basis (explorative innovation). Results will build internal capacity in OA at Trillium Health Partners and amplify health innovations so that their potential may be realized now and in the future. LinkedIn: Marissa Bird |
Breaking barriers: Improving engagement and treatment for young adults with co-occurring substance use and mental health concernsName: Jillian Halladay About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:I am a Registered Nurse and epidemiologist committed to working with youth to prevent the onset and impact of co-occurring substance use and mental health concerns. My goals for this award are to deepen our understanding of young adults (aged 18-25) who present to the hospital system with substance use concerns, including understanding more about who these young people are, why they present, and how we can better engage and support them. Overall, this work aims to improve access to effective substance use treatment for youth. X: Jillian Halladay |
Partnering for improved perinatal and neonatal health care in rural Nova Scotia - The PARTNER ProgramName: Britney Benoit About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:Breastfeeding is a crucial health promotion activity, yet, Nova Scotia has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Canada. Those living in rural communities are also less likely to start and continue breastfeeding. My Health System Impact Embedded Early Career Research Program will focus on implementation of the Baby-Friendly Initiative – a multi-faceted, evidence-informed, and patient-centered quality improvement program with measurable impact on breastfeeding outcomes – in health organizations across Nova Scotia. Insights from this embedded research program will help optimize provincial perinatal, infant, and population health outcomes. Website: Britney Benoit |
Accounting for the social determinants of health in cancer outcomesName: Anna J Dare About You & Your Fellowship Program of Work:The goal of this research program is to understand how individual-level social determinants of health (SDH) impact and mediate cancer outcomes (breast, colorectal, lung, gastroesophageal, pancreas, primary brain) for patients and to use this knowledge to better address SDH within clinical care, in order to improve cancer outcomes and enhance equity at the level of the health system organization (HSO). This work is embedded within the Unity Health Toronto (UHT) HSO, with a partner site in Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Both sites serve cancer patients and communities that already experience disproportionate social, economic, geographic and structural disadvantage prior to diagnosis. The UHT HSO impact goal is to develop research and programmatic capacity within the UHT Department of Surgery that improves the care and outcomes of cancer patients experiencing SDH-mediated disadvantage, informed by local evidence. |
- Date modified: