Postdoctoal Award Competition Results 2009
Twenty-four applications were received in this ninth competition for the CHSRF/CIHR Postdoctoral Awards within the CADRE program. All applications were sent for panel review.
Merit Review Process
For the fifth year, the postdoctoral applications were reviewed by the same panel that reviewed the letters of intent received to the Foundation's Research, Exchange, and Impact for System Support (REISS). Also reviewed by the panel were the first letters of intent submitted to the Foundation's new Linking Evidence to Action on Decision (LEAD) competition. The merit review panel's membership included an equal mix of researchers and decision makers that balanced regional and disciplinary distribution and perspectives. The panel met January 22-23 in Ottawa and was co-chaired by Jack Altman and Judith Ritchie. François Champagne and Mark Bisby performed scientific officer duties.
Of the postdoctoral applications under review,13 were in health services, four were in nursing, and seven were in knowledge transfer. Three applications were received from Quebec, 11 from Ontario, six from the western provinces, and four from the Atlantic region.
Applicants Recommended for Funding
The panel recommended 10 applicants for funding. The Foundation currently has the funds to offer eight awards. Two applicants will be offered funding through the Foundation's partnerships with Saint Elizabeth Health Care's Care to Know Centre Postdoctoral Award Opportunity* and the Mental Health Commission of Canada's National Homeless Research Post-Doctoral Award Opportunity**. One additional candidate is on an internal reserve list, should additional funds become
available or should any of the candidates who are offered funding decline.
Of the applicants being offered funding, three are in the health services field, three are in nursing, and four are in knowledge transfer.
Some of the applicants offered funding have yet to complete their PhDs. They must complete all of the requirements for their doctorates and take up the award by
September 1, 2009.
The recommended applicants who are being offered awards are listed in alphabetical order:
Nancy Carter is completing a PhD in Nursing at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Alba DiCenso. She will pursue postdoctoral studies under the supervision of Dr. John Lavis at McMaster and Dr. Joanne Profetto-McGrath at the University of Alberta. Her decision maker partners will be Sandra MacDonald-Rencz, Executive Director at the Office of Nursing Policy, Health Canada, and
Heather Mass, Interim Director of the Academy of Canadian Executive Nurses. This postdoctoral training will allow Nancy to develop skills and abilities for health services and policy related research in addition to new training in knowledge transfer and exchange. She hopes to combine her administrative background and research experience to build a successful program of research focused on knowledge transfer and exchange of advanced practice nursing research.
Janet A. Curran is currently completing her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies at Dalhousie University under the supervision of Dr. Patrick McGrath. She will conduct her postdoctoral work with Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw at the Ottawa Health Research Institute and Dr. Martin Osmond at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute. Her decision maker partner will be Dr. Mona Jabbour, Medical
Director of the Emergency Department at CHEO. Ms. Curran's postdoctoral work will focus on development of an evidence-based strategy to encourage the uptake of clinical decision rules regarding minor head injury in children. Her project will involve a) exploring methodological considerations for assessing barriers to the uptake of evidence; b) designing and selecting theory-based KT interventions; and c) assessing the acceptability and feasibility of the proposed
intervention through pilot testing.
Laura Megan Funk completed her PhD in Sociology, with a focus on family caregiving for the elderly. Her postdoctoral award involves a departmental shift to nursing at the University of Victoria, and a shift in focus to health services and caregiving for the terminally ill. This award will allow Dr. Funk to learn: about health services and policy; how to combine diverse forms of research data; how to mentor
students and develop curriculum; and importantly, how to make connections and communicate with those working in health service systems. Dr. Funk's training will be supervised by Dr. Kelli Stajduhar, a researcher who has gained national and international recognition for clinically-relevant palliative care research that informs health services decision-making. Dr. Funk will also be mentored by Carolyn Tayler, Director of End-of-Life Care for BC's Fraser Health
Authority; this includes a policy internship where Dr. Funk will contribute to a strategic research plan in end-of-life care.
Francois-Pierre Gauvin completed his PhD in November 2008 in the Health Research Methodology Program at McMaster University. He will conduct his postdoctoral work at Université Laval with Dr France Légaré, who has expertise in patient involvement. He will also be co-supervised by Dr Julia Abelson at McMaster University, who has expertise in public involvement. Two decision-maker partners
will be involved, one at the provincial level and one at the hospital level: Dr. Les Levin, who heads the Medical Advisory Secretariat at Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care; and Mrs. Dolorès Lepage-Savary, who heads the hospital-based health technology assessment (HTA) unit at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec. The postdoctoral program will assess the interests and needs of patients and the public to be involved in HTA, and
also identify effective tools and strategies for implementing public and patient involvement programs in HTA agencies.
*Paul Holyoke is completing his PhD in Health Policy at the University of Toronto. He will conduct his postdoctoral research with supervisor Dr. Peter Coyte, Director of Health Care, Technology and Place and Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Care, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. Nancy Lefebre, Chief Clinical Executive and Senior Vice President, Knowledge &
Practice at Saint Elizabeth Health Care and CHSRF EXTRA alumna, will be his decision-maker partner. His research will focus on the "home" in home care. He will investigate the ways current approaches to care delivery may compromise care recipients' expectations about, and experiences of, their own homes. Specifically, the research will look at people's perceptions and experiences: of changes to the aesthetics, order and configuration of their homes resulting from
care delivery; of social exclusion and isolation from a wider caring community because they are cared for in their homes; and of transitions between various caregivers who enter their homes to deliver care. In collaboration with Saint Elizabeth Health Care, its Care to Know Centre and its partners, new approaches to the delivery of care that address any findings of negative perceptions and experiences of care recipients will be developed and evaluated.
**Sonya L. Jakubec is currently completing her PhD (Nursing) at the University of Calgary in Alberta. She will conduct her postdoctoral work at the University of Ottawa with her supervisor Dr. Nancy Edwards. Ms. Jakubec will primarily conduct her fellowship activities alongside the Mental Health Commission of Canada's (MHCC) National Mental Illness and Homelessness demonstration project. Her training will
focus on understanding how mixed methods research can best inform health policy. The primary decision maker partner for Ms. Jakubec's training activities will be at one site of the MHCC's demonstration project together with the Government of Manitoba's collaborating partners in the project. Ms. Jakubec's training program links together the knowledge and expertise of large multi-site research projects with decision makers at local and provincial levels to advance
knowledge exchange for evidence-based mental health services.
Sabrina Kim completed her PhD in 2006 under the supervision of Dr. Gabrielle Boulianne in the Department of Molecular Genetics and the Collaborative Program in Developmental Biology at the University of Toronto. She will conduct her postdoctoral research with her supervisor Dr. Fiona Miller at the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (University of Toronto), and with her decision maker
partner Lisa Drouillard (Health Canada). Building upon her extensive background and experience in basic genetics research, this postdoctoral fellowship will enable her to develop her skills and knowledge for health policy research as she explores the ethical and health policy implications of genetics research and its resultant technologies.
Catherine L. Mah is a community paediatrician and is completing a PhD in Health Services Research (concentration in health policy) at the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She will conduct her postdoctoral research with Ito Peng through the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto and at Kyoto University in Japan. Her decision
maker partners are Fran Scott, Associate Medical Officer of Health and Consultant, Planning and Policy for Toronto Public Health, and other senior decision makers at Toronto Public Health. Catherine's project will investigate how the relationships between food and health are articulated in local public health policy communities in Canada and Japan.
Kim Sears is completing her PhD in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. She will conduct her postdoctoral work with her supervisor Dr. Neil MacKinnon at Dalhousie University. Kim Sears' decision maker partners will be David U, President and CEO of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada, and Dr. Pat McGrath Vice President of Research at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax,
Nova Scotia. Her postdoctoral program will compare the current state of Canadian paediatric and adult medication errors. Additionally, she will develop a model for safer medication delivery systems within Canada.
Shannon Sibbald completed her PhD in 2008 through the Department of Health, Policy, Management and Evaluation and the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. She is currently working at the University of Western Ontario in Health Sciences. Co-supervised by Dr. Anita Kothari in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Dr. Nadine Wathen in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and partnering
with two decision makers: Mr. Jim Flett (Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer London Health Science Care & St Joseph's Heath Cetnre London) and Ms. Kelly Gillis (Senior Director, South West LHIN), Shannon will explore processes and tools used by healthcare organizations across the health system to capture, share, and store intellectual capital (tacit and explicit knowledge). This has been labeled "knowledge management" (KM) and is a practice that
involves people, place, processes and technology. Effectively implemented, KM can work to improve organizational performance. Shannon plans to describe KM across Canada and take steps to improving KM by proposing best practices and strategies.