Government of Canada invests more than $4.7M to give next generation of health researchers hands-on experience tackling health system challenges

November 18, 2022 — Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian Institutes of Health Research

The Government of Canada continues to invest in our country’s brightest minds to bring innovative perspectives to our health care system.

Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health announced a total investment of over $4.7M in the Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship program, which provides talented PhD trainees and postdoctoral researchers a unique opportunity to work directly within health organizations to tackle real-world health system challenges.

This funding will support 18 PhD students and 25 postdoctoral fellows who are embedded in 30 health organizations and connected to 16 universities. Their research spans a wide range of health care priorities, from improving transitions in care and supporting the wellbeing of our health workforce to improving health care in rural areas and innovating long-term care. Their work will help us to continue improving the delivery of equitable health care in Canada.

These are a few of the 2022 HSI Fellows:

• Raegan Mazurka, Postdoctoral Fellow (Dalhousie University), is collaborating with Nova Scotia Health to harness health system data to optimize outcomes for depression in Nova Scotia.
• Orphée Tamba, PhD Fellow (University of British Columbia), is working with the B.C. Ministry of Health to reduce early childhood inequities in British Columbia by establishing a sustainable process for ongoing collaboration between government ministries, health research organizations and systems delivery partners.
• Faizan Khan, Postdoctoral Fellow (University of Calgary), is carrying out a project with Alberta Health Services’ Critical Care Strategic Clinical Network that aims to improve care and health outcomes for critically ill patients transitioning from the intensive care unit.
• Corentin Montiel, PhD Fellow (Université du Québec à Montréal) is working with the Centre of Excellence on Partnership with Patients and the Public to develop and mobilize patient knowledge before and during their trajectory of care.
• Allison H. MacNeil, PhD Fellow (McGill University), is leading a project with the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et services sociaux de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal that will help drive youth mental health systems transformation through grounded evidence gathering, collaborative stakeholder engagement, and effective strategic planning.
• Valentina Antonipillai, Postdoctoral Fellow (McMaster University), is collaborating with research teams at McMaster University and Statistics Canada to analyze data on long-term care workers and engage stakeholders to strengthen the evidence base and help guide policy reform in long-term care.

Funding for these recipients is provided by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, Michael Smith Health Research BC, Mitacs, the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, and 30 health organizations across Canada.