MSFHR has announced 11 award recipients for its inaugural Health Professional-Investigator Program. These exceptional health professionals will receive funding to support research focused on answering questions derived from their practical experience and clinical expertise.
The MSFHR Health Professional-Investigator Program is designed to develop BC’s research talent and help decrease the gap between health research and its implementation. The awards support health professionals who are actively involved in patient care to conduct and apply research relevant to health and/or the health system.
The 11 award recipients represent health professions ranging from emergency physicians to midwives and psychologists across five BC health authorities. These health professionals, in addition to their clinical roles, will conduct research in areas ranging from telehealth to concussion science and pancreatic cancer.
“We were thrilled to see such a positive response to this new program,” says Dr. Bev Holmes, Interim President & CEO. “The caliber of applications was exceptional and we look forward to supporting these and other exceptional health professional researchers through future competitions.”
Each award recipient will receive a salary contribution to help them protect time for research for up to five years, or support research personnel directly associated with their work. This will allow each health professional to increase their research expertise and address health research knowledge gaps with the goal of improving patient health outcomes.
“Clinically active health professionals have an intimate understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with improving patient care, but can lack the support required to apply that knowledge in a research setting. These awards are designed to help fill that gap,” said Dr. Martin Schechter, Chief Scientific Officer.
In its inaugural year MSFHR is delighted to be partnering with Providence Health Care Research Institute (PHCRI) to co-fund a Health Professional-Investigator Award. PHCRI President Dr. S. F. Paul Man commented, “This is our first co-funded award with MSFHR and we are excited to be able to support research to both advance our understanding of lung disease in people living with HIV and contribute to our vision of integrated patient care and research that serves the province’s most vulnerable populations”.
The Health Professional-Investigator Program was developed in response to consultations with stakeholders across the province, including administrators, researchers and clinicians. It is one of eight MSFHR funding awards designed to develop BC’s health research talent and contribute to addressing BC health system priorities.