Why We Celebrate Research at St. Joe's
As an academic health sciences centre, research and innovation are at the core of what we do. Through our affiliation with McMaster University and our partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences, our researchers’ goal is simple – improving patients’ quality of life.
Research allows us to improve care beyond current standards. But research can’t happen without constant support from donors and funding agencies. Their help allows our researchers to impact patient outcomes across Canada and around the world. At St. Joe’s, the work of our researchers allows our care providers to be at the leading-edge of science.
That’s why one of the top priorities of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation is to raise funds to support research at the Research Institute of St. Joe’s. By bringing the vision of our researchers to our community of donors, we hope to inspire them to be a part of making a difference in the future of healthcare.
Whether it’s making a difference in how we treat mental health and addiction, or discovering a new asthma treatment in the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, or supporting kidney, urinary or robotic research right here at St. Joe’s, our donors are inspired by the work that our researchers do.
And their inspiration leads to more research funding, more hope for the future, more healing, and more ground-breaking discoveries.
Each October, our organization comes together to celebrate the achievements of our research community and to acknowledge the recipients of the Research Institute Award Program.
On October 13th, we held our third-annual Celebrate Research event. The event kicked off with presentations from research leads representing the four major research programs at St. Joe’s – kidney & urinary, lungs & chest, mental health & addictions as well as the Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre.
“We are blessed to have such a fantastic research enterprise here,” said Dr. Jack Gauldie, VP Research. “We have a number of world-renowned researchers working in a number of disciplines that have transformed care here at St. Joe’s and around the world.”
Between presentations, attendees were able to engage with interactive display booths. They experienced what it’s like to operate the Da Vinci Si surgical robot, saw a mock dialysis unit testing different blood thinners, and learned about the RT-300 supine cycle that helps patients to recover faster in our Intensive Care Unit.
They were also invited to view and judge research posters that shared the work of students conducting research at St. Joe’s.
In the afternoon, an award ceremony recognized the 2016 Research Institute Award Program recipients. These awards help new and established researchers to launch studies that improve the way diseases are understood, diagnosed and treated.
Many of the awards presented were donor-funded, including the Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation Research Award in Women’s Health, the CARSTAR Automotive Canada Research Innovation Fund Award, focusing on schizophrenia research, the Constantine Douketis New Researcher Award, the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation Research Collaboration Grant and the longstanding McArthur Research Award.
For 16 years, the Anne & Neil McArthur Award has been honouring an internationally renowned researcher whose area of study is also a focus of research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. By highlighting the achievements of the best and brightest researchers in Canada, the McArthur family hopes to inspire developments that will lead to the next healthcare innovation.
From left: Dr. Jack Gauldie, VP Research, the McArthur Family with Dr. Paul O'Byrne, and Sera Filice-Armenio, President & CEO of St. Joseph's Healthcare Foundation
Congratulations to the 2016 Research Institute Award Program recipients:
Research Institute Research Staff Recognition
- Ms. Bo Gao (Supervisor: Dr. Joan Krepinsky)
Research Institute Studentship
- Dr. Justin Lee (Supervisor: Dr. Anne Holbrook)
- Ms. Diane Ojo (Supervisor: Dr. Damu Tang)
Research Institute Post-Doctoral Fellowship
- Dr. David Speicher (Supervisor: Dr. Marek Smieja)
Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation Research Award in Women’s Health
- Dr. Sheryl Green
Constantine Douketis New Researcher Award
- Dr. Iris Balodis
- Dr. Amber Molnar
SJH Foundation Research Collaboration Grant
- Drs. Joan Krepinsky, Lawrence Mbuagbaw, Roma Sehmi (co-applicants)
CARSTAR Automotive Canada Research Innovation Fund Award
- Ms. Janine Davies
Anne & Neil McArthur Research Award
- Dr. Paul O’Byrne