Faculty of Health

Research Update 2021

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS

• Nearly $11.5 million in CIHR funding will serve to expand the Wabanaki-Labrador Indigenous Health Research Network and establish the first Nova Scotia Chair in Indigenous Health Nursing research

• Dal Health researchers are on the front lines of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through 4 projects that among other issues address COVID-19 diagnosis and response in African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq communities

• PhD student research in the Faculty has been featured widely in the news, including work related to LGTBQ+ communities and mental health in volunteer firefighters

The Faculty has made significant progress on major initiatives in SD2

• 4000ft2 of renovated or new space for Dal Health and collaborative research

• Yearly growth in enrolment in PhD Health program reaching 46 students in 2020

• Sustainable student funding - ~$1.1 million in funding in PhD health program in 2020

• Addition of 4 research chairs

• Investment of nearly $1.6 million in infrastructure, equipment and direct support for research activities

• Establishment of Pulse, the Health Sandbox to support training in innovation and entrepreneurship across the health-related Faculties

Research Highlights

Health Equity & Resilience

  • Environmental racism documentary 'There's Something in the Water' based on Ingrid Waldron's book and co-produced by Dr. Waldron and actor/director Elliot Page was released on NETFLIX in March 27, 2020
  • Dr. Waldron named as Chatelaine Magazine Trailblazer in 'Keep Listening: 33 Black Canadians Making Change Now'
  • National research recognition: The Wabanaki-Labrador Indigenous Health Research Network (WLN) under principal applicant and Tier II CRC Indigenous Peoples Health and Well-Being Debbie Martin, was awarded $10.5 million in CIHR funding to help establish a national network of centres focused on the health of Indigenous Peoples. 
  • Dal Health researcher and RN Margot Latimer is the first CIHR Nova Scotia Nursing Chair in Indigenous Health Research. The Chair is accompanied by close to $1 million in funding over five years to support the advancement of Indigenous health research and education. 
  • The Nova Scotia research community came together to respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic. with a collective investment of just over $1.5 million in COVID-19 focused research. In May the NS COVID-19 Health Research Coalition announced the funding of 40 projects, including those of Dal Health researchers 
  • Dr. Marsha Campbell Yeo, Project: A study assessing the needs of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) families at the IWK Health Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Dr. Margot Latimer, Project: 'Identifying the Occurrence Rate and Complicating Factors Related to a COVID-19 Diagnosis in the Mi’kmaq People of Nova Scotia'    
  • Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Project: 'A Culturally Specific COVID-19 Response Strategy for African Nova Scotians in the Prestons'
  • Dr. Matthew Numer received a CIHR_IRSC grant for his research 'Indigenous Masculinities and Sexual Health: Exploring community-driven interventions among boys and men through land-based methodologies'
  • Dr. Amy Bombay listed as Top 100 Health and Fitness Influencers 2020 by Optimyz Women's Wellness Magazine.  

Health & Health Systems Transformation

  • Dr. Jeanna Parsons Leigh was one of three researchers from Dalhousie to receive a total of $1.9 million CIHR funding as part of a Novel Coronavirus Rapid Research Funding Opportunity. She will be studying the socio-cultural implications of COVID-19 to educate, engage and empower members of the public to be informed stewards of their health knowledge in relation to the current outbreak.  
  • Health and Human Performance Prof Lois Jackson has become a Canadian Academic of Health Sciences (CAHS) Fellow, one of the highest honours for members of the country’s health sciences community.  
  • Dr. Marsha Campbell Yeo was co-applicant 'Canadian Collaboration for Child Health: Efficiency and Excellence in the Ethics Review of Research (CHEER) ' has received funding ($498,294/year for 5 years) through the CIHR Human Development, Child and Youth Health Institute  
  • Dal Health researchers are among those leading projects which received a $1.1 million investment from CIHR and Research Nova Scotia as part of a May 2020 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity
  • The PUPPY study, led locally by Drs. Emily Gard Marshall (Family Medicine) and Jennifer Isenor (Pharmacy), will gather data from the public and frontline health workers to determine how the needs of patients and primary care providers have been and are being met before, during, and after COVID-19.
  • Dr. Catherine Mah's CELLAR study will investigate the nutritional consequences of how we eat during the pandemic in Atlantic Canada.  

Healthy Communities

  • Researchers in the Faculty of Health’s School of Health and Human Performance and Healthy Populations Institute created The Summer of PLEY to spread the message about the value of children’s unstructured play with moveable materials (“loose parts”), and to equip parents, educators, and the public with the understanding of how to support outdoor play – with its risks – to optimize children’s development.

Graduate Students

  • Adria Quigley became the first person in the PhD in Health program to defend their thesis since the program began in 2015. PhD in Health students Logan Lawrence and Peter Stilwell successfully defended their theses in March of 2020 during the quarantine – over video chat from their homes. 
  • Leah Carrier, a Niitsítapi registered nurse and doctoral student was named a 2020 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar.
  • Leah Carrier and Rachel Olivier, both PhD students at the School of Nursing are recipients of 2020 CIHR Vanier Scholarships. The Vanier Scholarship is the federal government’s most prized award for PhD students. High-achieving recipients are selected for the potential impact of their research, academic excellence, and leadership abilities.