BC physicians use clinical expertise to answer burning research questions
Twelve exceptional BC health professionals (including 10 physicians) have been funded in the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research’s (MSFHR) second Health Professional-Investigator (HP-I) competition. Each will receive funding to support research focused on answering questions derived from their practical experience and clinical expertise.
MSFHR’s HP-I program is designed to develop BC’s research talent and help decrease the gap between health research and its implementation by supporting health professionals who are actively involved in patient care to conduct and apply research relevant to health and/or the health system. The idea is that clinicians with an intimate understanding of patient care are supported to apply their clinical knowledge in a research setting to answer questions straight from the bedside.
Award recipients include physicians specializing in cancer, stroke, asthma, and HIV. Alongside their clinical roles, these awardees will conduct research intended to improve patient health outcomes—from testing a handheld breast cancer imaging tool to exploring how to identify which HIV patients are most likely to benefit from adherence support via text message.
This year, MSFHR is cofunding two HP-I awards, one with the Providence Health Care Research Institute, and one with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and VGH + UBC Hospital Foundation. Each award recipient will receive a salary contribution to help them protect time for research for up to 5 years or support research personnel directly associated with their work.
The complete list of award recipients and research projects is available at www.msfhr.org/2018-HPI-award-recipients.