2011-2012 IHSPR Rising Star Award Recipients
IHSPR is pleased to announce the 2012 IHSPR Rising Star Award recipients. Two outstanding students studying in the field of health services and policy research were recognized as Rising Stars and received a Rising Star Award ($1,000), a certificate of excellence, and the opportunity to present their research at the May 2012 Annual Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) conference.The Rising Stars were selected by a review committee based on their demonstration of excellence in research and/or knowledge translation (KT), the innovation of their work, and the potential impact of their work within the field of health services and policy research. Congratulations to this year's IHSPR Rising Stars!
- Maria Chiu
- Janet Squires
Maria Chiu
Post-doctoral fellow with Public Health Ontario
Dr. Chiu won her IHSPR Rising Star Award for the research article: Chiu M, Austin PC, Manuel DG, Shah BR, and Tu JV. Deriving ethnic-specific BMI cutoff points for assessing diabetes risk. Diabetes Care 2011; 34: 1741-8. Available online at: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/8/1741.full.
Maria Chiu completed her PhD in Health Sciences from the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto in January 2012 under the mentorship of Dr. Jack Tu at ICES. Maria previously earned a (Hon) BSc in Human Biology/Mathematics, BEd, and MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, consistently graduating at the top of her class. Maria has received numerous research awards and distinctions, including a CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship for her doctoral studies, ranking #1 in all of Canada, and recently a CIHR Fellowship for her current post-doctoral training in health promotion and policy at Public Health Ontario with Drs. Vivek Goel and Heather Manson.
Dr. Chiu’s paper describes a cohort study that found that ethnic minority Canadians developed diabetes at a higher rate, at earlier ages, and at lower ranges of BMI than White Caucasians. This study is the first to identify ethnic-specific BMI cutoff points for obesity (i.e. 24 for South Asian, 25 for Chinese, and 26 for Black populations) that better predict diabetes incidence.
Maria is pursuing a career in academia, where she plans to advance the field of ethnicity and health services research, reduce health disparities among Canada’s ethnic groups, and train the future generation of healthcare/policy researchers.
To learn more about her research, please contact Dr. Chiu at mar.chiu@utoronto.ca.
Janet Squires
Post-doctoral fellow with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Dr. Squires won her IHSPR Rising Star Award for the research article: Squires JE, Hutchinson AM, Boström A-M, Jerke H, Cobban S & Estabrooks CA (2011). To what extent do nurses use research in clinical practice? A systematic review. Implementation Science. 6:21 Available online at: http://www.implementationscience.com/content/6/1/21.
Janet completed her PhD in Nursing at the University of Alberta in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Carole Estabrooks. Janet previously earned Bachelor of Nursing (BN) and Master of Nursing (MN) degrees from Memorial University (Newfoundland). Janet has received numerous research awards and distinctions for her PhD studies, including a CIHR Fellowship in KT, an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Studentship, and a Killam Scholarship. Her postdoctoral research (mentored by Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw) focuses on the design and evaluation of theory-based KT interventions and is funded by a CIHR: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bisby Fellowship, and Elizabeth Dickson KT Fellowship Supplement.
Janet’s paper reported on a systematic review of how much nurses use research evidence in clinical practice. The findings show little change in nurses’ use of research over the past 40 years, despite markedly increased emphasis on evidence-based practice in the last decade. This has important policy implications for how nursing care should be provided.
Dr. Squires plans a career in academia studying nursing and KT research. She plans to focus on four broad themes: (1) designing and evaluating theory-based KT interventions, (2) understanding the role of context in KT, (3) methodological developments and measurement in KT; and (4) systematic reviews and global knowledge syntheses.
Effective July 1 2012, Dr. Squires will commence a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa, and Associate Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
To learn more about her research, please contact Dr. Squires at jasquires@ohri.ca.
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