IHPME Students Named 2022 Vanier Scholars

The Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) is proud to announce that five of our graduate students have been named 2022 Vanier Canada Scholars.

About the Vanier Canada Scholarship Award

The award is issued by the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Those selected receive $50,000/year for three years during their doctoral studies.

“Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the Vanier Scholarship! The IHPME community is so proud of you, your hard work, and your dedication to health research,” said Dr. Audrey Laporte, IHPME Director. “We are very fortunate to have our graduate students consistently listed among the winners each year – a reflection of their talent and the excellent training provided by our faculty.”

About the 2022 Vanier Canada Scholars

Julian Daza (CIHR)

Program: Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology

Title of Research Proposal: Toward improving the diagnosis and management of frailty in the older patient undergoing major non-cardiac surgery.

The focus of Dr. Julian Daza’s doctoral thesis is on the perioperative assessment of older patients having major surgery. Specifically, studying how different measures of functional capacity and frailty can be used to identify high-risk older patients prior to surgery. Supervised by Duminda Wijeysundera, he is also trying to understand the mechanisms by which preoperative frailty leads to poor outcomes after surgery, while also using data-driven approaches to understand how we can better tailor therapies in this population. For this, he will be using data from the ongoing ‘FIT After Surgery’ Canadian multicentre study.

Justin Lam (SSHRC)

Program: Master’s in Health Professions Education Research

Title of Research Proposal: Actions Louder Than Words: Using Critical Theories to Explore Systemic Discrimination in Routine Educational Processes in Resident Physician Education

Dr. Justin Lam is interested in the intersection of hidden curriculum effects, learner professionalization, and the learning environment, with a particular interest in structural level EDI issues. His long-term career goal is to be a clinician-scientist at an academic paediatric hospital. Supervised by Dr. Tina Martimianakis, his ultimate goal is to translate his scholarly work to individual and structural level changes that make learning environments safer and more equitable and inclusive for all learners, staff, and faculty, and result in better patient care.

Osaheni Lawani (CIHR)

Program: PhD in Clinical Epidemiology

Project: Direct Effect of Iron Deficiency in Pregnancy with Respect to Adverse Birth Outcomes

Dr. Lawani is an obstetrician-gynecologist who completed a clinical fellowship in maternal fetal hematology in September 2022 at Mount Sinai Hospital. He is supervised by Dr. David Naimark and Dr. Nadine Shehata. “Iron deficiency (ID) has significant clinical and public health implications because if untreated, ID may result in anemia, which has been associated with increase in adverse birth outcomes,” said Dr. Lawani. His research will provide high quality evidence-based data necessary to improve patient care, and support health system planning.

Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher (CIHR)

Program: PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research

Title of Research Proposal: Unmet needs of immigrant older adults after discharge from hospital with delirium: Using administrative data to explore practice patterns and long-term adverse health outcomes.

Dr. Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher is a geriatrician working at Mount Sinai Hospital and UHN. Her doctoral thesis, which is under the supervision of Dr. Paula Rochon, will use linked health databases to study the care that immigrant older patients with delirium receive in Ontario. She will study hospital practice patterns and long-term adverse outcomes that are associated with delirium, a common condition affecting up to 50% of hospitalized older patients. Immigrant older adults with delirium, especially those who speak a language different from their health care team, may have unmet needs that should be addressed to provide equitable care that supports healthy aging for all.

Dominique Vervoort (CIHR)

Program: PhD in Health Services Research

Title of Research Proposal: Mitigating Demographic, Geographical, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Care in Ontario: Modelling the Cost-Effectiveness of Population-Based Screening for Thoracic Aortic Disease.

Dr. Dominique Vervoort, supervised by Dr. Stephen Fremes, is studying disparities in access to and outcomes of cardiac surgery in Ontario, with a particular emphasis on thoracic aortic disease. While relatively rare, thoracic aortic disease is associated with a risk of dissection, which is a highly fatal condition that typically requires emergency surgical care. Through an understanding of populations at risk for disparities and the identification of specific barriers to cardiac surgical care, Dominique seeks to further study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of health systems interventions to more timely detect individuals with thoracic aortic disease and mitigate disparities in cardiac surgical care for patients who need it.

See the complete listing of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships.