2019 HP-I awardees will unite patient care and research to improve the health of British Columbians

15 August 2019

Eleven clinicians have been awarded funding in MSFHR’s 2019 Health Professional-Investigator (HP-I) competition to conduct research and apply evidence within BC’s health system to improve patient care.

Each will receive funding for up to five years to support research focused on answering questions arising from their clinical practice. This year’s recipients specialize in a range of disciplines including respiratory medicine, emergency medicine, oncology, infectious disease, and mood disorders.

“The Health Professional-Investigator Program was designed to address a gap in the system where clinicians directly responsible for patient care need support to undertake complex research projects,” says Dr. Bev Holmes, president & CEO. “This year’s award recipients are doing just that with projects that range from exploring virtual reality as a tool to improve memory and problem-solving in people with depression to improving survival from opioid-related cardiac arrest.”

After every competition cycle, MSFHR reviews its programs to ensure they are meeting the needs of the BC health and health research community. We share this data with stakeholders to better understand barriers and opportunities and make necessary program adjustments. MSFHR has three years of data for the HP-I program and our analysis tells us that the program is supporting important and potentially impactful projects, but there is an opportunity to extend the reach of the program to additional clinical groups as well as across the province. We will continue to talk with academic and health authority stakeholders about adjustments that may enable a more diverse range of clinicians and geographic locations.