May 22, 2013 - Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced today that Laurentian University has received a Health System Research Fund Program award (HSRF). The research program will focus on transforming health policy, systems and practice to improve health equity for vulnerable and special health needs populations in northern Ontario.
Laurentian University will receive $3.4M over three years. The program involves researchers at Laurentian's Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (CRaNHR) as well as the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
"People in this region have poorer health status and face unique challenges due to culture and geography," said Dr. Wayne Warry, Director of the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research. "This applied research aims to improve access, delivery, and quality of care across ages, genders, ethnicities and cultures."
The program has a research focus on rural, remote, Aboriginal and Francophone populations and examines health professionals and telemedicine as a means to improve quality of care. Specific research projects will develop a culturally safe model of health care for Aboriginal adults and seniors; adapt and implement an Aboriginal child and youth health measure to inform evidence-based decision-making; and assess the quality and provision of medical care to Francophones.
"This is a very exciting time for Laurentian University's research community," said Bartolucci. "This funding will provide our scientific teams with the financial stability and the research capacity required to tackle key challenges facing our health care system."
Laurentian's CRaNHR was one of 11 successful programs funded, from a group of almost 200 applicants. The HSRF Program Awards provide strategic three-year investments to policy relevant programs in health research that focus on identified government priorities.
Faculty investigators include Drs. Alain Gauthier, Dr. Kristen Jacklin, Roger Strasser, Wayne Warry, Elizabeth Wenghofer and Nancy Young. This program will also support student engagement in Health Research (Ma and Ph.D. - Sophia Kam).