Strategic Plan 2015 - 2020

Kyle Marr
Senior Communications Specialist - Internal
(403) 473-6049| kyle.marr@ucalgary.ca

Bridge Funding Program ensures success of Cumming School researchers

In 2013, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) announced changes to their Open Operating Grant competitions. Knowing the impact these changes would have on our researchers, the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) expanded the school’s Bridge Funding Program to assist applicants who were highly ranked, but unsuccessful in their grant applications.

“Originally, the Bridge Funding Program existed to provide support for renewal grants only,” said Ray Turner, PhD, Associate Dean, Research Grants. “The program is now able to help researchers who score close to the cutoff defined by CIHR, but are unsuccessful in a given competition to proceed to the next round of grant applications, or get new projects off the ground. Any researcher with a primary appointment in the Cumming School are eligible and considered for bridge funding based on scores provided by CIHR review panels on project or foundation grant applications.”

“It can take a lot of time and cost a lot of money to apply for grants – whether that’s reapplying or applying for the first time,” continued Turner. “Our researchers shouldn’t be put in a position where they lose their momentum or need to choose between a current or new project. We want to provide the necessary tools for them to try and secure additional grants and to try new things.”

Funding for the program during the CIHR transition period was provided by the CSM, the University of Calgary Medical Group (UCMG), and Alberta Innovates. To date, a total of $1.97 million has been provided by the CSM and the UCMG, and 58 bridge grants awarded. The program has resulted in a gain of more than 11 times that amount, with CSM researchers receiving $23,381,067 in CIHR funding.

In May 2015, Dr. Bryan Yipp, assistant professor with the CSM’s Department of Critical Care Medicine, gained CIHR funding for five years. According to Yipp, the path to this success can be traced back to the bridge grant he received from the UCMG in 2014.

“Work from my lab was recently published in Science Immunology,” said Yipp. “This publication wouldn’t have been possible without the bridge support I received from the UCMG. This early support gave me the boost I needed to secure my CIHR grant, which then enabled me to pursue big projects and impactful publications. Support for projects like this one is critical, as they take time. Only now, three years after receiving help, is the return on investment becoming clear.”

Sarah McFarlane, PhD, a professor with the CSM’s Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, has a similar story. “I received two rounds of funding thanks to the program; one in 2014 and the other in 2015,” said McFarlane. “The support allowed me to keep my lab operational, to publish papers, to train grad students. I was able to generate preliminary data, which enabled me to secure funding from The Foundation Fighting Blindness in 2015. That funding was crucial as I went through several rounds in the new CIHR project system.”

 “I was able to secure CIHR funding during this last competition in May,” McFarlane continued. “That was made possible because of the Bridge Funding Program. The program is essential because it ensures success.”

For more information on the CSM’s Bridge Funding Program, including how to apply, contact Jenna Slobozian, Research Facilitator, at jslobozi@ucalgary.ca.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jon Meddings
Dean, Cumming School of Medicine

Dr. Ray Turner
Associate Dean, Research Grants

Equity and Professionalism | Diversity in Action working group 

One of the most significant festivals in Indian culture is called Diwali. It is a festival of lights where homes are lit up with oil lamps, or “diyas,” and light triumphs over darkness.

In the spirit of enlightening ourselves on active diversity and inclusion, our Equity and Professionalism Office has developed a working group called Diversity in Action, or DiA. The DiA group will advise the Cumming School of Medicine’s (CSM) leadership team on how we can support the successful and diverse career development of our faculty members, and establish strategies to meet this goal.

“We established the group following last October’s Leadership Retreat,” says Dr. Janet de Groot, Associate Dean, Equity and Professionalism Office, CSM. “Networks and collaboration are often essential to academic satisfaction and success, this includes support from both colleagues and leaders. We’re fortunate that we have a leadership team that recognizes the need to invest and engage in the process of inclusivity.”

The DiA group, which is made up of 13 individuals from across the university, began by researching what has worked for other universities, reviewing past engagement survey results and studying best practices. Currently, the group is focusing on strategies that will be inclusive to all faculty members and may be of particular interest to female faculty members.

Women are generally under-represented in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) fields. Although almost 60 per cent of most Canadian medical classes include women, and approximately 50 to 60 per cent of graduate students are women, women are less likely to enter academic medicine. At the Cumming School, approximately 31 per cent of our full-time faculty are female. The strategies being developed will help ensure we have more diverse role models and will support diverse forms of academic success. Anything learned during this process will be applied to initiatives for other groups.

“Having a committee such as DiA isn’t just something to be celebrated, it’s essential” says Lesley Rigg, PhD, Dean, Faculty of Science. “Recognizing that things don’t happen in silos, there’s a lot of collaboration happening between faculties – for example, medicine and science – as we work to create a bright path for anyone who feels uncomfortable or needs some extra support while pursuing their aspirations. It’s this collaboration that will allow us to succeed.”

We want the Cumming School, and the university, to be a leader when it comes to creating a culture where all faculty members feel welcomed and encouraged to strive for excellence in their career endeavours. The more we recognize diversity and celebrate it, the more inclusive our campus will become.

The group will present its first recommendations to the leadership team in April 2017.

To learn more about the DiA working group, contact Nazia Viceer, Program Manager, Equity and Professionalism Office, at nmviceer1@ucalgary.ca or 403-210-6424.

Indigenous Health Dialogue 

Leadership is the art of taking the path less travelled. But if you take it alone, it means nothing. Good leadership is about taking the path in such a way that people follow you.

When it comes to creating equity in health care, we want to be a leader. More specifically, we want to show others how to close the gaps that exist when it comes to the health of Indigenous people and their communities.  

“We have an obligation to teach our students how to do a better job of working with Indigenous communities and supporting Indigenous patients,” says Dr. Lindsay Crowshoe, associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Indigenous Health Dialogue (IHD) lead. “We’re shaping how they’ll take care of the people in our society, and that includes vulnerable populations.”

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) published 94 calls to action, seven of which are health related. Our IHD team, supported by the Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement office, has spent the last six months looking at how we can respond to these calls.

In early 2016, the IHD team established a working group which has presented to key internal groups such as the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, the department of Community Health Sciences, and our leadership team at the retreat we held in October.

These meetings were used to discuss each of the seven health calls to action and how they relate to the Cumming School of Medicine. Based on those conversations, recommendations in five key areas – research, education, clinical service, leadership, and global response – have been created.

On November 17, at the annual Clarence Guenter Lecture on Global Health, we publically acknowledged our commitment by participating in a very moving pipe ceremony led by the TRC. Faculty and students joined TRC representatives in a sacred ceremony that symbolized both parties’ renewed partnership in breaking through barriers to health.

“We’re on this journey together,” says Dr. Crowshoe. “We’ll work together to engage with Indigenous peoples, communities and key stakeholders. It’s going to take time to build the necessary relationships, but the end result will be a stronger, healthier future.”

Our IHD team is currently working on implementing mechanisms that will allow us to receive feedback from a broader audience. Gathering input from both internal and external partners will allow us to tailor our approach.

Please watch for ways to share your thoughts, and take the opportunity to voice them. Doing so will help shape the direction of this work, and ultimately help us in becoming a leader in Indigenous health.

Equity and Professionalism 

Our Equity and Professionalism Office is dedicated to enhancing an inclusive, diverse and appreciative culture of professionalism at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM).

Within the CSM’s five-year strategic plan, the main focus around diversity is for our students and their academic/clinical role models to reflect Alberta’s diversity.

In support of this objective, our Equity and Professionalism Office has joined a cross-campus network led by Dr. Valerie Pruegger and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Protected Disclosure (ODEPD) to host events and training opportunities, develop policy, and energize faculty, staff and students towards the ultimate goal of making the University of Calgary one of the most diverse, welcoming campuses in Canada.

“The ODEPD is excited to work in partnership with the Cumming School of Medicine on its diversity and inclusion initiatives. Fostering a welcoming and inclusive campus is the responsibility of all of us and it is wonderful to see the Cumming School take a leadership role in this area,” says Dr. Valerie Pruegger, Director, ODEPD.

This spring, the network hosted a Deep diversity: Uncovering our bias and blind spots workshop in connection with the larger Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education conference. The workshop featured award-winning educator Shakil Choudry and was designed to increase awareness of the composition of the university’s academic faculty and to teach participants how to actively employ practices that contribute to enhancing diversity, specifically in the context of recruitment/retention activities.

“This workshop opened my eyes,” says Dr. J. MacPherson, Deputy Head, Professional Affairs, Department of Paediatrics. “I think of myself as someone who is open and inclusive, yet I realized as we worked through this topic that at some level we all have a bias that we must work consciously to overcome.”

The CSM follows the University of Calgary’s Employment Equity Policy and is equally committed to achieving fair and representative inclusion of Alberta’s diverse workforce within the school. Please review the policy. Also, resources to help search committees undertake practices to ensure a more diverse application pool for academic positions are now available through Human Resources.  

Finally, the CSM’s Diversity Action Group is working on a number of projects at Foothills Campus. This group’s members are students, staff and faculty volunteers from CSM and main campus. Please contact Nazia Viceer, Equity and Professionalism Program Manager, for more information or if you are interested in becoming a member.

By working together we will ensure an inclusive and diverse teaching, learning and work environment at the Cumming School.

Key Performance Indicators 

It’s been a year since we introduced our 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. Over the past 12 months, we have developed a comprehensive matrix of action items and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will track our progress against the plan.

Action items and KPIs have been developed under each of our strategic pillars: people, platforms and partnerships. They target objectives connected to faculty renewal and development, novel approaches to teaching and learning, pan-institute research initiatives, and strengthening linkages with our community.

Some of these action items include:

With the KPIs in place, we are committed to sharing annual progress reports within the school and with our external stakeholders.

Strategic Plan Key Performance Indicators (PDF) – Updated February 9, 2016

Bachelor of Health Sciences Enhanced Summer Research Program 

In line with our commitment to enhance the research and learning opportunities available to our undergraduate students, the Cumming School of Medicine is pleased to announce enhanced support for the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) O’Brien Centre Summer Studentships program.

One of the defining characteristics of the BHSc degree is its emphasis on knowledge creation through participation in health sciences research; this student research priority distinguishes it from similar undergraduate programs at universities across Canada. 

Since the program’s inception, funds have been available to support summer health research activities through these studentships, originally funded and still supported by the gift from David and Gail O’Brien that established the O’Brien Centre for the BHSc.

With this enhancement, full stipends of $1,500/per month for the four-month summer research period will be available to 50 BHSc students. This represents an increase in total funding and a shift in the funding model that previously required supervisors to contribute to the studentship.

As part of a comprehensive student support program, these research studentships will help encourage students to pursue work experience in a broad range of research environments, highlighting the importance placed on research and hands-on learning.

Indigenous Health Dialogue 

The Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) is very pleased to announce the launch of an Indigenous Health Dialogue (IHD) within the Office of the Associate Dean, Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement.

The IHD is mandated to support the CSM in achieving its commitment to improving the health of Indigenous persons and communities. Under the leadership of Dr. Lindsay Crowshoe and Rita Henderson, PhD, the IHD will work to build upon and better connect existing Indigenous health initiatives within the CSM, create new opportunities and programming, and facilitate the development of critical institutional policies and processes within the school.

“The Indigenous Health Dialogue complements our existing programs and will help guide our future direction,” says Dr. Lindsay Crowshoe.

Examples of existing Indigenous health activities at the Cumming School of Medicine

Aboriginal Health Program (AHP) 
The Aboriginal Health Program has been working to train medical students and faculty regarding Aboriginal health, and to recruit, support and train Aboriginal students as physicians since its inception in 2008. The AHP also aims to promote awareness of, and advocate for, First Nations, Métis and Inuit health issues within the Cumming School of Medicine.

Group for Research with Aboriginal Peoples for Health (GRAPH)
The mandate of GRAPH is to encourage population and public health research that aids the Aboriginal community in achieving well-being. Through activities supported by the O’Brien Institute of Public Health, the goal is to help create, reinforce and sustain conditions conducive to healing, reconciliation and self-determination.

“I welcome the Cumming School’s Indigenous Health Dialogue initiative and look forward to working closely with these leaders as we move forward as a university to develop our Aboriginal institutional strategy,” says Dru Marshall, PhD, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), University of Calgary.

Over the next three years, the IHD will be working collaboratively with internal and external partners on developing best practices, setting goals and building institutional capacity to respond to community input, and to bring these activities together under a single strategic plan for Indigenous health at the Cumming School.

Indigenous Health Dialogue Leadership Bios 

Dr. Lynden (Lindsay) Crowshoe is a family physician and associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary. His research is focused on chronic disease, inequity, health-care models and medical education with regards to Aboriginal populations. He provides care to the urban Aboriginal population of Calgary from the Elbow River Healing Lodge, an Alberta Health Services primary health service. He is also the director of the Undergraduate Medical Education Aboriginal Health Program. 

Rita Henderson, PhD, is an anthropologist and post-doctoral fellow with the O’Brien Institute of Public Health and the Aboriginal Health Program. Her teaching and research interests focus on structural violence, leadership and health promotion among marginalized youth, and addressing conditions of social inequality. 

Both Dr. Crowshoe and Dr. Henderson are members of GRAPH.

Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement Leadership Appointments 

Reflecting our commitment to being responsive, relevant and accountable to our communities locally and globally, the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) is pleased to announce the expansion of the Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement (SPaCE) team.

This expansion will allow the Cumming School to build on existing strengths, programs and the commitment of our faculty and students to create a collaborative portfolio for community engagement locally and globally. New and re-appointed team members collectively possess a wealth of leadership experience and have a demonstrated passion for community engagement.

The SPaCE expansion supports our strategic objective of increasing research and education beyond our campus, and our goals of creating engaged citizens and increasing engagement with communities.

SPaCE Leadership Appointments:

The expansion coincides with the launch of several initiatives from SPaCE’s community engagement strategy, including:

Appointee Bios

Assistant Dean, Global Health Education Development
Dr. Gwen Hollaar | Associate Professor, Departments of Surgery and Community Health Sciences
Dr. Hollaar graduated from medical school at the University of Alberta and completed her residency in General Surgery at the University of Calgary. She completed an MPH in International Health at Johns Hopkins University. She works as a general surgeon through the Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary. She has also been heavily involved in medical and surgical education both in Calgary and abroad.

Director, Community Engagement
Dr. Martin LaBrie | Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Dr. LaBrie is a palliative consulting physician with the Palliative Consult Service, Alberta Health Services – Calgary Zone. He is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education at the Cumming School of Medicine and at the Faculty of Nursing, and is active in continuing medical education and professional development for health professions. His current interests include the provision of palliative care services for homeless and marginalized individuals, and the development of palliative care capacity in communities. Dr. LaBrie has been involved in these activities in southern Alberta, British Columbia and Burkina Faso in western Africa.

Director, International Partnerships
With a focus on global health research partnerships and international student success
Guido van Marle, PhD | Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Dr. van Marle is a molecular virologist whose work focuses on the pathogenesis of viral infections, in particular HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B virus infection. He is also the director of Biomedical Sciences for the Bachelor of Health Sciences program. Over the years, he has been very involved in research and educational capacity building activities in Ethiopia and Nicaragua for the global health program within the Cumming School of Medicine.

Director, Policy and Strategic Partnerships
With a focus on policy engagement with our local communities
Dr. Aleem Bharwani | Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Dr. Bharwani is a specialist in internal medicine with graduate training from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in public policy and public administration. Since joining the Cumming School of Medicine, he has developed a successful mentorship program, directed the Medical Teaching Unit (in affiliation with W21C), co-developed an onboarding program for new faculty recruits, and co-developed a leadership development training program for associate deans, department heads and emerging leaders. He is the only Canadian winner of both the prestigious American College of Physicians’ Joseph E Johnson leadership award, and the Society of General Internal Medicine’s leadership award.

Bachelor of Health Sciences Scholarship Program Expansion

In line with the our commitment to enhancing the educational opportunities of our undergraduate students, the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) is pleased to announce the expansion of the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) entrance and continuing scholarship programs.

The expansion, effective for the 2015/16 academic year, doubles the number of BHSc Excellence Awards ($7,000 each) to eight, and increases the number of BHSc Admission Awards ($1,500 each) from 10 to 15 annually. Additionally, four BHSc Continuing Awards ($7,000) will now be funded, up from just one award offered in each of the past few years. The scholarships will be distributed over the three BHSc streams: Biomedical Sciences, Bioinformatics, and Health and Society.

“I had the honour of receiving the O’Brien Continuing Scholarship at the start of my fourth year in Biomedical Sciences,” says Winston Yuen. “Throughout my undergrad, I had opportunities to travel to Africa to understand global health and social justice issues, engage in philosophy classes that sharpened my critical thinking, and utilize problem-solving skills in cancer and immunology research projects. These experiences have helped to develop my identity and have spurred my passion to improve the health and well-being of others.”

Our BHSc program offers a scholarly and trans-disciplinary undergraduate learning environment characterized by inquiry-based learning. The research intensive nature of the program fosters high-impact experiences that increase both student engagement and performance.

BHSc entrance and continuing awards have been in place since the inception of the program, originally funded and, in many cases, still supported by the gift from David and Gail O’Brien that established the O’Brien Centre for the Bachelor of Health Sciences. These awards play a key role in attracting the best and brightest students to the Cumming School of Medicine.

Centre for Health Genomics and Informatics 

In support of the Cumming School of Medicine's (CSM) pan-institute initiatives in precision medicine strategic priority, the CSM is pleased to announce $5 million in funding towards the creation of the Centre for Health Genomics and Informatics. Funding dollars will be applied to core technology and academic expertise in informatics.

The creation of the Centre will formalize collaborative research and service relationships between the Cumming School of Medicine; the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI); the Southern Alberta Cancer Research Institute (SACRI); the university-wide Infection, Inflammation and Chronic Disease research theme (IICD); the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine; and Alberta Health Services.

The Centre will increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, foster a robust training experience for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and lead the development of a University of Calgary Eyes High strategic plan for genomics and informatics that will incorporate bio-sampling capacity and support this with an enhanced effort for clinical phenotyping, extensive data linkage and analytics capacity.

With financial support from the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation and the CSM, ACHRI has built a genomics-bioinformatics platform that supports research programs and individual investigators within institutes across the school and across the university.

"We are incredibly grateful to the generous people in our community who supported the initial vision of the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute to create a genomics facility here in Calgary," says Saifa Koonar, President and CEO of the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation. " They -- and all of our research donors -- are true catalysts in helping to move medicine forward."

ACHRI will coordinate the partners in the Centre and will provide leadership in the field of rare genetic disorders; SACRI will lead in translational cancer genetics; the IICD will provide leadership in a research program focused around the relationships between the enteric microbiome, inflammation and chronic disease; and researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will take the lead in animal health and comparative medicine research.

A potential relationship with Alberta Health Services' Genetic Laboratory Services will focus on human genetic research and translational research directed at the development of diagnostic testing procedures.

Research conducted using existing genomics technology has already identified rare diseases, and is changing clinical practice through earlier diagnosis, new diagnostic technology, and by modifying treatment pathways to be more effective in the care of children and patients with cancer.

"The Centre is a cornerstone initiative for the CSM, supporting both top caliber biomedical research while also positioning our students, researchers, and clinicians to be leaders in development of precision medicine," says Dr. Francois Bernier, head, Department of Medical Genetics.

As a core service facility, the Centre will report to the CSM's Centre for Advanced Technology; the overall direction for the Centre will be provided by an Operational Oversight Committee.

DRAFT Memorandum of Understanding - Cumming School of Medicine Centre for Health Genomics and Informatics

New Undergraduate Medical Education Scholarship Program 

In line with our strategic priority to build upon and lead a socially responsive mandate to support medical school applicants from underserved populations, we are pleased to announce the creation of a new Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) Scholarship Program.

Administered through the UME Admissions Office, these scholarships create an opportunity for learners under-represented within our medical school to access a ‘pre-med’ program directly out of high school.

Learners in the program will complete their undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary, while benefitting from mentorship within the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and a supportive program to supplement their education. After rigorous, pre-defined criteria are met, applicants will be guaranteed admission to the MD program following successful completion of their undergraduate degree.

A CSM clinical faculty member will act in a mentorship role, a mentor from the student’s community of origin will be identified and an MD student from a similar background will act as a peer mentor.

“This program represents a chance for the CSM to focus its attentions upstream,” says Dr. Ian Walker, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, UME. “And to assist in creating rather than just evaluating qualified MD applicants.”

The scholarship or pipeline will fund four consecutive years of student intake for five participants per year beginning in the 2016/17 academic year. Information will be broadly available this fall.

The CSM is committed to increasing engagement with our communities. The pipeline program is rooted in the results of the faculty-wide Keys to Success survey in which support for access for under-represented populations was ranked the second highest priority for education overall.

Pathways to Medicine Scholarship Program

Cumming School of Medicine/ Alberta Health Services Clinical Research Fund 

The Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and Alberta Health Services (AHS) are pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for University of Calgary (UC) investigators. This opportunity will support the Eyes High strategic vision of leadership in high impact clinical research at UC and promote the objectives of AHS strategy for research innovation and analytics.

Key goals for this fund:

Funds will be available to support high impact clinical studies that improve health or influence clinical practice and health-care delivery. Seed funding and funds for planning and pilot work will also be available to support high quality research that will be competitive for peer-reviewed funding and/or partnerships with industry.

Applications will be adjudicated by a CSM review committee using CIHR review criteria and input from external peer reviewers as required.

The deadline for the inaugural grant competition will be October 1, 2015, and will include applications for major grants (up to $300,000 per team) and seed funding (up to $50,000 per team). Matching funds are required for major grants. Funds for planning and pilot grants are available as of today.

Total funds available for this competition will be at least $800,000.

Cumming School of Medicine / Alberta Health Services Clinical Research Fund Program

Cumming School of Medicine Leadership Development Program 

In support of the Cumming School of Medicine’s (CSM) strategic commitment to professional development, the school has partnered with the university’s Haskayne School of Business to create a Leadership Development Program specifically for medicine faculty members. The first cohort of 20 participants completed the program on April 10.

Haskayne’s Executive Education team created the purpose-built offering by pulling cases and course work from their MBA program and instructors from all levels within the business school to give participants the opportunity to learn and develop new leadership skills.

A team of program advisors including Dr. Chris Eagle, Dr. Tom Feasby, Dr. Kabir Jivraj, Naweed Syed, PhD, and Dr. John Kortbeek advised on the design of the program and were present throughout for guidance.

“I was quite taken with the Cumming School wanting to develop this program for its leaders,” says Eagle. “This says a lot about the school being a nurturing environment. Whether you’re an undergrad, graduate or medical student; faculty member, senior faculty, this is a faculty interested in developing its own people, and for good reason, to make it a better school.”

Participants developed action learning plans to initiate desired changes in their respective units, making the program practical and relevant, and received extensive coaching from Haskayne faculty in the development of their plans.

"We believe that great schools produce, develop, and support great leaders,” says Hugh Evans, Director, Executive Education, Haskayne School of Business. “The CSM/Haskayne partnership promotes great leadership by involving CSM physicians, scientists, and educators in a six-month program focused on the theory and practice of exemplary leadership.

“This highly participative experience has encouraged a group of talented leaders to think about, discuss and implement leadership practices that will impact the CSM and the delivery of health education, medical research and clinical services throughout the province."

Organizers on both sides of the collaboration are eager to tailor the program for future learners based on initial experiences. The Cumming School’s long-term goal is to create custom versions of the program designed for faculty members at different stages in their careers with an emphasis on getting people the skills they need at the right time in their development.

Cumming School of Medicine Research Enhancement Program

In support of the Professional Development strategic priority at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and the University of Calgary, the Office of the Associate Dean Research (OADR) has created the Cumming School of Medicine Research Enhancement Program. The program is designed to increase the competitive edge of faculty who are in the pursuit of research funding.

The OADR will consider requests for up to $5,000 to provide Principal Investigators with new knowledge or targeted research skills that could increase success with future grant applications or major publications.

The program is initially offering to fund tuition for up to 10 Principal Investigators to enroll in the Canadian Light Microscopy Course, hosted by the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, July 13 to 17, 2015. Researchers may also be interested in the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops (May/June 2015).

The Research Enhancement Program is open to primary members of the CSM at all career stages, with an aim to increase our research capacity by maintaining a competitive edge in technical knowledge and application.

Applications and proposals will be considered immediately and funded on the basis of demonstrated importance to a research program on a first come first served basis until available funds for a given year are invested. Find out more

Cumming School of Medicine Graduate Student Scholarship Program 

Throughout our strategic planning process, stipend support for graduate students was identified as one of the highest priorities for the school in terms of both research and education. In direct response to that feedback and in support of both our strategic plan and the University of Calgary’s Eyes High strategic vision, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) Graduate Student Scholarship Program.

Through a collaborative cost-sharing initiative, the CSM’s Graduate Science Education Office is aiming to recruit and fund 48 graduate students over the next four years. The CSM and the individual graduate supervisor will cost share a $30,000/year stipend for four years of a PhD program (two years for MSc). Funds will be renewed on an annual basis pending demonstration of sufficient progress and compliance with program requirements.

“Talent attraction, development and retention are leading priorities within the university’s academic plan,” says Lisa Young, PhD, Dean and Vice-Provost (Graduate Studies). “The Cumming School’s new scholarship program will enhance the success of our existing Eyes High doctoral scholarships and further promote the recruitment of more top tier graduate students to the University of Calgary.”

Applications for the CSM Graduate Student Scholarship Program will be accepted annually in October, beginning October 2015. Applications will be adjudicated by committee within the CSM. Award administration will be conducted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

“This program demonstrates a major a commitment on behalf of the CSM to maintaining a dynamic research and training environment within the school,” says Tara Beattie, PhD, Associate Dean, Graduate Science Education. “These scholarships are designed to foster excellence; to expand our student base and support CSM graduate students as integral contributors to our research success throughout their academic programs.” Application Information

Associate Dean, Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement 

Jennifer Hatfield, PhD, has been appointed Associate Dean, Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement. The appointment was effective December 1, 2014.

This new role, reporting to the Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs, will provide strategic leadership for an overarching portfolio which includes global health, internationalization and community engagement. The position is aligned with the Cumming School of Medicine Strategic Plan 2015-2020 and the university’s international and community engagement strategies.

“We are pleased to welcome Jennifer Hatfield to her new role at the Cumming School of Medicine. Jennifer’s international experience and expertise in community engagement will help advance the university’s Eyes High foundational commitment to fully integrate with our community,” says Diane Kenyon, Vice President, University Relations, University of Calgary.

In her new role, Dr. Hatfield will develop and lead faculty strategies to strengthen and coordinate partnership opportunities and engagement with communities and institutions locally and internationally. Through initiatives targeting research, education and service, she will focus on supporting and growing partnerships that make us relevant, responsive and socially accountable to our broad and diverse communities.

“Our Cumming School is already connected and committed in so many ways to the local and global communities we belong to and serve,” says Dr. Hatfield. “The next phase of our development will see greater support and coordination of the remarkable community focused work being done by our institutes and our passionate faculty, staff and learners, along with new growth. I look forward to this challenge with great enthusiasm.”

Dr. Hatfield leads several innovative research projects around the world. She has been a senior mentor for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, and has been responsible for leading an international team working to promote and improve partnerships between researchers in Canada and lower income countries as co-chair of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research Group on Global Health Research Partnerships. Prior to joining the Cumming School in 2005, she was a consultant to the then Calgary Health Region in the area of health promotion for seniors and immigrant communities in Calgary.

As a social scientist, Dr. Hatfield has played an integral role in the development and leadership of the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) Health and Society Program and led the creation and implementation of the BHSc Global Health Program, the first of its kind in Canada.

Her research interests include gender research, developing equitable and effective research and education partnerships with institutions in low and middle income countries; maternal child health and One Health initiatives.

Cumming Postdoctoral Scholar Program

As part of the Cumming School of Medicine’s (CSM) Strategic Plan and in support of the University of Calgary’s Eyes High strategic vision, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Cumming Postdoctoral Scholar Program.   

Through a collaborative cost-sharing initiative with supervisors and the CSM’s seven research institutes, we anticipate contributing to salary support for up to 100 Postdoctoral Scholars (PDS) over the next five years. Top PDS will be offered up to three year’s salary support at $50,000 per year.

“As the roadmaps to our Eyes High vision, the university’s academic and research plans emphasize the importance of attracting the best scholars, providing them with professional training opportunities, and ensuring successful career trajectories,” says Ed McCauley, PhD, Vice-President (Research). “The new Cumming Postdoctoral Scholar Program is perfectly aligned with our ongoing commitment to investing in these scholars and our research enterprise.”

Applications for postdoctoral funding are made through the Research Institutes and will be considered for the Cumming Postdoctoral Scholar Program throughout the year. The CSM’s Office of the Associate Dean Research will oversee administration of the CSM component of the program.

“The strength of any research program is based on the training and abilities of the people in the lab,” says Ray Turner, PhD, Associate Dean, Research Grants. “This investment is designed to bolster our research productivity and effectiveness by recruiting the best PDS trainees and further developing a record for providing a high caliber training environment for both research and professional development.” More