The past year has been fruitful with continued efforts to deliver on the research priorities outlined in the Faculty’s strategic plan. The following achievements would not have been feasible without the Faculty's support and dedication.

Interdisciplinary health research across schools: The schools of Human Kinetics, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, and Nursing successfully hosted their first joint Health Sciences Research Day, featuring over 200 oral and poster presentations, and fostering meaningful networking. A keynote by Distinguished Professor Emerita Nancy Edwards illustrated the innovative use of theatrical performance as a knowledge mobilization strategy. In addition, the Faculty and School of Nutrition Sciences co-hosted a research seminar presented by 4^th year undergraduate student Sarah Becker and restaurateur Stephen Beckta discussing their research on the “just in time” meal services at The Ottawa Hospital, embracing the principle that Food is medicine. The Faculty’s Awards Ceremony featured mission-driven research by inviting professors from each school to present their research addressing pressing societal and health challenges together with community partners.

Record-breaking research funding: Faculty members received an unprecedented $14.6 million in external operational funding in 2025-2026. Research capacity was further strengthened with the recruitment and proposal development for four new Canada Research Chairs, while also navigating the timely submission of an Impact+ Research Chair under Canada’s investment to recruit top-tier international researchers. Furthermore, one Faculty member obtained a University Research Chair, and two additional Chairs were renewed. Notably, all newly recruited researchers who submitted a proposal to the competitive internal Seed program this year were funded; meanwhile, six early-career researchers who were Seed grant recipients from 2022–2024 have already leveraged this early support to secure $1.7 million in external Tri-Council funding.

Enhancing research infrastructure: Recent funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation supported the establishment of two new laboratories focused on telerehabilitation modalities and on leveraging AI, digital health and advanced analytics for risk prediction. Lobbying efforts led to the acquisition of an institutional REDCap instance to enable secure data collection, offer storage capacity, and provide the same secure web application for online survey used by affiliated research institutes. Acknowledging a gap in infrastructure support, a new cost-sharing initiative has been launched to assist researchers in maintaining existing facilities. Updated research space policies now include annual reviews and considerations for reassigning research space. New health and safety officers are helping strengthen safe environments for all three campuses. We continue to refine student workstation assignments to better respond to the needs of research teams.

Strengthening research partnerships with hospitals: Through the Ottawa Academic Health Network, we continued to identify barriers to research collaboration. This led to the creation of a new pathway to enable scientists from affiliated research institutes to obtain status-only professor positions within the Faculty. Our advocacy also contributed to improvements with Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) ethics processes, including a streamlined application template and clearer French-language requirements. 

A collective commitment to research excellence: A strong team effort is behind this progress; I extend sincere thanks to the Research Committee for their vital contributions to peer-reviewing internal funding proposals, sharing strategic insight and supporting research advancement. 

Looking ahead: I am happy to serve a second term as Vice-Dean Research, following a one-year academic leave. I sincerely want to thank Dr. Linda McLean who has accepted to be the Interim Vice-Dean, Research during this time. Together with the Research Office, we will continue to advance our shared commitment to research excellence and demonstrate that Health Research Matters.