The LIFE Research Institute is continuing to grow! We now have more than 200 active members and 318 subscribers to our newsletter. We are so grateful for all the support and encouragement that we have received from our members and community partners in the past year. In 2025–2026, we organized seven talks and other events. 

• September 18, 2025: In collaboration with the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health, we organized a half-day event focused on advancing education and action around social isolation and loneliness in older adults. 
• October 26, 2025: We hosted Rylee Oram, who presented tools and strategies for navigating the challenges related to Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and building strength across the lifespan.
• November 20, 2025: For the first time, we held an event in the community titled Hearing Loss: Awareness, Support and Care. The event was delivered by two graduate students of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Fereshteh Ahmadi and George Danful.
• January 26 to 30, 2026: We held our 5-Day Healthy Living Challenge. The theme this year was overcoming social isolation. Each day, one of our team members proposed a challenge to promote social connection. We also took this opportunity to present some of our team members.
• February 25, 2026: In partnership with the uOttawa Human Rights Research and Education Centre and Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, we hosted Professor Mary Helen McSweeney-Feld, a Fullbright Scholar from Virginia Commonwealth University, who delivered a presentation titled Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Provincial and Indigenous Trends and Human Rights Perspectives.
• February 26, 2026: In collaboration with the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, we organized a half-day event called AI and Digital Literacy: Impact on Contemporary Society.
• March 27, 2026: In partnership with Kobe University, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), the Research Institute for Science and Technology (RISTEX) at JST and RISTEX’s Solution Driven Co-Creative R&D Program for the SDGs (Preventing Social Isolation and Loneliness and Creating Diversified Social Networks), we organized a half-day conference about mental health and wellness in older adults living in Canada and Japan. We learned how climate change, nutrition, housing and community affect us at every stage of life.
• May 5, 2026: We held our annual general meeting, on the theme of Living Forward: Housing for Life’s Changing Needs. 

Through these events, we connected and developed partnerships with many new community organizations, like the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health, Canada’s Centre for Digital Media Literacy, Connected Canadians, Men’s Sheds Canada, Chartwell, Perley Health and Rendez-vous des aînés francophones d’Ottawa.

We also posted seven new video shorts on our YouTube channel, with experts sharing knowledge on various topics like homelessness, aging and reproductive rights. We are also collaborating on numerous new research projects. 

Learn more about the LIFE ResearchInstitute.

The Centre for Research on Health and Nursing is a partnership between uOttawa and the Canadian Nurses Association, which aims to foster collaborations between researchers and clinicians to address major issues in health care.

The centre has three research hubs, including Palliative Care and Nursing Ethics (PCNE), Francophonie et santé, and Postcolonial. Through these hubs, scholars with similar interests collaborate through research production and dissemination, activities and student mentorship. The centre also continues to hold monthly events for students and trainees through its community of practice and BIPOC groups.

This year, the centre celebrated the graduation of its scholar at risk, Zahra Hakimi, who completed an undergraduate degree in nursing in tandem with her role at the centre, and co-hosted research rounds with the School of Nursing featured centre members Sadjo Paquita and Sophie Lightfoot.

With a newly-formed relationship with the JBI (formerly known as Joanna Briggs Institute), an international institute specializing in synthesis research, the centre provided support for a project offering methodological guidance for mixed-methods systematic reviews. Through the centre’s support, Kelly Sellwood, a doctoral student at the University of Ottawa, received training in review methodologies and an opportunity to formally participate in the design, execution and dissemination of the study.

PCNE continues to be the most active research hub. Notable highlights from this year include the design of an undergraduate nursing palliative care course and lecture by Dr. Karima Joy.

The centre underwent several changes in leadership, welcoming a new lead for the Francophonie et santé research hub, Mwali Murray, and an interim co-director, Amanda Vandyk.

Learn more about the Centre for Research on Health and Nursing.

Over the past year, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health has made a name for itself as leader in health equity promotion.

• May 16, 2024: The Centre first made its presence felt at Acfas, bringing together researchers and professionals to discuss heath-care issues specific to Black communities.
• June 18, 2024: The Centre launched the Black Women’s Health Initiative, a pioneering effort to strengthen research, care and support regarding Black women’s health.
• June 20, 2024: As part of World Sickle Cell Awareness Day, the Centre, along with the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada, organized a parliamentary breakfast bringing together decision-makers and organizations to advocate for better access to care and for reform of blood donation criteria.
• October 16 to 18, 2024: The Centre held a conference titled Black Mental Health: Reclaiming the Path to Joy, bringing together researchers, artists and community members to discuss mental health from an Afro-centric perspective, rooted in resilience and collective well-being. As well, on October 18, we launched the BlackFit project on diabetes prevention in Black communities, an awareness raising and education initiative focusing on nutrition, physical activity and preventive health care.
• March 20, 2025: The Centre organized a national conference on vaccination in racialized and Indigenous communities, looking at trust, culture and public health practices.

These achievements illustrate the Centre’s growing impact in transforming health-care knowledge, practices and policy for Black communities in Canada.

Learn more about the Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health.

The Music and Health Research Institute (MHRI) has had several achievements over the past year.

• November 5, 2024: The MHRI and the Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research officially inaugurated the Music and Mental Health Research Clinic at the Royal. This initiative aims to integrate music-making in mental health care by demonstrating and validating the well-being benefits of community-based music programs.
• November 7, 2024: An event titled “The Impact of Participatory Music on Mental Health” took place as part of the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue. It was an afternoon of discovery and dialogue with presentations on innovative approaches and a panel discussion with health practitioners, researchers, policymakers and community groups, along with musical performances.
• May 13 to 16, 2025: Our third annual conference took place. The dynamic program, with 30 oral presentations, 11 posters, six roundtables and 11 workshops, highlighted cutting-edge research and outstanding practices from across disciplines. The conference brought together 130 participants from seven Canadian provinces and abroad, resulting in a rich synergy of reflection on musicians’ health and the benefits of music for the health of various populations.
• We organized 19 training sessions and various social events to foster cohesion and support among students, four Student Research in Focus Colloquia (during which students could share their projects and receive feedback from MHRI members) and two Research Toolbox Webinars organized to meet needs expressed by students.

Besides these events, the research partnerships set up since the Institute’s launch have produced their first research results (presented at the MHRI third annual conference in May 2025), including the description of pedagogical approaches in three community music schools in Ontario and British Columbia and the effects of the Opera de Montréal’s workshops on the well-being of people suffering from long COVID or on transgender women.

Learn more about the Music and Health Research Institute.