With academic success, innovation and new faces, a wave of momentum is building at the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences. Administrators and six professors are beginning a new chapter at Montpetit Hall. This move is more than a change of address — it’s an opportunity to strengthen our ties and collaborations with our colleagues in the School of Human Kinetics. We’re also delighted to welcome Kathleen Lemire, our new administrative assistant for undergraduate studies, and Komlan Kota, who is rejoining us as a long-term appointment part-time professor. In terms of research, school professors received over 20 grants this year. 

We should also mention that our revamped master’s has been a success. We received six times more applications for admission than in preceding years. Students will be able to take the program in English or in French and are free to choose a two-year path with thesis or a one-year master’s focused on practice and the workplace. 

In undergraduate studies, we’re pushing boundaries by establishing a partnership with Canadian University Dubai (CUD). Undergraduate students can complete their studies in a program at the school after two years of study at CUD. The school is innovating by implementing online courses in English and in French accessible to health-care professionals. 

Finally, we’re proud that the 2025 uOttawa Co-op Student of the Year Award went to Maggie Divok, a fourth-year interdisciplinary health sciences bachelor’s student.

The School of Human Kinetics made a major contribution to raising the profile of the University, which continues to shine among elite universities in the field of sport studies. The University currently ranks sixth in Canada and an impressive 29th in the QS world rankings of sport-related programs. These results speak to our outstanding teaching, research quality and major contribution to uOttawa’s international standing. 

This year was also characterized by our remarkable capacity to adapt. The school recorded a record number of admissions to bachelor’s programs, an achievement that reflects the reputation of our teaching. This growth also represented a challenge, making us adjust our practices and advocate for realistic admissions thresholds, consistent with our resources and our desire to maintain optimal learning conditions. Thanks to the involvement of the administration and of all members, we were able to deal with this pressure while working to become more selective and continually improve our program quality. 

Concerted efforts and a strategic development plan presented to senior administration allowed the school to receive major investments, which helped to update our physiology teaching labs and improve spaces dedicated to biomechanics. The move of biomechanics to the Lees campus, planned for this summer, will allow us to host the fall 2026 cohort in renovated, optimized facilities. These changes will also free up new space for the anatomy laboratory, which will have its long-awaited move as well. 

The school is also beginning a new cyclical program review. Management is actively preparing for it, having already participated in different training sessions. It will continue this work with rigour and conviction to ensure continuous improvement of our programs. Following the school’s successful retreat last year, management decided to organize a full day of workshops and discussion with members to go with the annual general meeting. The initiative promises to once again be very rewarding and could well become a tradition. It will also allow us to gather valuable data and encourage discussions on our programs, program evaluation and continual improvement. 

We are very pleased to welcome two new professors, Kerri Bodin (sport management) and Julie Côté (Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Neuro-musculoskeletal Aspects of Movement). These new colleagues have enhanced our expertise and strengthened our teaching and research offerings. We are also delighted to have received approval for a new position in motor control, for which we expect to recruit in 2027 — excellent news for our school’s development!

At the School of Nutrition Sciences, 2025–2026 was marked by major progress both in terms of its teaching and research mission and in terms of organization. In a situation where training needs are evolving, practices are being updated and new promotional opportunities are being created, the school continued working to offer a high-performance, inclusive and innovative learning, work and research environment.

Among high-impact achievements, the rigorous, well co-ordinated transition to a new dietetics program bears mentioning. Integrating first-year students in the new second-year sequence has optimized their academic path, and affected cohorts have been able to meet their program requirements as of the end of the winter term, a term earlier than under the previous sequence.

The school also continued to bring about changes in its training offerings. Work related to revamping of undergraduate programs, creation of new courses and development of microprograms in nutrition and food science (Introduction to Nutrition Sciences and Food, Nutrition, and Health) speaks to our desire to offer more flexible and timely paths, better adapted to student needs.

These efforts have been accompanied by initiatives to better publicize our programs and learning environments. We produced a video promoting the Honours Bachelor of Science in Food Sciences, to highlight the universal scope of the field, along with learning options offered and potential careers in food sciences. The networking funds for promotion of French-language programs also allowed us to host several Francophone high schools on campus and in our laboratories, giving students the opportunity to discover nutrition and food science.

Research also featured prominently in the profile of the school. Nutrition Research Day 2026, looking at recent advances in food, nutrition and mental health, is part of the University’s nutrition and mental health initiative. The event highlighted research at the school on the connections between food, the gut microbiota and mental health, while encouraging dialogue between professors, research trainees and students. This year, the school also began a series of twice-weekly Lunch and Learn seminars, offering a friendly space to discuss ongoing research, spur scholarly exchanges and strengthen ties within our community.

Organizationally-speaking, consolidating laboratory activities was a major achievement. Regularizing the senior specialist, laboratory support, position has strengthened operational continuity, laboratory safety and support for teaching staff and students.