Research Day Returns to Showcase Health Research in Northwestern Ontario
October 8th, 2019 by Marcello Bernardo
After a successful debut in 2018, a local event designed to showcase health research returned for another year.
The second annual Research Day took place October 4th at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (the Hospital) and provided attendees interested in health research with valuable information, skills-building and networking opportunities.
Research Day is a collaboration between the Hospital and its research arm, the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.
Highlights of this event included a special keynote presentation from Dr. Patrick McGrath, (‘Translating Research to Patient Care’), a panel discussion (‘Using seed funding to leverage research for patient care’) presentations by researchers, poster displays, and workshops for attendees.
“We’re excited to shine the spotlight on the work of our researchers,” said Jean Bartkowiak, President and CEO of the Hospital and CEO of the Health Research Institute. “A robust health research program is vital to advancing our academic mission but more importantly, to improve the safety and quality of care and ultimately, the health of the population we serve. It provides patients with the opportunity to participate in research activity that helps design the care of the future.”
The theme for this year’s event was ‘Moving Research to Patient Care: From Bench to Bedside’.
“High quality health care is driven by high quality research,” said Dr. Valerie Grdisa, Executive Vice President, Research, Quality & Academics and Chief Nursing Executive at the Hospital. “Researchers at our Hospital and the Health Research Institute are undertaking a wide range of basic and applied health research with the aim of improving the lives of those living in Northwestern Ontario.”
The 2019 edition of Research Day focused on the importance of translating research into patient care and provides an opportunity for communicating the value of research to the patient and health sciences community.
Translational research applies findings from basic science to enhance human health and well-being. It aims to “translate” findings in fundamental research into medical practice and meaningful health outcomes. Translational research implements a “bench-to-bedside”, from laboratory experiments through clinical trials to point-of-care patient applications model, harnessing knowledge from basic sciences to produce new drugs, devices, and treatment options for patients. The end point of translational research is the production of a promising new treatment that can be used with practical applications that can then be used clinically or are able to be commercialized.
For a summary about this year’s Research Day, visit www.tbrhri.ca/researchday2019