Our vision is to be one of Canada’s outstanding medical faculties, with world class research in selected areas of expertise and in centres of excellence. On the world stage, we seek to be respected for health research and innovations, as well as, for advancing biomedical knowledge.
From my vantage point, there’s much we can do to achieve our goals starting with encouraging our medical students to pursue a research path throughout their medical education.
I have pledged $100,000 to establish a new program that dovetails on the B.Sc. (Med) program. It will generate a culture of research from the ground up by creating a research entry path beyond Med I. It will be open to Med II, III and IV students and will give second-year students 12-weeks paid summer experience and encourage third- and fourth-year students to pursue or continue research during their clinical training as an eight-week paid elective.
Our physical surrounding also must be focussed on. I have committed $2.5 million to redevelop pharmacology and therapeutics labs and central office space.
Up to $2 million has been set aside to launch a new neurobiology program that will advance the faculty’s reputation in the field of neurosciences-health research and help us attract and retain the best and brightest.
I have also allocated $15,000 toward graduate student travel awards for conferences. We also plan to add a data analyst to our research office team. This will allow us to analyze research capacity, identify gaps and determine effectiveness of the Faculty of Medicine research office.
I have earmarked $1.5 million for a faculty equipment competition. The purpose is to enhance research capacity in the Faculty of Medicine. More details to follow.
Lastly, we are exploring launching a new research magazine, in collaboration with our partners, to highlight excellence in research in the Faculty of Medicine. We want to be able to improve the public’s understanding of research and its implications on their day-to-day lives.
What do you think of research in our faculty and how should we improve it?