Year 6 - Elevating Excellence - Mid-Year Report

WE-SPARK HEALTH INSTITUTE

MAY- OCTOBER

20 24

MID-YEAR REPORT Elevating Excellence

Y6

MID-YEAR

HIGHLIGHTS Highlights are an accumulation from Q1 and Q2.

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE* *Based on self-reported member metrics

$ 2,967,932

52

New funding from Core Principal Members

New research projects initated

49

28

Publications

2

Adjunct appointments facilitated

6

Member awards

Studies in research registry

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 68,694

Engagements

11 Events hosted

90 Student volunteers

5,079 Event attendees

313

(including workshops)

(Social Media & Website)

112

Media stories

MEMBER SUPPORT

(outreach & hosted)

Volunteer hours

GRANTS PROGRAM

229

CITI memberships

20 WE-SPARK grants awarded

370

Active REDCap users

funding $412,714 Grant awarded

113

Total fresh tissue samples acquired for research

11 Grant sponsors

WE-SPARK HEALTH INSTITUTE SITS ON THE TRADITIONAL TERRITORY OF THE THREE FIRES CONFEDERACY OF FIRST NATIONS, COMPRISED OF THE OJIBWA, THE ODAWA, AND THE POTAWATOMI. WE RESPECT THE LONGSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE IN THIS PLACE IN THE 100-MILE WINDSOR-ESSEX PENINSULA AND THE STRAITS - LES DÉTROITS - OF DETROIT.

2

OUR STRATEGIC FOCUS

As we prepare to transition to the new strategic plan, WE-SPARK will continue to support all areas of health research while focusing on 3 priority areas: Cancer, Behavioural and Brain Health, and Community Health and Well-Being.

VISION A thriving and engaged research community driving innovation and advancements in health.

Focus Areas

MISSION Enhance the health, well-being, and care of people through transformative research, evidence-based interventions, and knowledge translation.

CORE MEMBER ACTIVITIES* Our Core Member activities are comprised of Core Principal and Core Associate Members (CPM and CAM). CPMs are WE-SPARK researchers who are currently supported as a PI/Co-PI by a provincial or nationally funded health project, or an investigator initiated clinical trial. CAMs are WE-SPARK researchers who are actively engaged in research, but don’t currently hold a provincial or nationally funded project.

35

49

$11.5 M

Active Core Principal Members

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

Received in External Grant Funding***

598

28

Active Collaborations on Research Projects**

***Funding received by all core members

Awards & Accolades Celebrated

**Involvement on projects and publications **Involvement on projects and publications

*Metrics provided on behalf of our Core Members are based on self-reported successes.

3

20 WE-SPARK GRANT 24 RECIPIENTS Team members and project details can be found at: https://www.wesparkhealth.com/projects.

Effect of Incentive Spirometry on Length of Hospital Stay in NonCritically Ill Patients Admitted to a General Medicine Unit

Shaping Fair Chances: Strengthening Mental Wellness and Employment Prospects for Individuals with Criminal Records

Nikesh Adunuri

Kemi Anazodo

Feasibility and Acceptability of a SelfGuided Internet-Delivered Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Intervention for Adolescents and Adults with Mental Health Challenges

MIR142 in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Brian DeVeale

Alexander Daros

Evaluation and Impact of an Oral Health Education Program in a Mental Health Inpatient Setting Luke Di Paolo

CDK4/6 Inhibitors as Immune Modulators in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer Rasna Gupta

Nurse Police Teams (NPT) an Innovative Care Approach for EquityDeserving Community Members: A Focused Ethnography Study Laurie Freeman & Jonathan Foster

Establishing a Biomarker Discovery Platform to Track Progression to Treatment Resistant Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Sindu Kanjeekal

Disparities of Health That Impact Outcomes for Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Examining the Effect of Exercise on Sphingolipid Metabolism in a Genetic Model of Colorectal-Induced Cachexia

Anna Kozarova

Matthew Krause

4

Design and Evaluation of Novel 3D Bioinformatic Tools to Explore Cell Cycle-Targeting Approaches Against Neuroblastoma

Achieving Long-Term Effectiveness of Nutrition Counselling for Indigenous Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in Remote Southwestern Ontario with a Culturally Safe Nutrition Plan

Alioune Ngom

Vikesh Maraj

From Awareness to Action: Shaping a Unified Response to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Windsor-Essex

Evaluating the Processes and Outcomes of a Pilot Nurse-Pharmacist Collaborative Intervention for Safe Medication Practices to Empower Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Chronic Conditions: A Mixed Methods Study

Amy Peirone

Kathy Pfaff

Dissecting the Biology of Disease Progression and Drug Resistance of Glioblastoma

Identifying Biomarkers of Therapeutically Targetable TumourImmune Cell Interactions in Small Cell Lung Cancer Luis Rueda

Lisa Porter

Enhancing Stroke Rehabilitation Interdisciplinary Teams: Exploring Rehabilitation Nursing Practices and Perspectives of RPNs and RNs

CA-125: Towards a New Label for Ovarian Cancer John Trant

Eric Tanlaka

The Institutional Real-Life Applicability and Feasibility of Congruence Couple Therapy for Co-Occurring Problem Gambling and Digital Dependency

Experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ Members in Community Recreational Sports Leagues Sarah Woodruff

Leslee Ward

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

5

MEMBER SERVICES USER ACCOUNTS BY INSTITUTION

14

3

36

MODULES COMPLETED

BY CATEGORY

29

3 8 111

27 1 3

175

320

267

REDCap Consultation and Support Hours

Projects Using REDCap

3

10

Core Facilities

Instruments

113

Total Biospecimen Samples Acquired for Research

31 Total Medical Students Supported

Joint initiative between the University of Windsor Faculty of Science and WE-SPARK Health Institute to establish a multi-disciplinary network of core facilities that support local research.

In-development: NUCLEUS website to centralize core research infrastructure.

6

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

88,079

3,721

Social Media Reach*

Followers*

*Across all social media platforms (X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn)

11

17

4

Events Hosted

Outreach Events Attended

WE-SPARK Student Interns Trained

In the first 6 months, WE-SPARK hosted 11 events. Our staff and volunteers co-organized and supported 17 outreach events advocating for the importance of research and translating its impacts on the community. These efforts reached over 5,000 people. On social media, @wesparkhealth continued to engage the community across various platforms, with a combined reach of over 88,000.

Critical to our success are the student interns who created new outreach activities, advanced knowledge translation for health-related projects, and worked collaboratively to establish a new community newsletter, set to launch early next year.

Event photos can be found at: wesparkhealth.com/gallery

7

Statistics reflect half the WE-SPARK 2024/25 fiscal year ending on April 30, 2025.

WE-SPARK Health Institute 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4 519-253-3000 (Ext. 4394)

wesparkhealth@uwindsor.ca www.wesparkhealth.com @wesparkhealth @wesparkhealth @wesparkhealth @wesparkhealth