Year 5 Q4 Report

Year 5 – Driving Results

Q4 Highlights

February 1, 2024 – April 30, 2024

Year 5 2023-2024

SNAPSHOT quarter four highlights

1200+

MEMBERS

58 MEDIA STORIES

19 MEMBER AWARDS

44,980 VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENTS (SOCIAL MEDIA & WEB)

EVENTS/WORKSHOPS HOSTED

Q4

6 OUTREACH EVENTS

1125 EVENT ATTENDEES

336 ACTIVE REDCap USERS

4

170 STUDENT VOLUNTEER HOURS LOGGED

32 PUBLICATIONS

Quarter 4 Highlights A thriving and engaged research community, driving advancements in health

Executive Committee

Year 5 – Driving Results Igniting Discovery, Living Better

Karmie Dhillon

St. Clair College

Jonathan Foster

Windsor Regional Hospital

Caroline Hamm

Windsor Regional Hospital

Alison Murray

Hôtel Dieu Grace Healthcare

Heather Pratt

University of Windsor

Neelu Sehgal

Erie Shores HealthCare

Chad Sutherland

University of Windsor

Jennifer Voth

Hôtel Dieu Grace Healthcare

In our first four years we established a strong common vision, united our strengths and accelerated our research activities. The details can be found in our Year 4 Impact Report. In Year 5, we are focused on listening to our health research community and implementing our new strategic plan. Our mission is to elevate regional health research and to advance the translation of findings into evidence-based interventions and policies that positively impact the health and well-being of communities throughout the Windsor-Essex region and beyond. We aim to ignite discovery, drive results and live better.

Beginning February 20th, 2024, founding WE-SPARK Director, Dr. Lisa Porter began a new leadership position as Vice President, Research and Scientific Director at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. Lisa’s academic affiliation remains at the University of Windsor and she will continue to be a Core Principal Member of WE-SPARK Health Institute.

We congratulate Lisa on her new role and look forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead as Lisa continues to be a champion for health research in our region and beyond.

Lisa Porter (Interim Chair)

WE-SPARK Health Institute

Dora Cavallo Medved

WE-SPARK Health Institute

Karen Metcalfe

WE-SPARK Health Institute

The WE-SPARK Team Lisa Porter, Founding Director | Dora Cavallo Medved, Interim (beginning Feb 20, 2024) Karen Metcalfe, Assistant Director Genesis Flores, Knowledge Translation Research Associate Jillian Calandra, Translational Research Associate Danielle Gyemi, Research Associate – NUCLEUS & Innovation Ryan Kristin Bradshaw, Administrative Assistant Pallavi Prashast, Research Associate Cathy Mombourquette, Special Projects-Media Relations Mohamed Farjalla, Research Associate Zainab Taleb, Advocacy Intern Year 5 – Q4

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Q4

Organizational Effectiveness Build the effective organizational structures and systems we need to achieve our mission

Reporting

Year 5 Milestones a) b) c) d) e)

Continue quarterly reporting that leads to the impact report Monitor and adapt budget reporting Implement a fundraising plan Develop MOUs between WE-SPARK institutions, as needed Review current terms, policies and reporting mechanisms to identify and respond to changing needs f) Complete the next strategic planning cycle g) Create research ecosystem maps to facilitate clear reporting and communication for WE-SPARK members and committees

HIGHLIGHTS Completing Year 5 Reporting (Milestone a) This Q4 report completes all quarterly reporting for year 5. The Impact Report is in development mode with the Core Principal Members submitting CVs for the compilation of metrics.

The final report will be shared on the WESPARK website under “Our Impact”.

Executive Committee finalized the strategic plan in preparation for review by the Board of Trustees (Milestone f) Board of Trustees to review on May 13, 2024

Driving Organizational Effectiveness – Governance Committee Lisa Porter (Chair), WE-SPARK/UW Alison Murray, HDGH Heather Pratt, UW

Year 5 – Q4

Nicole Sbrocca, WRH Neelu Sehgal, ESHC Monica Staley Liang, SCC Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK Page 4

Research Excellence Create a dynamic research environment that enables, supports and promotes excellence

Year 5 Milestones a) Continue to host events that build collaboration, grow teams and support professional development that moves local research excellence forward b) Continue to host the WE-SPARK Grant competitions. Collect metrics and assess outcomes to better understand the impact of the research on our local community c) Profile and track successes of Core Members to elevate the academic profile of Windsor-Essex d) Provide opportunities for research mentorship e) Consult and grow WE-SPARK programs f) Provide a central hub for research processes and system navigation g) Monitor the progress toward a regional Research Ethics Board (REB) h) Provide support for external peer review i) Initiate and continue to evolve the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) action plan j) Develop and implement a plan that advocates for change in areas of interest to our partners

HIGHLIGHTS Hosted 3 Networking Events and a Think Tank focused on proposed areas of strength (Milestone a & e) In Q4 we hosted 3 WE-SPARK After Dark events and 1 Think Tank, allowing people to make connections, present research ideas and mobilize next steps. The Think Tank focused on the 3 areas of strength proposed in WE-SPARK’s next strategic plan: Community Health & Well-Being; Cancer; and Behavioural and Brain Health. A summary of outcomes can be found on the Think Tank landing page. Our next session will be on June 21st, is open to anyone, and requires registration.

Driving Research Excellence – Research Development Committee Caroline Hamm (co-chair), WRH Chris Abeare, UW Gina Bulcke, WRH Kyle Jackson, SCC

Year 5 – Q4

Balraj Jhawar, WRH DJ MacNeil, HDGH Jody Ralph, UW Simon Rondeau-Gagne, UW

Ingrid Qemo, UW Jennifer Voth (co-chair), HDGH Lisa Porter, WE-SPARK/UW Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK

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Research Excellence

Q4

Tracked membership growth and profiled successes of Core Members

(Milestone c) We ended Year 5 with a strong research ecosystem of over 1200 members made up of researchers at all stages of their careers, health care professionals, administrators, research associates, support staff, students, and community members.

Highlighting Member Profiles, Projects and Successes Our research activities are driven by our 40 Core Principal Members and 184 Core Associate Members who are actively engaged in the research field on a daily basis. Members profiles, projects and successes continue to be shared on social media, newsletters and added to the WE-SPARK website.

Members are asked to submit research activities and successes for the bi-monthly newsletter. They are distributed to our research community and archived on our website. The newsletter for Q4 highlighted:

• • •

$1.8M in new funding 32 publications 19 awards

Local physicians and healthcare providers need academic appointments to build their research programs.

In Q4, WE-SPARK facilitated 3 Adjunct Appointments in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Windsor for the following members: Clinical Assistant Professor Appointments: Dr. Maryam Zaree, Dr. Martin McFarlane, Dr. Jacqueline Malatte.

Publishing Dates June, 2023 December, 2023 August, 2023 February, 2024 October, 2023 April, 2024

Launched 2024 WE-SPARK grant competition The 2024 grants competition was launched on February 26th and a record number of Letters of Intent were received on April 1st. Full applications are due May 3rd. A grant panel onboarding session has been set for mid-May and the peer review panels are scheduled for mid-June. Applicants will be notified of the results in July with a formal awards ceremony taking place at the end of August. All 85 projects funded by our grants program over the past 4 years can be found on our website.

Year 5 – Q4

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Community Engagement Enhance understanding and build trust with the community

Year 5 Milestones a) b) c) d)

Create workshops, series and/or events that engage the community and build the profile of WE-SPARK Showcase research facilities and projects happening in the community Maintain social media engagement while continuing to refine messaging to target audiences Broaden community understanding of WE-SPARK through media relations, our community newsletter and speaking engagements, locally, regionally and provincially e) Continue to evolve our website capabilities and reach f) Continue to develop the purpose and plan for the WE-SPARK Engage program to invite the community to join our research efforts

HIGHLIGHTS Elevated our research profile by sharing local research stories, expanding our network and supporting fundraising for research (Milestone d) Select Featured Media Stories In Q4, WE-SPARK was part of 14 local mainstream news stories, 35 stories in partner newsletters/communications and 9 in national/other media.

Research Canada: Donation of lasers aids research into Parkinson’s disease CBC News: Windsor enrolment program for cancer clinical trials to expand into Thunder Bay and Winnipeg Research Canada: Funding to advance neutron research program CTV News: Caught on camera: University of Windsor researchers want to know 'what’s happening with kids’ heads' UWindsor Daily News: Networking event to bring together local health researchers Research Canada: Drug design earns honour for computational chemist

Expanding our Network and Supporting Fundraising for Research WE-SPARK meets with groups interested in expanding research efforts, learning more about the regional research strengths and exploring future collaborative . In Q4 we re-connected/made news connections with:

Driving Community Understanding - Community Engagement Committee Dora Cavallo-Medved, UW Stephanie DeFranceschi, SCC Allison Johnson, WRH Year 5 – Q4

Chad Sutherland (Chair), UW Maciah Telfer, HDGH Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK Page 7

Community Engagement

Q4

Engaged the community at local events and showcased latest research projects (Milestone a and b) WE-SPARK staff and volunteers participated in and helped organize 6 in-person outreach events advocating for the importance of research and translating the latest statistics and projects. Over 1125 people were reached.

Increased the WE-SPARK social media presence and reach (Milestone c)

@wesparkhealth continued to engage the community on all social media platforms during Q4 increasing our followers by over 1,080 people since Q4 last year. We are focusing on highlighting events and successes of our research community and promoting knowledge translation around relevant health topics.

Below are a few of our posts with the highest engagement this quarter.

Expanded our reach by engaging more people through the WE-SPARK website (Milestone e) WESPARKHEALTH . COM

Total Q4 Unique Visits

Year 5 – Q4

Most Visited Pages in Q4 Events, Member Profiles, Cancer Research

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Knowledge Translation Translate research information to inspire and drive change

Year 5 Milestones a) Clearly define and formally integrate the student research network with existing programs and services at St. Clair College and UWindsor b) Promote, update and streamline management of our Health Research Resource Hub c) Update and promote the Knowledge Translation Toolkit, including tools for commercialization, and increase awareness to our research community d) Support and profile student experiential learning, novel training opportunities and professional development e) Develop and implement a plan for increasing engagement with industry and community partners

HIGHLIGHTS Supported student experiential learning and professional development (Milestone d) A record number of Schulich-UWindsor Opportunities for Research Excellence Program (SWORP) applications were received this year and in Q4, 10 successful grants were awarded. A formal announcement will be made in May and projects will begin in June.

Masters of Science in Translational Health Science students finished the program with a colloquium to showcase all research projects. The new cohort is ready to begin in May.

Driving Knowledge Translation – Knowledge Translation Committee Dave Andrews, UW Beckie Berlasty, SCC Allison Brooks, ESHC Martin Crozier, UW Mason Leschyna, ESHC

Year 5 – Q4

Dora Cavallo-Medved (Chair), UW Noeman Mirza, UW Indryas Woldie, WRH Lisa Porter, WE-SPARK/UW Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK Page 9

Knowledge Translation

Q4

Coordinated and participated in community outreach events, providing our student volunteers with unique research opportunities (Milestone d) Our student volunteers participated in outreach events showcasing to the public: the value of health research, member’s latest research successes and the importance of critical infrastructure to the health of our region. This quarter, WE-SPARK had 2 interns working with our team.

Event Highlights

Year 5 – Q4

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Build Capacity Secure the resources needed to achieve our mission

Year 5 Milestones a) Support and expand use of data sharing platforms for our researchers b) Facilitate joint funding plan for large infrastructure grants by creating multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary teams in preparation for large infrastructure grant competitions c) Explore and evolve infrastructure planning and a capital plan, including a research infrastructure map of Southwestern Ontario d) Implement the NUCLEUS plan, including the development of a centralized database to collect key metrics on the current research infrastructure in Windsor-Essex; and a ‘go-to’ online resource that increases access to and promotes the work of our core research facilities

HIGHLIGHTS Supported and expanded the use of REDCap for our researchers (Milestone a) REDCap continues to be a popular data sharing platform for our health researchers. Monthly REDCap ‘tips and tricks’ and reminders regarding best practices for backing up projects are sent to all users. In Q4, we continue to track the use of REDCap features that improve accessibility and security. Reporting these provides critical metrics and serves to showcase the tools available to researchers who are using REDCap. 5 projects utilized the text to speech functionality and 18 used the electronic consent framework.

REDCap USE Training and Support

336 ACTIVE Users

Driving Research Capacity – NUCLEUS Committee Next meeting: May 20, 2024 (this committee meets monthly) Danielle Gyemi, WE-SPARK Lisa Porter, WE-SPARK/UW Dan Mennill, UW Chris Weisener, UW Nick Vukotic, UW NOTE: currently, NUCLEUS is 85% funded by UWindsor. Once the pilot project is complete, expansion will include other organizations and members Tricia Carmichael, UW Dora Cavallo-Medved, UW

Year 5 – Q4

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Build Capacity

Q4

Continued the development of a NUCLEUS infrastructure database, submitted an EOI and began website development (Milestone d) With funding support from UWindsor VPRI, Faculty of Science and WE-SPARK, Dr. Danielle Gyemi continues to move forward the NUCLEUS plan. Updates include:

Continued development and testing of the NUCLEUS databases using REDCap •

Focused on logging existing core research infrastructure in the Faculty of Science, UWindsor.

Submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the NUCLEUS plan to be considered for funding for the new core facility stream of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) •

7 cores defined for the NUCLEUS EOI: 1. X-ray Scattering 2. NMR/EPR 3. Mass Spectrometry 4. SEM/AFM 5. Flow Cytometry 6. Cellular Analysis 7. AgTech

Continued the ongoing consultation process •

Discussions with core facility managers and technicians are ongoing to optimize the data collection platform and identify metrics that will support a coordinated effort with standardized facility reporting and a sustainability plan.

NUCLEUS website development •

Year 5 – Q4

In the process of consolidating information and visual media for the NUCLEUS website.

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Appendix: Year 5 Budget May 1, 2023 – April 30, 2024 ADMINISTRATION Salaries • Research Director Stipend/Teaching Release • Assistant Director Salary • Translational Research Associates • Knowledge Translation Research Associates • Administrative Assistant • Research Associate – NUCLEUS and Innovation • Interns Discretionary, Supplies and Consumables (meetings, office equipment, printing, software licenses, etc.)

Marketing & Website (including dissemination) WE-SPARK Grant Competitions TOTAL Operating Revenue (Partner Contributions) University of Windsor Windsor Regional Hospital Hotel-Dieu Grace St Clair Erie Shores Health Care TOTAL

Year 5 – Q4

Proposed 2023-2024 BUDGET $415,000

$75,000 $30,000 $80,000 $600,000

$200,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $600,000

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