Year 5 – Driving Results
February 1, 2024 – April 30, 2024
19 MEDIA STORIES
336 ACTIVE REDCap USERS MEMBER AWARDS
58 STUDENT VOLUNTEER HOURS LOGGED 170 quarter four highlights
VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENTS (SOCIAL MEDIA & WEB)
44,980 EVENTS/WORKSHOPS HOSTED
32 1125 EVENT ATTENDEES MEMBERS 1200+
6 OUTREACH EVENTS
4 PUBLICATIONS
A thriving and engaged research community, driving advancements in health
Executive Committee
Karmie Dhillon St.ClairCollege
Jonathan Foster WindsorRegionalHospital
Caroline Hamm WindsorRegionalHospital
Alison Murray HôtelDieuGraceHealthcare
Heather Pratt UniversityofWindsor
Neelu Sehgal ErieShoresHealthCare
Chad Sutherland UniversityofWindsor
Jennifer Voth HôtelDieuGraceHealthcare
Lisa Porter (Interim Chair) WE-SPARKHealthInstitute
Dora Cavallo Medved WE-SPARKHealthInstitute
Karen Metcalfe WE-SPARKHealthInstitute
Igniting Discovery, Living Better
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, driveresultsandlivebetter
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, 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
Pallavi Prashast, Research Associate
Mohamed Farjalla, Research Associate
Kristin Bradshaw, Administrative Assistant
Cathy Mombourquette, Special Projects-Media Relations
Zainab Taleb, Advocacy Intern
Build the effective organizational structures and systems we need to achieve our mission
a) Continue quarterly reporting that leads to the impact report
b) Monitor and adapt budget reporting
c) Implement a fundraising plan
d) Develop MOUs between WE-SPARK institutions, as needed
e) 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
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
Lisa Porter (Chair), WE-SPARK/UW
Alison Murray, HDGH
Heather Pratt, UW
Nicole Sbrocca, WRH
Neelu Sehgal, ESHC
Monica Staley Liang, SCC
Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK
Create a dynamic research environment that enables, supports and promotes excellence
a) Continue to host events that build collaboration, grow teams and support professional development 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
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
Caroline Hamm (co-chair), WRH
Chris Abeare, UW
Gina Bulcke, WRH
Kyle Jackson, SCC
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
(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.
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
August, 2023
October, 2023
December, 2023
February, 2024 April, 2024
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
Launched 2024 WE-SPARK grant competition
Enhance understanding and build trust with the community
a) Create workshops, series and/or events that engage the community and build the profile of WE
b) Showcase research facilities and projects happening in the community
c) Maintain social media engagement while continuing to refine messaging to target audiences
d) 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
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:
Dora Cavallo-Medved, UW
Stephanie DeFranceschi, SCC
Allison Johnson, WRH
Chad Sutherland (Chair), UW
Maciah Telfer, HDGH
Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK
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 Most Visited Pages in Q4 Events, Member Profiles, Cancer Research
Translate research information to inspire and drive change
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
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
Dora Cavallo-Medved (Chair), UW Noeman Mirza, UW
Indryas Woldie, WRH
Lisa Porter, WE-SPARK/UW
Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK
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.
Secure the resources needed to achieve our mission
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
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.
Next meeting: May 20, 2024 (this committee
Tricia Carmichael, UW
Dora Cavallo-Medved, UW
Danielle Gyemi, WE-SPARK
Dan Mennill, UW
Nick Vukotic, UW
Lisa Porter, WE-SPARK/UW
Chris Weisener, UW
NOTE:currently,NUCLEUSis85%fundedbyUWindsor.Oncethepilotprojectiscomplete,expansionwillincludeother organizationsandmembers
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
• In the process of consolidating information and visual media for the NUCLEUS website
May 1, 2023 – April 30, 2024
• Research Director Stipend/Teaching Release
• Assistant Director Salary
• Translational Research Associates
• Knowledge Translation Research Associates
• Administrative Assistant
• Research Associate – NUCLEUS and Innovation
• Interns