Pharmacy seeking rock star researcher
Are you the next Tier 2 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Chair in Health Care Sustainability and Policy Evaluation? At Memorial’s School of Pharmacy, the search is on.
“We need an innovative, energetic mind and a forward-thinker to bridge the gap in research capacity and assume a leadership role in this province and in Atlantic Canada around health economics and sustainability,” said Dr. Carlo Marra, dean.
“Someone who will address distinct geographic, demographic and socio-economic challenges to sustainable health care through research and knowledge translation strategies. Someone who holds a sustained track record of innovation, is a leader and mentor, who has a proven ability to develop collaboration through their extensive external network in order to leverage the strengths of our school and university, and boost us into a new chapter of research.”
The individual will direct research that aligns with the institute’s mandate for health research themes ― health systems services and/or social, cultural, environmental and population health ― and will support two themes of Memorial University’s Strategic Research Intensity Plan (SRIP) themes: governance and public policy and social justice.
Rising health-care costs consume almost half of most provincial budgets in Canada, according to the 2013 National Health Expenditure Trends Report. The report also cites Newfoundland and Labrador as having the highest total health expenditures per capita in Canada, with an alarmingly high number of chronic diseases such as hypertension, arthritis, diabetes and heart conditions.
The same report states that 59 per cent of residences over the age of 12 report at least one chronic disease, poor health behaviours like smoking, heavy drinking or obesity, and lower than average health system indicators such as satisfaction with services.
In 2013 Newfoundland and Labrador spent $7,132 per capita on health care ― the most in the country, with 77 per cent of that money coming from the public sector. These numbers were forecasted in the report to increase.
“So the need for research in health sustainability is loud and obvious, in this province more than anywhere,” said Dr. Marra, who believes there is a potential for pharmacists to help alleviate this strain on the health care system. He says research being conducted in the school aims to provide evidence of this.
He says this position could propel Memorial University to take health-care sustainability strategies in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Canada to the next level and strengthen an emerging area of the university’s research.
“We already have the expertise to be a leading institution in this type of health research ― having a Canada Research Chair in Health Sustainability will further amplify Memorial’s national presence in regards to health research.”
Dr. Marra, Dr. Laurie Twells and Dr. J.M. Gamble, School of Pharmacy, as well as key researchers such as Drs. Brendan Barrett and Pat Parfrey in the Faculty of Medicine will mentor the successful applicant.
The federal government’s Canada Research Chairs Program (CRPC) stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development.