Three TMU-led projects receive Canadian Institutes for Health Research grants
Three Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) research projects involving six researchers from the Faculty of Community Services and the Lincoln Alexander School of Law have been awarded Partnering for Impact – Catalyst grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).
The lead researchers are Karen Soldatic, professor of disability studies in the Faculty of Community Services and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing, Fiona Yeudall, professor of nutrition, and professors Uchechukwu Ngwaba and Jake Effoduh of TMU’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law, with professor Karline Wilson-Mitchell of the Midwifery Education Program.
“I’m pleased to congratulate these researchers on securing CIHR funding that will help address far-reaching issues with global impact,” said Steven N. Liss, TMU’s vice-president, research and innovation. “These grants will facilitate important research related to HIV treatment and care, the health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance, and the strengthening of school nutrition programs that promote improved health and learning outcomes for children.”
Funded research projects
Professor Soldatic’s grant will enable intersectionality-informed, community-engaged research that seeks to generate improved knowledge and practical strategies to address inequities in HIV care engagement.
The project will build on an existing research partnership with Toronto's Casey House, a specialty hospital that cares for people living with HIV or who are at risk of HIV. The goal is to examine why some people living with HIV remain connected and engaged with their care while others disengage. The project will also work to develop equity-informed strategies to support sustained engagement and re-engagement across diverse pathways of care.
Responsible for millions of deaths each year, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses no longer respond to medications designed to kill them. In West Africa, AMR worsens existing health inequalities, limits access to effective treatment and weakens already fragile health systems.
Professors Ngwaba, Effoduh and Wilson-Mitchell will co-lead a project that seeks to strengthen how AMR policies are implemented across 15 West African countries. The goal is to make health policies more effective and inclusive by building new partnerships among researchers, policymakers, civil society and communities.
Professor Yeudall’s research will be co-led by fellow TMU professor of nutrition Jessica Omand. Their project seeks to create Canada's first evidence-based competency framework for school food providers, informing standardized training that professionalizes their roles and gives administrators clear hiring criteria and development pathways.
Canada’s National School Food Policy is intended to ensure the long-term sustainability of school food programs, in light of their demonstrated impact on health and learning. However, the country faces an urgent need for a coordinated training curriculum to prepare school food professionals to deliver these programs, informed by their experience and needs.
Recognizing Canada's geographic and cultural diversity, the project will take a comprehensive, collaborative approach that values and incorporates a variety of perspectives and ways of knowing centred on co-creation across research activities.
CIHR Partnering for Impact – Catalyst grants encourage partnerships between researchers, knowledge users and knowledge holders. They support and facilitate the time, trust and sustained engagement necessary for meaningful co-production.
CIHR Partnering for Impact – Catalyst Grants
Faculty of Community Services
- Karen Soldatic: Partnering for Impact: Co-Designing Strategies to Strengthen HIV Care Engagement
- Fiona Yeudall: Co-creation of a Human Resource Development Training Framework for School Food Program Providers
Lincoln Alexander School of Law/Faculty of Community Services
- Uchechukwu Ngwaba and Jake Effoduh (Law), Karline Wilson-Mitchell (FCS): Accelerating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Policy Action in West Africa: Building Governance Capacity and a Regional Community of Practice
Related links:
TMU researchers secure CIHR grants for wide-ranging essential health research (August 2023)