Grant: Fellowship: POR Awards - Transition to Leadership Stream - Phase 1

This fellowship sets out to support my career launch as an independent patient-oriented researcher by building capacity for patient-oriented research (POR). Specifically, the over-arching objectives of this fellowship are to 1) enhance and apply my POR expertise and skills and 2) co-develop a research program and a system/culture (referred to as a POR platform) that enhances capacity for POR at a leading Canadian research hospital. To meet these objectives, I propose to engage in a development plan that targets key knowledge areas and skills for POR, including a proposed research project that consists of 3 inter-related components: 1) a study that first examines the different ways in which patients are being engaged as researchers in Canada and then brings patient-researchers and other researchers together to discuss these findings and develop a mutual research agenda; 2) a study that expands care guidelines for patients undergoing cardiac surgery to encompass the perspectives of patients; and 3) a study that co-develops (designs, implements, and evaluates) a POR platform at St. Boniface Research Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba). These research activities are focused on patient-driven priorities and outcomes and carried out in collaboration with patient-researchers who are individual members of the core research team and/or part of a collective of patient advisory panel members. At the end of this fellowship, I envision being ready to step into a career as an independent POR researcher as a result of the expertise and knowledge, supportive environment, and key relationships that I develop through these proposed activities.