Skip to content

DLSPH Faculty Among Recipients of the 2023 New Initiative and Innovation Awards

August 30/2023

DLSPH faculty were among the recipients of the inaugural 2023 New Initiative and Innovation Awards from the Network for Improving Health Systems (NIHS). The network was created in November 2022 from a $3 million donation from Shoppers Drug Mart to both the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy (LDFP). See the announcement.

Image of a pharmacist helping a patient, as part of the 2023 New Initiative and Innovation Awards article

“These new awards will provide essential support for research projects focused on building capacity in health services and improving the health system,” said Lisa Dolovich, Dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and a health services researcher. “This is a critical time for health care, and we are committed to contributing to a more integrated health system that better leverages pharmacy care.”

“I am thrilled to see the broad range of research being funded through these awards, as a result of the collaboration between our two schools,” said France Gagnon, Acting Dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “From evaluating prescription services to developing options for pharmacies to become more sustainable, and supporting mental health and addiction services, I’m confident that the research being done across these areas and faculties will have an impact on public health, public health services, and pharmaceutical practices.”

The research teams selected to receive the New Initiative and Innovation Awards will receive $75,000 to support their work. The funding also included support for student trainees in the amount of $25,000 each.

Recipients of the 2023 New Initiative and Innovation Awards

Principle Investigators: Prof. Mina Tadrous (LDFP) and Prof. Kevin Schwartz (DLSPH)

Research: Early evaluation of the minor ailment prescribing service: Uptake, equity, and patient-provider experiences of the service of Ontario

Principle Investigators: Prof. Sarah Allin (DLSPH) and Prof. Jennifer Lake (LDFP)

Research: Expanding roles of pharmacists in primary care: A comparative interview study and policy analysis of Ontario and Quebec

Principle Investigators: Prof. Lusine Abrahamyan (DLSPH), Prof. Lisa Dolovich (LDFP), and Prof. Petros Pechlivanoglou (DLSPH)

Research: Effectiveness of MedsCheck Diabetes in Ontario: A target trial emulation using administrative data

Principle Investigators: Prof. Beth Sproule (LDFP) and Prof. Alison Crawford (DLSPH)

Research: Supporting mental health and addiction services in primary care pharmacy practice

Principle Investigators: Prof. Fiona Miller (DLSPH) and Prof. Zubin Austin (LDFP)

Research: Pharmacy options for system-level interventions to improve environmental sustainability (POSITIVES)

Recipients of the 2023 Trainee Awards at DLSPH

Student: Lauren Tailor (PhD at PHS)

Supervisors: Prof. Sonia Grandi and Prof. Hilary Brown

Research: Examining the Association Between Prenatal Antidepressant Exposure and the Incidence of Childhood Diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2): A Pharmacoepidemiology Study

Student: Daniel Eisenkraft Klein (PhD at PHS)

Supervisor: Prof. Robert Schwartz

Research: Understanding Toronto Pharmacists’ Perspectives on a Pharmacy-Based E-Cigarettes Smoking Cessation Program

Student: Daphne To (PhD at IHPME)

Supervisors: Prof. Noah Ivers and Prof. Mina Tadrous

Research: Development of a theory-informed intervention to facilitate delivery of minor ailments services by community pharmacists

Congratulations to this year’s recipients!