The CANHEART ‘big data’ research initiative (www.canheart.ca) is aimed at measuring and improving cardiovascular health and the quality of ambulatory cardiovascular care provided in Ontario, Canada using the population-based CANHEART cohort. The CANHEART cohort is created through the linkage of 19+ routinely collected health administrative, vital statistics, survey and laboratory databases housed at ICES (https://www.ices.on.ca). The strength of this cohort lies in the large sample size, containing information on 10.9 million Ontarians age 20-105 years, and diversity of the linked databases.
Building upon the insights gained to date through the CANHEART work, we are currently undertaking a CANHEART Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR)-funded project aimed at leveraging big data to conduct innovative cardiovascular clinical trials. We aim to: 1) undertake a pragmatic cluster randomized registry-based clinical trial to improve CV risk factor control amongst intermediate-and high-risk patients residing in high-risk health regions in Ontario, and 2) investigate novel approaches to cardiovascular risk factor identification and measuring clinical outcomes in “real-world” populations and clinical trials using health-related databases. These projects are undertaken by an interdisciplinary team consisting of experts in administrative health databases, implementation science, clinical trials, knowledge translation and patient engagement.
We are seeking a highly motivated and talented individual to contribute to research in Cardiology and Clinical Trials. Based at Women’s College Hospital, the Fellow will work with a multidisciplinary team including collaborators at Women’s College Hospital, the University of Toronto, and ICES.
Fellows will have opportunities to support both the CANHEART and CANHEART SPOR initiative. Potential options for research projects and programs include, but are not limited to:
- Quantitative studies examining the association between patient, community and health system factors, and the incidence of cardiovascular health outcomes.
- Studying cardiovascular risk factor management in the province (e.g., screening, cardiovascular risk assessment, treatment utilization and adherence to guidelines), including knowledge translation activities and qualitative studies in these areas.
- Working with the study team to develop novel algorithms for identifying clinical outcomes (e.g., myocardial infarction, heart failure) using health administrative data (e.g., hospitalization, emergency department), laboratory data (e.g., Ontario Laboratory Information System), and clinical registries (e.g., CorHealth cardiac procedures).
- Development of novel methods for using ‘big data’ to conduct clinical trials.
The award will be made for a period of twelve consecutive months and will commence Sept 2023 or another date to be determined with the applicant and Dr. Udell. The annual stipend for fellowship award will be $70,000 provided in equal instalments over a 12-month period
- The program is open to Canadian citizens who wish to undertake fellowship training.
- The research will be conducted under the supervision of Dr. Jacob Udell Scientist, Women’s College Research Institute, and Cardiologist Women’s College Hospital.
- Applicants to the fellowship competition must have completed a PhD or MD degree or equivalent, or intend to have completed one of these degrees at the time of commencement of funding. Equivalence will be determined at the discretion of the evaluating committee. Documentation of degree completion will be required prior to the initiation of funding. If you have an MD and are pursuing a PhD, you must wait until your PhD studies are completed before applying for this award.
- Applicants MUST BE pursuing a research program. Clinical practice-based fellowships will not be supported. It must be documented with the application that a candidate with clinical interests will dedicate at least 75% of their time and effort to their research project(s).
- The applicant’s research project should be primarily in the area of the cardiovascular sciences. Relevance to cardiovascular science will be determined by the committee which evaluates all applications.
- Applicants must not have held a previous faculty appointment.
- Applicants should not have completed more than four years of post-doctoral training (PhD or MD) anywhere at the time of application. Interruptions in the applicant’s career, either during or subsequent to training, should be briefly described.
- Knowledge or experience with Canadian health data is strongly encouraged and applicants are encouraged to demonstrate past experience within their application progress report.
- Awardees must have completed a PhD research-based program with the School of Graduate Studies at a Canadian University.
Interested candidates are invited to submit the following documents:
- A completed CANHEART SPOR Fellowship
- Up to three (3) of the applicant’s publications
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the student
- Official transcript of the applicant’s academic record (last degree obtained) – unofficial web transcripts are not acceptable – have the transcripts sent to you so you can scan and include them in the electronic version of your application
- Proof of Canadian licensure to practice medicine (if applicable)
- Statement from the department head that at least 75% of the applicant’s time will be reserved for research activities (applicable to clinical fellows only)
Submit your application as a single PDF to Diana Juhasz (diana.juhasz@ices.on.ca) with the subject line “Postdoctoral Fellowship Application-[Your Name]”
For more information visit CANHEART | canheart-spor-fellowships
