Researchers at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) are getting a big booster with the unveiling of new research and quality improvement awards worth $5.7 million over the next five years.
LHSC’s research institute and private donors are funding 22 LHSC’s Academic Realignment Initiative Awards, which the health organization says will help further innovation at its three hospitals.
“LHSC has a rich legacy in health research; it’s a core component of our mission as a research-intensive teaching hospital affiliated with Western University,” says Dr. Jackie Schleifer Taylor, president and CEO at LHSC.
“This initiative will support the curiosity of our people. These streams of work will help advance our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of disease; improve patient experiences; optimize health care training; and create system efficiencies.”
The 22 winners were selected out of 60 submissions, with two research chair positions also being added for future initiatives.
The new research chair is Dr. Sandrine de Ribaupierre, who will be the chair for pediatric neurosurgery and neuroscience.
De Ribaupierre, a pediatric neurosurgeon at LHSC Children’s Hospital, says through her new position they will focus on two key areas: the use of augmented reality to improve patient experience and neuro imagining techniques to better understand brain networks.
“One of the virtual reality projects is to construct a virtual reality model of Children’s Hospital so a young patient can experience the hospital environment, walking around the hallways, navigating the corridors, going into an operating room, or getting a scan of their head initially as an avatar in a virtual world to decrease their anxiety of a hospital stay,” she said.
She noted they will also work to develop neuroimaging techniques to understand different diseases and to decrease the risk of some neurosurgeries.
“Research and innovation are such a critical part of the work that happens at LHSC. Through research and innovation patient care develops, new treatments are developed and lives improve,” John MacFarlane president and CEO of LHSC’s foundation, said.