Island Health funding fuels UVic research

Improving dementia care, stroke recovery and cancer support services are among the goals of eight newly funded projects involving University of Victoria health researchers.

Each of the projects is receiving $15,000 from Island Health through its new Collaborative Research Grant Competition, which aims to strengthen ties between the health agency and its academic partners.

Island Health is one of six health jurisdictions in BC, providing health care and support services to more than 765,000 people. Last fall, UVic and Island Health established a formal partnership to create new opportunities for collaborative research, commercialization, skills training and information-sharing.

The new grants are seed money for the research partners in each project to get started with their work and seek more support from external funding agencies. The fact that UVic is involved in all eight successful grants (out of an application pool of 29 from across the Island) is a measure of UVic’s growing leadership in the health research arena, says Dr. David Castle, UVic’s vice-president research.

“UVic has a deep and broad pool of research talent in the health field, as these grants indicate,” he says. “Working in partnership with people on the front lines of health care, policy development and service delivery enhances patient outcomes in the region and contributes to a global body of knowledge.”

“Island Health is building research into clinical work because doing so improves patient care and makes this a more attractive place to work,” says Dr. Martin Wale, Island Health’s executive medical director for research. “Collaboration with UVic brings huge benefits, matching clinical expertise with the strength and depth of UVic’s research expertise and capacity.”

More than 200 UVic researchers—roughly 25 per cent of UVic faculty—are involved in health research in aging, mental health and addictions, community health promotion, Aboriginal health, health informatics, bioethics, environment and health, and biomedical research.

For a list of the eight successful projects, visit http://ring.uvic.ca/news/island-health-grants-fuel-uvic-research.

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