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Researchers and support staff recognized at The Ottawa Hospital’s Excellence Awards ceremony


May 25, 2018

Several inspiring research staff were honoured at The Ottawa Hospital’s Excellence Awards ceremony on May 22. The Ottawa Stroke Program received the Research Excellence Team Award and Amy Geertsma received the Inspire Award for Outstanding Clinical Research Staff Member.

“Research allows us to offer new therapies to our patients and improve health and patient care at The Ottawa Hospital and around the world,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “I congratulate The Ottawa Stroke Program and Amy Geertsma for their outstanding work, as well as our other nominees.”

The Ottawa Stroke Program
This team of physicians, nurses, speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, educators, social workers and trainees has cultivated a world-class research program. They played a lead role in establishing endovascular treatment as a breakthrough for stroke, which has reduced the death rate by 50 percent in eligible patients. Their research is also improving how we diagnose and treat conditions such as intracerebral hemorrhage and transient ischemic attack. The stroke group also led an innovative project to reorganize clinical care at The Ottawa Hospital and improve flow for patients with neurological diseases. Their work on stroke prevention has also had a huge impact, contributing to a 19% decrease in stroke rates in the Champlain region over the last 10 years. They are also investigating new technologies to improve rehabilitation, including computer tablets, web platforms and tele-rehabilitation.

Team members: Dar Dowlatshahi, Grant Stotts, Karen Mallet, Marianne Thornton, Sophia Gocan, Aline Bourgoin, Michel Shamy, Vignan Yogendrakumar, Rany Shamloul, Sohail Robert, Michael Pugliese, Joanne Lambley, Moira Teed, Tracey Dyks.

Amy Geertsma
As Manager of The Ottawa Health Science Network Research Ethics Board, Amy consistently inspires her team to provide efficient service to researchers who study ways to improve treatment and care. Amy is dedicated and committed, and has a positive attitude towards all challenges. Amy inspires her staff to approach their challenges the same way and takes the time to help others understand any issue at hand. She is always open to suggestions and leads by example with respectful and open communication. Amy has a terrific thirst for knowledge and she encourages ongoing education for her entire team. She trains and encourages members of the Research Ethics Board and the administrative staff to keep regulatory compliance at the forefront of processes and decisions.

In addition, Drs. Ruth Padmore, Anne Lui and Dante Pascali all received the Physician Clinician Recognition Award, Dr. Grant Stotts received the Physician Leadership Award.

Other nominees recognized by their peers for consistently demonstrating commitment and dedication to The Ottawa Hospital’s Core values in their daily work:

For the Research Excellence Team Award:

The Hip Team
Paul Beaulé, Andrew Speirs, Sasha Carsen, Hanspeter Frei, Gerd Melkus, Kawan Rakhra, Mario Lamontagne, K.C. Geoffrey Ng, George Grammatopoulos.

mHealth Lab
Kumanan Wilson, Katherine Atkinson, Cameron Bell, Ruth Rennicks White, Julien Guerinet, Yulric Sequeira, Malia Murphy, Michelle Paradis, Ashley Foster, Andrew Faulkner, Marlene Elliott, Lindsay Wilson, Jordan Gignac, Kim Barnhardt, Christina Muxlow, Domenic Richici, Andrew Rogers.

Proteomics Core Facility
Lawrence Puente, Marjorie Brand, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and COOP students

Thébaud Lab
Bernard Thébaud, Chanele Cyr-Depauw, Adrienne Szalamin, Arul Vadivel, Liqun Xu, Shumei Zhong, Sajit Augustine, Chanele Cyr-Depauw, Tessah Costello, Howard Guo, Maria Hurskainen, Joanne Joseph, Martin Kang, Flore Lesage, Marissa Lithopoulos, Lannae Strueby, Xin Xu

For the Inspire Award for Outstanding Clinical Research Staff Member:

Kelly Carroll
Carol Freedman
Sandy Lam
Miriam Muir
Darren Roffey
Sara Ruggiero
Kathy Vandemheen

The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassion


The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.

University of Ottawa: —A crossroads of cultures and ideas


The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. www.uottawa.ca

Media Contact


Amelia Buchanan
Senior Communication Specialist
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-798-5555 x 73687
Cell: 613-297-8315
ambuchanan@ohri.ca
 

Disease and research area tags: Stroke