Halifax, NS – March 13, 2023 – Several MSVU faculty members are recent recipients of new funding totaling more than $2.5 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
CIHR Project Grants
Dr. Derek Fisher, Professor and Chair, Psychology Department, and colleagues were awarded a $462,825 CIHR Project Grant: Fall 2022 (announced in February 2023) to study the brain features of people with bipolar disorder who hear voices and their impact on daily life. Given the number of people with bipolar disorder who experience voice hearing, this information is desperately needed, but is currently lacking. Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition that affects approximately 2% of people.
This two-site study (Halifax and Ottawa) will clarify the impact of auditory hallucinations in bipolar disorder on functioning, quality of life and suicide risk. It will assess how hallucinations impact the brain, which will in turn inform better treatment and, ultimately, improve the lives of people living with bipolar disorder. Dr. Fisher is co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Natalia Jaworska of the Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research in Ottawa
Dr. Janice Keefe, Professor and Chair, Family Studies and Gerontology Department, and Director of the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging, and colleagues were awarded a $2.1 Million CIHR Project Grant: Fall 2022 (announced in February 2023) for their multi-site study starting in April 2023 that aims to improve quality of work life for staff in long-term care.
This study seeks to understand how working conditions in residential long-term care settings may affect the conditions of care of the residents. It will assess how work environment impacts the quality of work life of staff in LTC and, ultimately, resident quality of care outcomes in Atlantic Canada. The Atlantic region currently has limited data to understand LTC staff quality of work life and what can be done to support these staff. Ultimately, this study will enable tangible interventions to improve LTC staff quality of work life, their work environment, and the quality of care for residents.
CIHR Planning and Dissemination Grant
Co-investigators Dr. Jessie-Lee McIsaac and Dr. Tracy Moniz and collaborator Dr. Ellen Shaffner were awarded an approximate $10,000 CIHR Planning and Dissemination grant for their project titled Leveraging family voice and social media to build protective factors in early social and emotional health.
Dr. Jessie-Lee McIsaac is an Assistant Professor and Tier II Canada Research Chair in Early Childhood: Diversity and Transitions with the Faculty of Education and Department of Child and Youth Study. Dr. Tracy Moniz is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Studies. Dr. Ellen Shaffner is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Communication Studies.
Through this grant, researchers will co-design a social media strategy with a diverse family advisory committee to increase access to evidence-based information that meets the identified needs of diverse families related to early social and emotional health. The initiative will culminate in a virtual symposium connecting families, policymakers, and practitioners in a discussion about future priorities and possibilities to help build families’ capacity to support their children’s social and emotional health and long-term well-being.