Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor announces receipients of CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship and an Education Fund Fellowship

Congratulations to Dr. Morgan Slater! She was recently awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Health System Impact Fellowship and an Education Fund Fellowship from the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. Dr. Slater received her PhD at the University of Toronto, Institute of Medical Sciences. During her graduate studies and postdoctoral training, Morgan has won many awards including a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Heart failure affects one million Canadians, with at least 50,000 new patients diagnosed each year. Current guidelines suggest that patients with heart failure (HF) be treated in a specialized, multidisciplinary clinic, the largest of which is located at the Ted Rogers and Family Centre of Excellence in Heart Function at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (Toronto General Hospital). However, there is no guideline for what constitutes the best of more necessary type of care provided by these HF clinics.

Dr. Slater will be working with Dr. Heather Ross and Dr. Valeria Rac to improve care provided to patients with heart failure in specialized heart failure clinics. They will work alongside patients and providers to identify ways to improve patient care both locally and across Canada. This project may also help to streamline health care resources, which is important given the current climate of increasingly limited health care resources and funding.

Morgan will receive academic supervision and mentorship from Dr. Valeria Rac; Dr. Heather Ross will provide health system supervision and mentorship.

Valeria E. Rac, MD, PhD, is Associate Program Director and Director of the Clinical Research Division at THETA Collaborative, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, and Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research / Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

Dr. Heather Ross is Ted Rogers and Family Chair in Heart Function, head of the Ted Rogers Centre of Excellence in Heart Function, Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and director of Toronto General Hospital’s cardiac transplant program.

CIHR Press Release: English & French versions

Posted on Oct 02, 2017