Marissa Bird wins CIHR Doctoral Award
May 25, 2020
Photo above: Marissa Bird
PhD student Marissa Bird has won a coveted and prestigious award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada's federal funding agency for health research.
“I am truly grateful to be one of the 2020 recipients of a CIHR Doctoral Award,” says Bird.
“This award is the direct result of the expert guidance and support of my supervisor, Dr. Michael McGillion, and supervisory committee members, Drs. Nancy Carter and Audrey Lim, among many others. The CIHR CGS-D award will help to support my research, in which I have partnered with the Ontario Telemedicine Network to co-design and test a virtual healthcare system for children living with medical complexities and their families. The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital role that virtual systems play in providing access to care for fragile populations within their homes and communities. For medically complex children and their families, this technology holds promise for enabling care to happen close to home both during, and after the pandemic, which is critical for keeping these children safe and well,” Bird says.
“Marissa’s work is crucial to advancing our understanding of implementing virtual care for children living with medical complexity and their families. In particular, the unique approach she has taken to patient and family-centred co-design is giving us invaluable insight into the day-to-day challenges for these children and their parents, and how virtual care can help to ease the burden,” says her supervisor Dr. Michael McGillion.
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