O’Brien Institute champions of health sciences recognized

The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) has recognized three O’Brien Institute for Public Health members for their dedication to addressing the most urgent health concerns of Canadians. Dr. Deborah Marshall, PhD, Dr. Scott Patten, MD, and Dr. Tom Stelfox, MD, were inducted into the academy this month.

CAHS fellows advise public and private sectors on complex health challenges, providing strategic and tangible solutions to help inform public policy. They do so through interdisciplinary and evidence-based assessments.

“This recognition is a remarkable honour for these colleagues and also for our Institute given the rigorous review process of the CAHS and the high standards in research and academic excellence that must be achieved to be considered for election,” says Dr. Christine Friedenreich, PhD, O’Brien Institute interim scientific director. “Each one of these new Fellows has made significant contributions to health and medical research and we congratulate them on this career achievement.”

Dr. Deborah Marshall, PhD

• Professor, departments of Community Health Sciences and Medicine, and member of the O’Brien Institute, the McCaig Institute, and ACHRI at the CSM.

Dr. Deborah Marshall is a champion for health technology assessment--a systematic rigourous approach to evidence-informed policy development. Her research includes simulation modelling at the individual patient level considering care pathways, patient preferences and resources required to deliver health services in the context of precision health. She has advanced the methods beyond traditional methodologies by engaging patients as partners in research and eliciting preferences to ensure that patient and provider voices are included resulting in evidence-informed patient-centered health care decisions. Her 210 publications have been cited >11,000 times (H-index: 40) and she has presented 385 invited addresses nationally and internationally.

Dr. Scott Patten, MD

• Professor, departments of Community Health Sciences and Psychiatry, and a member of the O’Brien Institute, ACHRI, HBI and the Mathison Centre at the CSM.

Dr. Scott Patten is a psychiatrist and epidemiologist. His research applies population-based approaches to questions related to mental health, including the prevalence of mental disorders, associated risk and prognostic factors and patterns of mortality. He has led studies of medical-psychiatric comorbidity and mental health stigma in Canada. His over 800 publications have been cited over 50,000 times (HIndex: 72). He is recognized as one of the world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top one per cent by citations for field and year in Web of Science by Clarivate Analytics.

Dr. Tom Stelfox, MD

• Head, Department of Critical Care Medicine, professor, departments of Critical Care Medicine, Medicine and Community Health Sciences. Member of the O’Brien Institute and scientific director, O’Brien Institute (Nov. 1, 2020).

Dr. Tom Stelfox is an internationally recognized intensive care physician, scientist, educator and healthcare system leader. He is a leading expert in the use of applied health services research methods to improve the care of critically ill patients. He has extensively contributed to academic health sciences by leading provincial, national and international efforts to build applied research capacity, create new health service delivery knowledge and translate that knowledge into better patient care. He has successfully trained multiple scientists and clinicians and mentored early career academic faculty who have gone on to successful careers in academia, healthcare, industry and government.

Read about the 2020 University of Calgary CAHS fellows.