Past Exploration Fund Recipients

2021 spring competition:

Small grant category
Dr. Monika Kastner
Evaluation of a virtual, arts-based program (Art Your Service) to alleviate the social isolation and loneliness of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Small grant category – COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund:
Ms. Stephanie Robinson
Using human-centered design to understand the experiences and challenges of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19

 

2020 fall competition:

Small grant category - The Sellors Family Research Grant:
Ruth Taubman
Using a smartphone accelerometer to identify high-risk fallers among older adults visiting the Emergency Department

Small grant category - The Sellors Family Research Grant:
Shana Haberman
Understanding the Patient and Family Experience of the Virtual Family Visit Program at North York General Hospital

2020 spring competition:

Small grant category - Emergency Response Fund, COVID-19 pandemic:
Drs. Katie Dainty and Rohit Mohindra
Understanding Patient Experience of a Follow-up Clinic for High-Risk Patients with COVID-19

Small grant category:
Dr. Anna Geagea
A Multi-centre, Adaptive, Randomized, Open-label, Controlled Clinical Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Investigational Therapeutics for the Treatment of COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients

Small grant category:
Dr. Michelle Greiver
Data on Patient Record Trajectory for Linkage (DataPRinT Linkage)

Small grant category:
Dr. Karen Tu
Development of the INTernational ConsoRtium of Primary Care BIg Data Researchers – INTRePID

 

2019 fall competition:

Small grant category – The Sellors Familly Research Grant:
Kristin Collins
Exploring the benefits of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy as a tool for chronic disease self-management for persons with dementia

2019 spring competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Risa Bordman
Making connections: Developing an appreciation of Indigenous health issues for family medicine residents using a virtual world café

Small grant category:
Dr. Raheem Peerani
The development of an NYGH database to predict the success of flow cytometry in the evaluation of lymph node and tissue specimens

Small grant category – The Sellors Familly Research Grant:
Dr. Braden O’Neill
Adequacy of antidepressant treatment for a new episode of depression among primary care patients with and without chronic medical conditions: a retrospective cohort study

 

2018 fall competition:

Small grant category:
Julie Makarski
Enhancing patient care and delivery through research on the “front-lines”: Assessing needs to build research capacity among healthcare professionals at North York General Hospital

Small grant category:
Dr. Modupe Tunde-Byass
Decreasing caesarean sections by supporting Trial of Labour After Caesarean section (TOLAC). A QI project at Mount Sinai, St. Michael’s and North York General Hospital

2018 spring competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. David Rosenthal
Improved pregnancy outcomes with Shirodkar cervical cerclage compared with McDonald cerclage

Small grant category – The Sellors Familly Research Grant:
Katelyn Chown, Dr. Fahima Osman
Young women with breast cancer – meeting unmet needs through the nurse navigator model care

 

2017 fall competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Nina Horvath
Use of the Canadian Health Care Evaluation Project (CANHELP) tool to measure the impact on patients and families of delivering palliative care through an innovative model of care at North York General Hospital

Small grant category:
Dr. Jennifer Mills
Motivation vs. pyschoeducation-infused day hospital treatment for eating disorders

2017 spring competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Valerie Caraiscos
Use of palliative care tools to identify patients with end-stage heart failure with poor prognosis

Small grant category:
Dr. Michelle Greiver
Trends in systematic recording errors for blood pressure in Canadian and UK primary care

Small grant category:
Dr. Sanjho Srikandarajah
NYGH discharge opioid prescriptions in total joint replacements

 

2016 fall competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Nicole Golda
Implementing and evaluating the efficacy of an Acute Care Urology model of care in a large Canadian community hospital

Small grant category:
Susan Woollard

Adjunct strategies impact on the self-management skills and health care outcomes for persons living with mid to late stage heart failure

Larger grant category:
Dr. Lloyd Smith
Development of strategies to identify, analyze and prevent errors in the operating room – an inter-professional approach to enhancing technical and non-technical performance and improving patient safety:  Operating room data recorder

2016 spring competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Tianhua Huang
Enhanced first trimester prenatal screening for Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13 using nuchal translucency, maternal serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, free β human chorionic gonadotrophin, alpha feto-protein and placental growth factor

Small grant category:
Dr. Frank Sullivan
International primary care Research Priority Setting

Small grant category –  The Sellors Family Research Grant:
Patricia Trbovich

Application of Human Factors methods to identify and mitigate safety issues with intravenous infusion devices

 

2015 fall competition:

Large grant category:
Dr. Risa Bordman
The effects of the practice of hot yoga on kidney function

Small grant category – The Savlov Family Paediatric Endowment Fund:
Sonya Rebryna
In Neonates 32-36 Weeks’ gestation, does the intraoral administration of 24% sucrose, compared with expressed breast milk (EBM), increase the risk of respiratory depression?

Small grant category:
Samantha Moe
The SMarTAbx Study:  using a social marketing framework to optimize antibiotic utilization in primary care

2015 spring competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Pavani Das
Beta-lactam Allergy Skin Testing (BLAST) and its usage optimization among hospitalized patients with self-reported allergy:  A multicentre stepped-wedge evaluation

Small grant category:
Dr. Mona Sawhney
Assessment of patients receiving complex pain management interventions:  An educational module of epidural analgesia using standardized patients for registered nurses

Small grant category – The Sellors Familly Research Grant:
Dr. Frank Sullivan
Exploring the diagnostic and prescription trends for Bell’s palsy patients in Canada within the past five years by using primary care EMR databases:  a pilot project

Small grant category:
Dr. Kevin Katz
Canine scent detection as a diagnostic tool to identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization)

Large grant category:
Sumon Acharjee
North York General Mobile Application Platform

 

2014 fall competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Christine Till
Computerized working memory training in individuals with Huntington’s disease

Small grant category:
Dr. Fahima Osman
Oncoplastic breast surgery in Ontario

2014 spring competition:

Small grant category:
Dr. Christo El Morr
Analyzing readmission patterns: Assessment of the LACE tool impact

Small grant category:
Dr. Warren Lewin
Early palliative care for patients with advanced heart failure at North York General Hospital

Small grant category:
Dr. Frank Sullivan
What are the barriers and facilitators involved in using an Interactive Client Assessment Survey (iCAS) in family practice?

 

2013 fall competition:

Large grant category:
Dr. Farah Ahmad
Exploring wait-room interactive technology for mental health with Chinese Canadians

Small grant category:
Dr. Hannah Wong
Variation in imaging use in the emergency department:  Systemic predictors and implications on quality and value

2013 spring competition:

Large grant category:
Dr. Sharifa Himidan
The effect of music exposure on psychological and physiological functioning in children undergoing elective surgery:  A randomized controlled trial

Large grant category:
Dr. Wendy Meschino
Determining eligibility for referral to genetics for genetic assessment and testing for breast and ovarian cancer:  an electronic solution

Small grant category:
Dr. Joyce Lee
Telephone interventions provided by Geriatric Clinic for Parkinson’s to improve patient care and prevent ER visits

 

2012 fall competition:

Large grant category:
Dr. Michelle Greiver
Building a Health Data Warehouse to monitor outcomes for Health Links in North York:  a feasibility and design project

Large grant category:
Sumit Raybardhan
Self-Stool Banking as C. difficile infection treatment and containment strategy:  A pilot project

Large grant category:
Dr. Mona Sawhney
Pain following unilateral total knee arthroplasty:  A prospective randomized controlled trial examining the analgesic effectiveness of a combined abductor-canal peripheral nerve block with periarticular infiltration vs. adductor-canal nerve block alone vs. periarticular infiltration alone

Small grant category:
Diana Adams
Montessori methods for dementia care in the emergency department

Small grant category:
Dr. Phillip Shin
Implementing and evaluating the efficacy of a general internal medicine model of care in a large Canadian community teaching hospital

Small grant category:
Dr. Lea Velsher
Exploring resources and potential partnerships for transitioning young adults with intellectual disability from paediatric to adult care