The research area of health care is front and centre this year as two top scientists share the spotlight as winners of the 2010 Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research.
The top research honour of The University of Western Ontario is going to Heather Laschinger, Associate Director of Nursing Research at the School of Nursing in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Gregor Reid, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
The Hellmuth Prize was established in 1996 to recognize distinguished researchers for achievement over a substantial body of work. The prize is named for Bishop Isaac Hellmuth, one of Western’s founders and a pioneer of higher education in Canada.
“Health and health policy are major components of Western and London’s research enterprise, so it is not surprising to see both represented in the work of both of our award winners this year,” says Ted Hewitt, Vice-President (Research & International Relations. “Not only does this speak to the international-level quality of the work they are doing, it is a testament to London’s status as one of Canada’s premier academic health centres.”
Heather Laschinger
A major focus of Laschinger’s research is assessing the impact of nursing work environments on nursing and client outcomes.
A large deal of this work has focused on the role of leadership in creating work environments that support professional practice and promote nurses’ health and well-being.
Laschinger, with assistant professor Carol Wong, recently completed a national study profiling nursing leadership/management structures across Canada. Current projects include a provincial study testing a model of the impact of unit nursing leadership on nurses’ work life and mental and physical health, and a work-life civility intervention study with Michael Leiter of Acadia University.
Since 1992, Laschinger has been the principal investigator of a research program investigating the impact of nursing work environments on nurses’ empowerment for professional practice, and their health and well-being. This work has resulted in important contributions to policy-making and program development at various levels of government.
Mary-Anne Andrusyszyn, Director of the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, is very proud of her colleague and the prestige Laschinger has brought not only the school but also the university.
“She has influenced the lives of many students and faculty. Most importantly, her research is making a strong impact on the lives of nurses working in complex health care environments,” says Andrusyszyn. “(She) is heeding the call to promote the empowerment of nurses and making a difference in their worklife, particularly significant at a time when nursing shortages are reaching unprecedented crisis levels. In turn, this sense of empowerment will influence the quality of care patients receive.”
Laschinger, who has authored or co-authored 66 publications since 2003, is principal investigator on three projects totaling more than $1.2 million, and is a co-investigator in 12 other studies totaling more than $10.5 million.
In 2003, Laschinger was awarded the Sigma Theta Tau International Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Award for Excellence in Research, the first Canadian researcher to receive the award.
In 2007, she received the Distinguished University Professor Award, Western’s highest recognition for an all-round faculty member, honouring sustained excellence in teaching, research and service during an outstanding scholarly career.
Gregor Reid
In addition to his Western affiliations, Reid is program leader for Advanced Surgical Technologies at the Lawson Health Research Institute (LHRI), and director of the Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics.
His research is primarily on the role of beneficial bacteria and probiotics on health in the urogenital tract in women. Reid has been studying probiotics for more than 25 years and is a powerful advocate for the role of so-called good bacteria in human health. His work led to establishment at Lawson of the Canadian Research & Development Centre for Probiotics.
“To be honest I was stunned,” says Reid, thanking those who helped in his nomination. “I knew I had been nominated but given the prestige of the award and the number of outstanding researchers on campus, I didn’t expect to win. It’s a fantastic honour.”
Established in 2004, Western Heads East is the university community’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. The disease-fighting probiotic yogurt programs developed by Reid and Sharareh Hekmat from Brescia University College have been implemented in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda.
This simple, life-saving technology has formed the core of women-led social businesses in Africa, with a goal to make this probiotic yogurt accessible and affordable to all community members.
Reid, inducted this past year into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, was also named the first research chair in Human Microbiology and Probiotics at LHRI thanks to a $7-million donation from international yogurt maker Danone Group.
Reid collaborates with several members of the Urology Division and scientists in Canada and other countries. He has published over 285 peer-reviewed papers, mostly on probiotics and urinary tract infections, holds 28 patents and has presented over 350 seminars in 36 countries.
Reid adds it’s simply not possible to receive an award like this without having had outstanding collaborators, colleagues, students, technicians and fellows to work with.
“We have literally ploughed the fields for over 25 years and now the harvest is blooming,” he says. “So, not only is this recognition for our work, it also acknowledges the growing importance of microbiota and probiotic research on campus and around the world.”
Reid has been Chair of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Panel and Working Group on Probiotics, and has been a reviewer for 66 journals and 28 agencies. In 2006, he was appointed President of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics.