Six recipients received the 2024 Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care Research, which recognize the academic excellence of medical and health science students from racialized groups
MONTREAL, June 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The allocation of scientific funding has not always been equitable. Historically, some groups have been underfunded or marginalized, including researchers from Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities. To address this critical funding gap, Fiera Capital Corporation (Fiera Capital) partnered with the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) to create the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care Research, which launched in 2022.
The Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care Research provide critical funding to M.Sc. and PhD students who have great potential to advance medical research based on the excellence of their academic record and who belong to a racialized group. Fiera Capital has committed $120,000 over three years to fund these important awards for talented young researchers.
“The Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care Research reflect our firm’s commitment to investing in the communities where we operate to create a more inclusive and equitable society. Diversity in medical research is key for developing comprehensive and effective health care solutions. Research from the NIH emphasizes that diverse research teams ensure that findings are generalizable and beneficial to all segments of the population, addressing health disparities and improving patient outcomes. People may experience the same disease differently, so it's essential that clinical trials include individuals with a variety of lived experiences, characteristics and backgrounds. By supporting researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, we can foster innovations that are inclusive and impactful, ultimately enhancing the quality of health care for everyone.”
— Caroline Turcotte, Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Talent Development at Fiera Capital
Early-career funding is essential to a researcher’s future success. If scientists from Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities do not receive financial support early on, it can affect the trajectories of their entire careers. The new awards aim to help address this shortfall. All six recipients of the Fiera Capital Awards who are training at the RI-MUHC also benefit from the supervision and mentorship of experts in health research.
“The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre is committed to inclusivity and empowering diverse voices in medical research. We are an internationally recognized research powerhouse, drawing exceptional scientists and trainees from across the globe. We recognize the invaluable contribution of diverse perspectives in fueling innovation in health care research. Our partnership with Fiera Capital and the MUHC Foundation marks an important step towards equitable scientific funding and ensuring that talented researchers from underrepresented communities receive the support they deserve."
—Dr. Rhian Touyz, Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer, RI-MUHC
The six recipients of the 2024 Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care Research are:
Jéssica Ding, a nurse clinician and Master’s student in Advanced Nursing at McGill. She is currently exploring the use of virtual reality as a method of pain and anxiety control.
Hani Rukh-E-Qamar, a Master’s student in McGill’s Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health who is passionate about translational research across digital health, health care accessibility, and sexual and reproductive health.
Nicholas Hickens, a candidate in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University whose research interests include chronic diseases, public health ethics and empowering the well-being of marginalized populations.
Suleima Jacob-Tomas, a PhD student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University. She has always been passionate about understanding how complex neural interactions influence an organism's behaviour, with the hope of one day contributing to interventions and healing.
Thupten Tsering, a PhD student in McGill’s Department of Pathology, is studying how cancer cells release tiny packages called extracellular vesicles. These vesicles carry DNA and proteins from cancer cells to other cells in the body and can help us better understand how cancer spreads.
Yichun Sun, a PhD student in McGill’s Division of Experimental Medicine, is looking to improve treatments and outcomes for patients suffering from rare immunodeficiencies.
“I am honoured to be a recipient of a Fiera Capital Award this year. These awards are exceptionally meaningful in the way they combine academic excellence with a greater recognition of inclusiveness and equity for underrepresented groups in health research. I’m looking forward to pursuing my work in the evaluation of a self-testing digital strategy for predicting negative and positive cases of COVID-19 infections, and grateful for the additional financial support this Fiera Capital Award will provide.”
— Hani Rukh-E-Qamar, Master’s student and 2024 Fiera Capital Award recipient
The awardees were chosen by an interdisciplinary evaluation committee that focused on the candidates’ academic quality, their self-reflexivity on the systemic barriers they have faced to do research and their potential to impact other members of racialized groups.
“The MUHC Foundation is committed to doing our part to make health care research more inclusive and uplift the diverse voices of the next generation of brilliant scientists. I am thrilled to continue our partnership with Fiera Capital and support these young researchers as they realize their big dreams.”
—Marie-Hélène Laramée, President and CEO, MUHC Foundation
About the McGill University Health Centre Foundation
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation raises funds to support excellence in patient care, research and teaching at the McGill University Health Centre, one of the top university hospitals in Canada. Our Dream Big Campaign to change the course of lives and medicine is raising millions of dollars to solve humanity’s deadliest puzzles: infectious diseases; end cancer as a life-threatening illness; fix broken hearts through innovative cardiac care; detect the silent killers—ovarian and endometrial cancers—early; create the best skilled health care teams in Canada; and much more. We are rallying our entire community to solve the world’s most complex health care challenges. https://muhcfoundation.com
About the RI-MUHC
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and healthcare research centre. The institute, which is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University, is the research arm of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) – an academic health centre located in Montreal, Canada, that has a mandate to focus on complex care within its community. The RI-MUHC supports over 600 researchers and around 1,700 research trainees devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental, clinical and health outcomes research at the Glen and the Montreal General Hospital sites of the MUHC. Its research facilities offer a dynamic multidisciplinary environment that fosters collaboration and leverages discovery aimed at improving the health of individual patients across their lifespan. The RI-MUHC is supported in part by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS). rimuhc.ca
About Fiera Capital Corporation
Fiera Capital is a leading independent asset management firm with a growing global presence. Fiera Capital delivers customized and multi-asset solutions across public and private market asset classes to institutional, financial intermediary and private wealth clients across North America, Europe and key markets in Asia. Fiera Capital’s depth of expertise, diversified investment platform and commitment to delivering outstanding service are core to our mission of being at the forefront of investment management science to create sustainable wealth for clients. Fiera Capital trades under the ticker FSZ on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Headquartered in Montreal, Fiera Capital, with its affiliates in various jurisdictions, has offices in over a dozen cities around the world, including New York (U.S.), London (UK), and Hong Kong (SAR).
Each affiliated entity (each an “Affiliate”) of Fiera Capital only provides investment advisory or investment management services or offers investment funds in the jurisdictions where the Affiliate is authorized to provide services pursuant to an exemption from registration and/or the relevant product is registered.
Fiera Capital does not provide investment advice to U.S. clients or offer investment advisory services in the U.S. In the U.S., asset management services are provided by Fiera Capital’s affiliates who are investment advisers that are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or exempt from registration. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. For details on the particular registration of, or exemptions therefrom relied upon by, any Fiera Capital entity, please consult: https://www.fieracapital.com/en/registrations-and-exemptions.
Additional information about Fiera Capital, including Fiera Capital's annual information form, is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Tarah Schwartz
Vice-President, Communications & Marketing
McGill University Health Centre Foundation
tarah.schwartz@muhc.mcgill.ca
Yasmine Sardouk
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Fiera Capital Corporation
communication@fieracapital.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f45605e6-d20d-4cae-8012-06a762c8d602
