Baycrest

Informing research and innovation policy in Ontario Dr. Sekuler was named co-chair of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA)'s Health Research and Innovation Committee. The Committee communicates with OHA management, government, and research sector partners on issues impacting research and innovation within the hospital sector. It also provides a forum for shared communication and education among members. Leveraging precision medicine to improve future pandemic response The RRI is a major partner of the University of Toronto-led Canadian Hub in Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases (HI3), a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and multi-sector coalition of more than 80 partners. They aim to ensure a fast and coordinated response to future pandemics and infectious health threats. With $2 million in funding from the Canada Biomedical Research Fund, HI3 will provide a powerful network and advanced personalized, precision medicine to support a robust domestic pipeline of life-saving vaccines and therapeutics targeting existing and emerging infectious threats. Empowering older adults to make difficult decisions about driving and dementia Researchers from Baycrest, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) recently launched the Driving and Dementia Roadmap, a first-of-its-kind, free, online resource to empower older adults living with dementia to make informed decisions about when to stop driving. This unique resource brings together information, videos, worksheets, and other materials to help navigate the difficult decision in a way that honours the individual while involving their family or close community. "Among many other topics, the Driving and Dementia Roadmap helps users understand how dementia can impact driving; identify when it becomes unsafe for individuals living with dementia to drive; and adjust to life without driving once the decision has been made," says Dr. Gary Naglie, one of the project leads, RRI Associate Scientist, Vice-President, Medical Services and Chief of Staff at Baycrest. To access the roadmap, visit drivinganddementia.ca Improving healthcare providers' capacity and patient care Since 2018, the Baycrest Academy's Centre for Education and the North East Specialized Geriatric Centre in Sudbury have partnered to coordinate and deliver Project ECHO ® (Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes): Care of the Elderly across Ontario. Project ECHO ® is a learning framework that has been adopted internationally and across disciplines to improve provider capacity and patient care. Supporting Canadians living with post- COVID-19 condition As a member of Canada's Chief Science Advisor's Task Force on Post-COVID-19 Condition (Long COVID), Dr. Sekuler helped develop a report titled, "Post-COVID-19 Condition in Canada: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and a Framework for Action." Throughout its development, Dr. Sekuler represented Baycrest and the importance of including older adults and people living with neurological symptoms in the Task Force's work. #DementiaZero Dr. Sekuler submitted a brief to the Standing Committee on Science and Research, House of Commons of Canada, which asks them to consider a brain-research moonshot, #DementiaZero, as one of the first moonshots to include in the International Moonshot Program. Aligned with the goals of the Canadian Brain Research Strategy and HealthCareCAN, this moonshot has a specific focus on defeating dementia by 2050, and aims to harness the collective knowledge and resources of the scientific community to eliminate new cases of dementia and improve the lives of people living with dementia and their caregivers. 2022–2023 ANNUAL REPORT 27 Dr. Allison Sekuler was part of a panel with the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry of Canada, François-Philippe Champagne, at "Let's Talk Science on the Hill - Building Trust in Science" in November 2022.

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