Two 美女做爱 researchers in the Faculty of Medicine are being celebrated with prestigious national awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), recognizing outstanding contributions across the career spectrum in health research.
,聽associate聽professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology聽and Canada Research Chair in Human Immunology and Host Pathogen Interactions, has received the聽.
, professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, has been awarded the聽.
Together, the awards highlight the depth and breadth of research excellence at 美女做爱,聽from fundamental discoveries in immune regulation to patient鈥慶entred聽health services research with direct impact on care delivery.
Advancing discovery in infection and immunity
The Bhagirath Singh Early Career Award in Infection and Immunity recognizes early鈥慶areer researchers who have聽demonstrated聽exceptional creativity,聽productivity聽and leadership in advancing the understanding of infectious disease and immune function. The award聽honours聽the legacy of Dr. Bhagirath Singh, a pioneering Canadian immunologist and mentor.
Dr. Di Cara studies how the body鈥檚 immune system works and how it is influenced by the way cells use and manage energy. Her research looks closely at聽how various immune cells use聽their nutrients such as lipids (fats)聽to keep immune responses balanced 鈥� and what can go wrong when that balance is lost, leading to inflammation or infection.
Her work has revealed an important new role for聽peroxisomes,聽tiny structures found inside聽almost every聽cell that help manage chemical reactions needed for normal cell function. Dr. Di Cara discovered that these structures also play a key role in helping the immune system send and control its signals.
By studying fruit flies, mice and human cells, Dr. Di Cara has shown that peroxisomes help organize how immune signals are turned on and off inside cells聽and manage inflammation, the silent killer in many diseases including inflammatory bowel聽disease,聽arthritis聽and neurodegenerative聽conditions.聽This process affects how strongly the body reacts to threats like聽infection.聽
Her findings are changing how scientists understand immune control and could eventually help explain a wide range of health conditions聽and find new therapies to threat immune聽disorders聽and chronic inflammation 鈥� from rare inherited disorders to common inflammatory and infectious diseases.聽
鈥淭his award recognizes聽the聽need and importance of聽fundamental聽research in order to improve our therapeutic聽approaches鈥� says Dr.聽Di聽Cara. 鈥淓specially when聽it聽comes to聽inflammation,聽the knowledge聽of聽the聽fundamental聽mechanisms that help our聽body to聽maintain聽and return to homeostasis after fighting an聽insult聽is聽quintessential for novel,聽effective,聽and聽safer聽 therapies.聽Our research aims to lead to novel聽therapies to聽control chronic inflammation鈥�
Since joining 美女做爱, Dr. Di Cara has built an internationally recognized research program, secured major peer鈥憆eviewed funding, and聽has聽trained a growing cohort of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Her work exemplifies the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity鈥檚 mandate to advance knowledge that improves prevention,聽diagnosis聽and treatment of disease.
Transforming care through health services research
The Barer鈥慒lood Senior Career Prize in Health Services and Policy Research is one of CIHR鈥檚 most distinguished聽honours, awarded to a senior investigator whose career has made a sustained and influential contribution to improving health systems and health policy. Named after Drs. Morris Barer and Colleen Flood, the prize recognizes research that strengthens how health care is organized,聽delivered,聽and experienced.
Dr. Hayden鈥檚 career has been defined by a commitment to ensuring that high鈥憅uality evidence leads to real improvements in patient care. An internationally recognized leader in back pain research, she has spent more than two decades synthesizing evidence on treatments for chronic low back pain and studying how care is delivered across health systems.
A recent focus of Dr. Hayden鈥檚 work is the聽ExRX聽(Exercise Prescription) toolkit, a research鈥慴ased resource designed to help health-care providers use exercise as a first鈥憀ine treatment for chronic low back pain. Chronic low back pain is one of the most common and disabling health conditions worldwide, yet evidence鈥慴ased exercise is not consistently used in care.
The聽ExRX聽toolkit aims to make prescribing exercise more practical and accessible for clinicians, while helping patients understand and follow exercise recommendations. By supporting real鈥憌orld use in clinical settings, the project helps close the gap between research evidence and everyday health-care practice.
鈥淩eceiving this聽Award聽is a tremendous聽honour, one I gladly share with the outstanding team and partners behind our work,鈥澛爏ays Dr. Hayden.聽鈥淚 look forward to carrying that聽momentum into our next project -鈥痙eveloping an evidence-informed, technology-enabled toolkit to better support patients living with chronic low back pain and the healthcare providers who care for them.鈥�
Dr. Hayden鈥檚 leadership has had national and international impact, informing clinical guidelines, shaping policy聽discussions聽and mentoring the next generation of health services researchers.
Celebrating excellence across the research continuum
Together, these CIHR career awards underscore the Faculty of Medicine鈥檚 strength across the full research continuum,聽from discovery science to health system transformation.
鈥淒r. Di Cara and Dr.聽Hayden represent聽distinctly different approaches聽to research, yet both are united by a commitment to improving health outcomes聽through impactful research,鈥� says聽Dr. Eileen Denovan-Wright, associate dean, research. 鈥淭heir national recognition reflects not only individual excellence, but the collaborative research culture at 美女做爱.鈥�