Strategic Research PlanThe educational mission of the Faculties of Medicine & Health Sciences and Dentistry is reinforced by a broad, dynamic and highly successful research enterprise that extends from fundamental molecular and cellular biology, to computational biology, to public and population health, to clinical research at the bedside and in the community. This robust research activity within the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry represents the core of McGill’s research effort, accounting for more than 60% of total research funding to McGill, while supporting undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral education as well as training of health care professionals.
The goal of a joint strategic research plan (SRP) between the Faculties of Medicine & Health Sciences and Dentistry is to identify and support research excellence in strategic areas, train the next generation of health researchers, and facilitate the translation of new knowledge into beneficial health outcomes for patients, the population of Quebec, and provide key information to policy makers. The strategic research plan assists the Faculties in establishing priorities for recruitment, attribution of space, direct financial support for research activities, as well as help with targeted fundraising.
The Faculties’ SRP must be considered in the appropriate institutional context. It aims to complement the University’s own SRP, providing specific applications of that plan within the Faculties. It does not supersede more focused research plans developed in parallel by individual units, departments, schools or affiliated research institutes from teaching hospitals. Nevertheless, it was not possible for the SRP to represent all areas of excellence in health research at McGill without losing strategic focus. For example, research on health science education represents an important focus within the Faculties and will be strategized by the specific workings of the new Institute of Health Sciences Education created in 2019. The very dynamic and rapidly evolving nature of health research, including the transformative and potentially disruptive effects of technological advances, makes it imperative that the SRP be periodically revised and updated.
The first edition of the SRP (2014) identified the key areas of health and diseases to be targeted, developed a set of strategic areas of research, and designed an implementation strategy. The 2017 revisions identified and coordinated the inclusion of new strategic activities.
The present revision and updates were completed in spring 2021, coordinated by the Deans, the Vice-Dean (Research) and the Associate Deans (Research) of the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences and Dentistry. An open call for contributions was issued by the end of 2020; approximately 30 responses were received from individuals and units across our research community. The submissions were reviewed by the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences’ Standing Committee on Research (SCoR), featuring representatives from basic sciences and clinical departments, the Faculty of Dentistry and affiliated research institutes.