2014-15 CIHR-IHSPR Article of the Year Award Recipients

Recognizing ground-breaking health services and policy research

The CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CIHR-IHSPR) is pleased to announce that Drs. David Urbach and Nancy Baxter have received the 2014-15 CIHR-IHSPR Article of the Year Award. This award recognizes published research that has significantly contributed to the advancement of the field of health services and policy research in Canada.

The CIHR-IHSPR Article of the Year Review Committee selected Drs. Urbach and Baxter’s article, “Introduction of Surgical Safety Checklists in Ontario, Canada " for its relevance to health services and policy research, as well as for the extent to which they contribute to the advancement of this field of research in Canada and have an impact on policy.

In addition to receiving an award of $10,000, Drs. Urbach and Baxter will be honoured at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) conference, held in Montreal in May 2015.

David Urbach

David Urbach (MD, MSc) is Professor of Surgery and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at The University of Toronto. He is a Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), and Head of the Research Division of Support, Systems and Outcomes at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. His research program focuses on surgery-related health services research, including measurement of the quality and outcomes of surgical care, and methods for the evaluation of surgery and other health technologies.

To learn more about Dr. Urbach’s research, please contact him at David.Urbach@uhn.ca.

Nancy Baxter

Nancy Baxter (MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS) obtained her MD from U of T and then completed general surgery training and her PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at U of T. She completed her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic and is board certified in colon and rectal surgery and a Fellow of the ASCRS. Currently, she is a practicing colorectal surgeon and the Head of the Division of General Surgery, at St. Michael’s Hospital. She holds a Scientist position with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute.

Dr. Baxter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the U of T and a Senior Scientist at ICES. She is a health services researcher interested in the effectiveness of cancer screening, long-term survivorship of cancer survivors and quality of surgical care.

To learn more about Dr. Baxter’s research, please contact her at baxtern@smh.ca.

View the award-winning article:

Urbach DR, Govindarajan A, Saskin R, Wilton AS, Baxter N. Introduction of Surgical Safety Checklists in Ontario, Canada. N Engl J Med. 2014 March 13; 370:1029-1038. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa1308261

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