Message from O'Brien Institute Interim Scientific Director Dr. Katrina Milaney

Dear Institute members, affiliates and broader community,

I hope you all had some time to relax and rejuvenate this summer. Dr. Tom Stelfox's departure from his position as Scientific Director on August 31, as he takes on the role of Deputy Dean at the University of Alberta's School of Medicine and Dentistry, left us with mixed emotions. We will miss him, but we are confident that he will do great things in his new role. We look forward to this opportunity to strengthen our partnership with our colleagues to the north.

As we prepare for a new season and academic year, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss some notable developments taking place at the Institute and formally introduce myself as the Interim Scientific Director.

I joined the Institute as a member in 2014 and became lead of the Social and Structural Vulnerabilities Program in 2019. I stepped in as the first ever Associate Scientific Director of population health in 2022 and have been very busy ‘re-branding’ that portfolio into the Health Equity HUB which we plan to launch in November 2023. We are very excited and proud to build on the great foundational work of many of our members to create a space and platform for health equity researchers who care about impact and making change through research excellence. This work has been several years in the making and we share sincere thanks for our members who stepped up to contribute to the vision of the health equity work.

Through our transitions to new leadership we have, and will continue to provide, support for you including peer review for grant applications, catalyst funding (including for systems change projects), events, seminars, and much more.

We should know who the new Scientific Director is this fall (sign up for the first candidate talk on Sept. 15 here, and the second on Sept 19 here), but in the meantime, if you have any questions or would like more information about any of our initiatives or plans, please reach out. My door is always open.

Wishing you all a smooth transition into the fall.

Katrina Milaney, PhD

Interim Scientific Director, O'Brien Institute