Three Faculty researchers have been elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the senior collegium of distinguished scholars, artists and scientists in the country.
Dr. Kym Boycott and Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw have been elected Fellows of the RSC, a group called upon to make significant and substantial contributions of knowledge, understanding, and insight through engagement with the larger society.
Dr. Katey Rayner has been elected a member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, which recognizes emerging leadership in Canada and a high level of early-career achievement. Members form one “single collegium where new advances in understanding will emerge from the interaction of diverse intellectual, cultural and social perspectives for the advancement of understanding and the benefit of society.”
World-renowned clinical geneticist Dr. Kym Boycott is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, a medical geneticist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute, as well as Canada Research Chair in Rare Disease Precision Health.
Dr. Boycott focuses her research on the use of genomics in transforming the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases (RDs) to improve the clinical care and health of the nearly one million Canadians affected by these illnesses.
Earlier this year, she was named executive director of the new Centre for Genomic Innovation unveiled at CHEO, launched to deliver genomic discoveries to the front line of care for rare disease. With her own unique translational approach to her research, Dr. Boycott bridges bedside, bench, and policy environments to harness the power of genomics and deliver precision health for RDs.
“I look forward to contributing my expertise in rare diseases with the larger society and together developing insights into the challenges faced by these Canadian individuals and their families,” says Dr. Boycott.
Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw is leading the way in knowledge translation and implementation science, a rapidly emerging field with substantial impact on health services and policy research. The professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine is also a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake.
Dr. Grimshaw is considered one of the world’s top knowledge translation and implementation scientists, working to bridge the gap between research and clinical care. By encouraging health care professionals to adopt evidence-based research, new research discoveries can be converted into improved population health and efficient health care delivery.
In 2018, Dr. Grimshaw received the CIHR 2018 Barer-Flood Prize for Health Services and Policy Research, a pre-eminent career achievement award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research honouring him for his outstanding contributions to health services and policy research in Canada.
“If we can learn how to more efficiently move research into practice, we will improve the lives of Canadians and contribute to the sustainability of our publicly funded health care system,” says Dr. Grimshaw.
Dr. Katey Rayner is an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, and cross appointed to the Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry. She is a principal investigator at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and the director of UOHI’s Cardiometabolic microRNA Laboratory.
Dr. Rayner’s research into cardiometabolic disease involves exploring inflammation, energy metabolism and RNA biology within both atherosclerotic vascular disease and other metabolic diseases, and exploring these pathways as potential therapeutics to treat such diseases.
Dr. Rayner has been highly praised for her achievements as an early-career researcher, and her upward trajectory positions her well to answer the call put forth to members by the RSC. She has received the Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario, the Irvine H. Page Young Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, New Investigator Awards from both Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Heart & Stroke Foundation, and the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB) New Investigator Award.
“I use a multidisciplinary approach in my research program to better understand how to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases, and I look forward to forging new collaborations between experts from the Royal College with diverse expertise, so that we can find solutions to the disease that affects Canadians more than any other,” Rayner says. “I am truly humbled to be named to the College of New Scholars, as this will give me the opportunity to engage and promote more young people in science.”
Drs. Boycott, Grimshaw and Rayner will be recognized at an official ceremony in November. The Faculty of Medicine is proud to showcase them as symbols of dedication to research excellence.
- The RSC was established in 1883 under an Act of Parliament as “the senior collegium of distinguished scholars, artists and scientists in the country.”
- The RSC consists of three bilingual Academies and the College of New Scholars, that cover the broad range of scholarly disciplines as well as the artistic and scientific fields.
- Considered one of the highest academic accolades in Canada, election to the RSC is a distinction toward which many scientists strive.
- The College was established by the RSC in 2014 to honour researchers in the early stages of their career.
- Election as a Fellow of the RSC and as a Member of its College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists are but two accolades bestowed by the RSC on those scholars, artists and scientists considered the best in their field.
