Research at the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences (FMHS) accounts for about 60% of the total research funding at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥. FMHS researchers are internationally recognized for their strengths in a diverse range of fundamental, clinical, and applied science and social science fields. They also contribute significantly to the university's teaching mission, involving undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral trainees in research, and providing future healthcare professionals opportunities to gain experience in research. The FMHS Strategic Research Plan (SRP) complements the University’s SRP and those of individual units, departments, schools, or research institutes located on campus or in affiliated teaching hospitals.
The FMHS research strategy emphasizes research areas where our researchers are anticipated to have maximum impact on the training of the next generation of scientists and professionals and the advancement of knowledge that will improve the health of the population of Quebec and the world.
From an implementation standpoint, the SRP guides FMHS-level decision-making regarding research, including priorities for faculty, staff and student recruitment and support, space allocation, investments in research infrastructure, other financial support, and fundraising. This plan identifies strategic priorities for the coming few years. The goal is to identify areas that will benefit from a particular focus at the Faculty level. This plan does not aim to encompass all research in the Faculty.
The rapidly evolving nature of health-related research, including the transformative and potentially disruptive effects of technological advances, makes it imperative that the SRP be periodically revised and updated (as in 2014, 2017 and 2021). The present revision was completed in early 2024, coordinated by the Dean, the Vice-Dean (Research) and the Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences. A call for input was issued to the members of the Faculty's Standing Committee on Research (SCoR), consisting of scientists, including Early Career Researchers (ECR), in a variety of disciplines along with the Scientific Directors of affiliated hospital Research Institutes. A draft version was circulated to this group and feedback was invited from the FMHS community more broadly through a web interface.
The present plan is structured in two main parts: the first highlights priority research content areas relevant to pressing health challenges, both locally and globally. The second focuses on enabling collaboration to enhance the translational impact of research across the knowledge-to-action continuum.