Dear Nova Scotia Health Research Community,

The newsletter is the primary method for dissemination of new information, reminders, and updates for the research community. We hope you find our newsletter both helpful and informative. We welcome your comments, suggestions, and content for future editions.

Do you have a friend or colleague working within Nova Scotia Health research who is not receiving our newsletter? They can sign up here to be added to the mailing list!



We’d like to help celebrate your team's wins and successes! Please forward the information to ResearchQuality@nshealth.ca, and we’ll include it in the next research bulletin.

Please contact us with any questions or comments regarding research and clinical trials. You can reach us at ResearchQuality@nshealth.ca. We are here to support you!

Upcoming HRPP SOP Lunch and Learns

Join us virtually on Teams to learn more about our institutional processes in research. HRPP Lunch and Learns occur every 4^th Thursday of every month from 12-1 pm. Share the link below with your teams.  

May 22, 2025: HRPP-SOP-007 Changes to Personnel, Principal Investigators, and Principal Investigator Absences

Teams link  

Meeting ID: 238 800 021 687  

Passcode: J8k9XP  

SOPS Needed?



Does your team need an SOP that has not yet been written by HRPP? Please reach out to HRPP@nshealth.ca with your suggestions.

Pan-Canadian Research Connect Webinar with Health Canada



You are invited to the next Pan-Canadian Research Connect (PCRC) Webinar, where we will explore one of the most dynamic frontiers in health research: Boundaries of AI in Clinical Research

Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST

Register here: https://hhsc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DuNIHB6YTIqpjpwr8bzbNA

1.0 SOCRA CE credit available

In this thought-provoking session, two leading voices in digital health and artificial intelligence will join us:

• Dr. Michael Brudno – Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, Chief Data Scientist at UHN, Scientific Director of HPC4Health, and faculty member at the Vector Institute for AI.
• Dr. Jeremy Petch – Director of CREATE and Associate Investigator at the Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences.

Together, they will explore:

• The real-world applications of AI in clinical and research settings
• The ethical and operational boundaries of emerging technologies
• Lessons learned from practical implementation

A live Q&A session with attendees will follow

NovaStudies Connect

The Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub has launched a NovaStudies Connect explainer video.

NovaStudies Connect Training:

May 14 10AM-11AM via Teams

Please reach out to researchoperations@nshealth.ca

NovaStudies Connect is set to launch new Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) capabilities, enabling researchers to engage with participants remotely through virtual technologies. We are looking for investigators who would be interested in piloting the DCT module of NovaStudies Connect. A short DCT introductory video can be viewed here. Please contact researchoperations@nshealth.ca to learn more!

• Researchers are reminded to keep their studies updated, including maintaining an accurate study status.

Helpful tip: Include relevant search tags in your study listing to enhance its visibility and help participants locate your study more easily on NovaStudies Connect

Nova Scotia Health Research Fund 2025 - Expression of Interest Now Open

Anticipated Competition Timeline

Expression of Interest (EoI) Deadline

May 16, 2025 at 16:00 ADT

Notification of EoI Stage Results

May 30, 2025 at 16:00 ADT

Full Application deadline

July 18, 2025 at 16:00 ADT

Dissemination of Competition Results

August 15, 2025 

New Expression of Interest (EoI) Stage

We are pleased to introduce a new EoI component as part of the Nova Scotia Health Research Fund 2025 competition.

Only select applicants will be invited to submit full applications based on the EoI stage. This addition will streamline the application review process and ensure applications align with the targeted priorities of Nova Scotia Health. The EoI stage will allow researchers to briefly outline their project ideas, identify potential collaborators, and potentially receive early feedback on project design. This step is designed to strengthen proposals, optimize review processes, and ensure alignment with institutional priorities.

EoI Review Process: Submitted EoIs will be reviewed by a panel of interested parties internal to Nova Scotia Health, who will rank submissions to enhance alignment with institutional priorities and overall quality of full proposals. Applicants will be chosen to submit full proposals based on:



• Impact on Nova Scotia Health/Action for Health Priorities
• Feasibility
• Relevance
• Clinical Significance

Applicants are encouraged to align their proposals with the six core solutions for healthcare outlined in the Action for Health Plan.

Submit your EoI here.

Support for Application Development

• Administrative pre-review and other grant development support is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Requests for administrative pre-review must be submitted to Research.Fund@nshealth.ca at least two weeks prior to final deadline.
• If you are seeking full support from the Research Methods Unit (RMU), please contact them at least four weeks prior to the application deadline.

Please visit our Health Innovation Hub page for more details: Nova Scotia Health Research Fund (NSH RF) | Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub (nshealth.ca)

For questions, contact: Research.Fund@nshealth.ca

Funding Success Story

The Final report was submitted by Dr. Helena Piccinini-Vallis (Family Medicine) for her NSH-RF grant ($31.7K) awarded in the 2020 cycle, entitled “Screening for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Postpartum Type 2 Diabetes: a Retrospective Cohort Study using Primary Care”

The study aimed to establish a platform for the extraction of prenatal care data at the primary care level, and then link the data to intrapartum data contained in the NS Atlee Perinatal Database. This was done to explore the association between the timing of gestational diabetes (GDM) screening and several outcomes, specifically macrosomia, LGA, shoulder dystocia and caesarean section.

The team report that the objectives of the study were achieved. “The team had 180 participants for whom GDM risk could be calculated, of which 30.6 % had late GDM screening. Late screening was associated with higher likelihood of LGA. Consistent with the literature, the best predictor of macrosomia, LGA, and shoulder dystocia was excess gestational weight gain (GWG); the best predictor of caesarean section was pre-pregnancy BMI. This study pioneered the extraction of prenatal data through the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network and the platform the research team had developed for that extraction can now be used by other Canadian researchers.”

The research was published in Obesity Pillars journal (see attached), presented orally at the Family Medicine Forum 2025 in Vancouver, and presented via a poster in NAPCRG 2025 in Quebec City.

Funding Opportunity Deadlines

Upcoming Research Grant Opportunities - May - July 2025.pdf

Research in the news

Heart failure prevention drug trial first patient in Cape Breton | PNI Atlantic News

Film Premiere of Empower: A Story of Hope, Healing, and the Power of Human Connection

We invite you to join us for the film screening premiere of “Empower”, a documentary of the Patient Empowerment Programs (PEP) developed by Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine Endowed Soillse Scientist in Cancer Quality of Life Research, Gabriela Ilie, and Oncologist, Rob Rutledge.

This documentary also features PEP graduates Melanie Smith and John Underhill, CD, KC. Following the documentary, there will be a panel discussion with remarkable cancer survivors and program participants.

Sunday, May 4, 7 p.m. ADT (6 p.m. ET) in person or via live streaming

Joseph Strug Concert Hall

1385 Seymour St, Halifax Register here

Critical Illness Benefit

Optional critical illness is available to research employees, with the exception of those who are casual relief in status. There is additional information within the HANS website - Optional Critical Illness - Health Association Nova Scotia.

The website states ‘permanent employee’ but this benefit is available to research employees who are in assignment positions.

Thank you for reading the Research Bulletin! The next edition will be June 2025.

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