Last month, MSSU launched its Trainee Support Program, an annual funding opportunity that supports students in building strong patient-oriented research skills while contributing to projects that respond to health priorities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Trainee support in action

Jasleen Kaur Dev, a PhD student in the Perinatal-Pediatric Health & Development Studies (PEADS) Laboratory at the University of New Brunswick, was a 2025 MSSU Trainee Support recipient. Her work reflects the goals of the Trainee Support Program — supporting emerging researchers to meaningfully partner with people with lived and living experience and to embed patient-oriented approaches throughout the research lifecycle.

“Partnering with postpartum mothers through our Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) ensured that our Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training Postpartum (MB-EAT-P) program was shaped by lived experience. Their ideas—like incorporating in-person childcare—were instrumental to the program’s success and to the completion of our pilot trial, highlighting the importance of engaging end-users as true collaborators in research.” — Jasleen Kaur Dev, PhD Student, PEADS Lab, UNB

Supervised by MSSU Scientist Dr. Maryam Kebbe, Jasleen co-created a mindful eating intervention for postpartum mothers in partnership with a five-member Parent Advisory Committee. Drawing on lived experience, the Committee helped shape the design, delivery, and outcomes of the intervention from scheduling sessions during nap times, to incorporating stroller-based meditations, to offering both digital and paper-based resources to better meet families’ needs.

The Parent Advisory Committee will continue to collaborate with the PEADS Lab throughout the implementation and evaluation phases of the trial.



Interested in applying for the Trainee Support Program?

This year, we’re excited to welcome several new MSSU Scientists from across the Maritimes.

Our Scientific Membership brings together researchers, clinicians, administrators, and research leaders who are committed to patient-oriented research.

MSSU Scientists can supervise MSSU-funded trainees, access trainee support funding, receive discounted data access rates, serve on MSSU committees and collaborative projects, and connect with decision-makers and fellow researchers across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

We love hearing about the patient-oriented research our Scientists are leading. Sharing these stories helps inspire others and showcases the impact of meaningful partnerships in action.

As this community grows each year, it reflects a broader shift in health research across the Maritimes that values collaboration, inclusion, and lived experience.

Thank you for joining and welcome to the MSSU community: Dr. Laura Kennedy, Dalhousie University, Dr. Keri-Leigh Cassidy, Dalhousie University, Dr. David Gardner, Dalhousie University, Dr. Debbie Johnson Emberly, Dalhousie University, Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie, Dalhousie University, Dr. Phillip Eappen, Cape Breton University, Andrea Patey, IWK Health Centre, Dr. Dayo Afolabi, Nova Scotia Health, Dr. Michel Ladouceur, Dalhousie University, Dr. Jo-Anne Wilson, Dalhousie University, Dr. Chris McGibbon, University of New Brunswick, Dr. Olivier Valentin, Dalhousie University, Dr. Nancy Ross, Dalhousie University.

MSSU SCIENTIST SPOTLIGHT: MARTHA PAYNTER

Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is making a difference—and now there’s one place where you can see that impact come to life.

The 11 provincial and territorial SPOR SUPPORT Units and seven SPOR Entities have united to launch a collective LinkedIn page, bringing local insights and cross-country collaboration under one digital roof. 



From national initiatives and learning resources to powerful stories and collaborations, this page shares how research, designed with and for patients, is improving care and outcomes across Canada.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

EVENTS AND TRAINING

MSSU Patient-Oriented Research Practicum

March 6, 2026 | 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. AST | Online

Join us for a free, 2.5-hour virtual training workshop that builds on the CIHR-IMHA’s e-learning:
A How-to-Guide to Patient Engagement in Research. This hands-on session helps participants apply core concepts from the e-learning modules to real-world contexts, with a focus on the Maritimes.



Co-led by people with lived and living experience, each session includes practical tips, examples, and opportunities for discussion. You’ll learn how to plan for meaningful engagement and address common challenges.

View more dates

MSSU Presents: LHS in Action

March 11, 2026 |12 p.m. AST | Online

Building a Maritime Pediatric Learning Health System with Youth, Families, Clinicians, and Community Partners


Explore how Maritime Child Health (MCH), a donor-funded initiative at IWK Health, is building a pediatric learning health system across the Maritimes. Learn how this approach to pediatric health care is being used to connect real-time data, lived experience, research, and care delivery across provincial boundaries. This session highlights how early engagement with youth and families, clinicians, and community partners has shaped the work, and how implementation science is supporting the move from shared vision to action.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

BC SUPPORT Unit's Putting Patients First Conference

March 3, 2026 | Online or in-person | REGISTER

Health Data Research Network Canada: Health Data For All of Us: Our Health Data Journey public forum

April 21, 2026 | Online or in-person | REGISTER

Save the date: 2026 NorthWest SPOR Collaborative Forum organized by AbSPORU

May 12-13, 2026 | Free livestream

PUBLICATIONS

If we've supported your patient-oriented research and/or you've published your findings, let us know by emailing communications@mssu.ca to include in our next newsletter.

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