After a few years of tirelessly working towards their research program and knowledge translation (KT) activities, our PSI KT Fellows reach the finish line of their fellowship. As they cross the end point towards their award, we asked our fellows for reflections on their journey to share their highlights from the fellowship and advice for other aspiring or current KT Fellows.

What are the key accomplishments and outcomes from your award?

The award enabled me to achieve transformative milestones in two core areas: academic research and healthcare innovation.

First, the fellowship provided the crucial infrastructure and support that allowed me to engage in high-level academic research in ways that had previously been inaccessible to me. With this support, I was able to generate new knowledge in the field of virtual care service delivery in Ontario — work that is now helping shape how virtual care will be designed and deployed in the Canadian healthcare system in the coming years. This contribution is particularly timely, as virtual care continues to evolve into a foundational element of our national care strategy.

Second, the award gave me the freedom to translate my academic work into real-world impact through entrepreneurship. I co-founded and led a healthcare technology startup rooted in my previous research, which operated for four years and built a strong professional and academic network across Canada and the United States. Along the way, we received multiple awards and were proud to complete the prestigious Rotman Creative Destruction Lab in 2024 — a capstone experience that brought further visibility and validation to the work we were doing.

Together, these accomplishments underscore the unique and essential role that this type of funding plays in catalyzing both academic discovery and innovation. This award didn’t just support my work — it unlocked it.

What are some lessons learned during the PSI KT Fellowship?

One of the most valuable lessons I learned during the fellowship is that while early plans are essential for setting direction, true impact often lies in the ability to adapt and respond to emerging opportunities. The preliminary goals we outlined at the outset were ambitious and well-intentioned — but as the work progressed, we found ourselves drawn toward newly opened pathways that were equally, if not more, important. These were areas of academic inquiry and influence that we hadn’t originally anticipated, but which proved deeply aligned with the fellowship’s broader aims of translating knowledge into meaningful change.

There’s a saying that “no plan survives first contact with reality,” and that was certainly true in our case. The key was not to abandon our ambition, but to remain nimble and pursue newly visible opportunities with equal intensity and purpose. This kind of pivot — toward unexpected but high-impact work — is only possible when scholars are given the time, space, and support to think creatively, follow the evidence, and engage deeply with new ideas.

What was the most memorable moment of this KT Fellowship?

The most memorable moments of the fellowship were deeply rooted in the remarkable teams I had the privilege of working with. On the academic side, I was fortunate to collaborate with talented individuals across a range of disciplines—locally and provincially—whose insights and dedication elevated the work in every way. Our partnerships with ICES, McMaster, and access to Ontario’s rich administrative datasets allowed us to conduct high-impact analyses that informed key areas of virtual care — a rapidly evolving space with real implications for patient access and system design.

But perhaps the most unforgettable experience came from the time I spent building and leading a private-sector team dedicated to translating research into real-world change. Thanks to the time and support this fellowship afforded me, I was able to pursue the commercialization of my academic work — an ambitious leap into the world of healthcare entrepreneurship. Over three years, we built a mission-driven company from the ground up, united by a shared vision to improve emergency medicine through data and innovation. Collaborating with a team of driven, creative, and like-minded individuals — each bringing unique expertise and perspective — was profoundly energizing and taught me as much about leadership, communication, and execution as it did about medicine or research.

These moments — whether at the research bench or in the startup boardroom — are enduring reminders of the power of collaboration, and of what can happen when visionary support like this fellowship meets an open and curious mind.

What are some general tips and advice you would give to those who are currently completing their KT Fellowship?

My advice is twofold.

First, lean deeply into the areas of research that align with your expertise and academic track record — these are often where your credibility, curiosity, and capability intersect most powerfully. But don’t stop there. Remain open to adjacent or emerging domains where your existing knowledge base can give you a unique advantage. Some of the most impactful and innovative work I pursued during my fellowship came from venturing just beyond the borders of my original focus — into spaces where opportunity met readiness.

Second, use this time not only to produce, but to reflect. These awards provide more than funding — they create rare intellectual space. Take this opportunity to ask big questions: about the status quo in your field, about the risks you’re willing to take, and about the kind of legacy you want your work to leave. While there are certainly productivity expectations, the true power of the fellowship lies in its capacity to let you challenge conventional thinking and pursue bold, ambitious ideas that might otherwise fall to the margins.

In short: capitalize fully on the freedom this fellowship affords. Think strategically, act ambitiously, and trust that this time — used well — can meaningfully elevate both your work and your future impact.

After a few years of tirelessly working towards their research program and knowledge translation (KT) activities, our PSI KT Fellows reach the finish line of their fellowship. As they cross the end point towards their award, we asked our fellows for reflections on their journey to share their highlights from the fellowship and advice for other aspiring or current KT Fellows.

What are the key accomplishments and outcomes from your award?

First off, I’m so grateful to the PSI Foundation, reviewers and staff for this award. It allowed me the protected time to complete several foundational steps in my research program, focused on targeted child mental health prevention and family-centered care. These include publishing the results of our randomized controlled trial of the “Family Check-Up®” (FCU) in 204 families of young children at high risk of mental health challenges by virtue of early-onset emotional dysregulation and/or several psychosocial risk factors. This was the first trial of this brief, evidence-based, targeted child mental health prevention program in Canada. We demonstrated significant reductions in child emotional and behaviour problems 12 months after baseline. We have also adapted the program for delivery within an Ontario Autism Service setting and successfully completed a hybrid implementation-effectiveness randomized controlled trial including 82 families of Autistic children and youth, with analyses underway.

This award also enabled me to develop key partnerships with community agencies, school boards, child protection services and shelters – from which we were able to recruit underserved families. We have since build on this work by developing a sustainable team of research and clinical Family Check-Up® coaches and embedded the program during a pilot study within early childcare settings in high-needs Hamilton neighbourhoods (https://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/family-check-up-partners-with-local-day-care/). Next steps include integrating the  FCU within a larger-scale system of universal and targeted prevention, including supportive and sustainable methods of identifying families who may benefit the most.

I have also been fortunate to benefit from the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Shaw, one of the world’s leading experts in long-term outcomes (>20 years) of targeted early childhood prevention programs and a co-developer of the FCU. Our team represents Canada on the International FCU Governing Council, together with the U.S., Netherlands and Sweden and we successfully hosted the biennial international retreat last year with over 100 delegates visiting McMaster University and Hamilton. Our next step is to create a Canadian Centre for training and innovation in child mental health prevention, building on these experiences.

What are some lessons learned during the KT Fellowship?

I learned that knowledge translation takes time! In my line of work, translating findings from observational and clinical trials research into sustainable psychosocial programs requires building a lot of trust with communities, agencies and families. Partners sometimes feel like they have given to research endeavours without receiving a lot in return, so taking the time to hear about their needs, integrate their expertise and collaboratively build programs and systems is essential. The time taken is not always recognized by the usual productivity, or promotion and tenure, metrics, but it is meaningful, impactful and highly rewarding.

What was the most memorable moment(s) of this KT Fellowship?

This has been a deeply enriching few years, with many memorable moments.

These include – wrapping up our last of over 600 assessment visits in the community as part of our first randomized controlled trial, waiting with bated breath for our (blinded) analyst to reveal the study results, meeting our inspiring family advisory members who have shared so willingly their expertise. We were fortunate to learn from our generous colleagues at De Dwa Da Dehs Nye Aboriginal Health Centre about family-centered care through an Indigenous Lens. We have been inspired by the many people and agencies in our community who are committed to levelling the playing field for children and families who experience inequity. Finally, our team of clinicians, researchers and students have celebrated and supported each other as clinicians have become credentialed as certified Family Check-Up coaches, students have graduated, postdoctoral fellows have found faculty positions, and young adults have gotten married and started families of their own. It truly has been an experience of healthcare, innovation and knowledge translation through “fellowship” with others.

What are some general tips and advice you would give to those who are currently completing their KT Fellowship?

I found crafting the initial proposal to be such a helpful exercise in refining and communicating my vision for the change I wished to see through my research program, so having it ready to review was motivating and focusing.

At the same time, knowledge translation should involve “exchange” – so being open to learning from others and taking an iterative approach to knowledge translation is key.

Many activities and benchmarks related to knowledge translation – e.g., uptake of programs, training agencies, developing new clinical models – are not always recognized by traditional metrics of productivity within Academia, so try to find champions in your hospitals and communities who are willing to speak to the real-world impact of your work.

Finding a guiding implementation or knowledge translation framework to guide you – this helps organize a research program and set measurable benchmarks.

Don’t underestimate the value of “hallway chats” about what is NOT working in healthcare, what gets front-line clinicians and patients frustrated, what do they think we need? These were the inspiration for my research program, and these are often great litmus tests for your ideas about change.

Healthcare research and front-line work feel very challenging and under-resourced these days – find ways to build in celebration and support with your clinical and research colleagues. This work is hard, and clinician scientists are often pulled in many directions, so practise self-compassion.

After a few years of tirelessly working towards their research program and knowledge translation (KT) activities, our PSI KT Fellows reach the finish line of their fellowship. As they cross the end point towards their award, we asked our fellows for reflections on their journey to share their highlights from the fellowship and advice for other aspiring or current KT Fellows.

What are the key accomplishments and outcomes from your award?

One of the greatest accomplishments from this award was the creation of FIRST60: Prehospital, Trauma, and Resuscitation Sciences ( https://first60.ca/). FIRST60 was inspired by bringing together like-minded investigators with a passion for innovating and improving the care of severely injured and ill patients. As one of the co-founders and now Director of FIRST60, it has been an amazing experience seeing the collaboration and cross-pollination of people in this space. Over the last 2 years, we were successful in launching our website; hosting monthly forums; and are looking forward to hosting the inaugural Toronto Resuscitation Conference—in collaboration with Ornge and Unity Health Toronto—to highlight the work being done in the Canadian prehospital, trauma, and resuscitation sciences realm.

What are some lessons learned during the PSI KT Fellowship?

Over the course of this Fellowship I’ve learned a ton. But here are two that stand out:

1) Research is a dish best served with friends. I have had the privilege of working with the most dedicated team of individuals spanning backgrounds on emergency medicine, trauma surgery, transfusion medicine, knowledge translation, paramedicine, nursing and military medicine. Ontario is lucky to have such network of people working hard to keep them safe, and working hard to ensure timely access to the care they need.

2) Research funding for trauma and prehospital care research is limited. As there is no large funding body to support research like we do, it is critical to have the support of organizations like PSI Foundation. Impact factors and Citation Scores tell a part of research success, but so does having your research change local or provincial policies. Funding bodies like PSI have made it possible to perform research at the local and provincial level, allowing us to evaluate the systems we have in place and to provide guidance on how the trauma system can and should adapt to improve the lives of patients in Ontario.

What was the most memorable moment of this KT Fellowship?

As part of the launch of FIRST60, we made some swag and branded slide decks and attended our national trauma conference all wearing various types of FIRST60 branded clothing. It got noticed pretty quickly, and at one point someone burst out “WHAT IS THE FIRST60?”. I definitely had a proud dad moment there.

What are some general tips and advice you would give to those who are currently completing their KT Fellowship?

There are few other salary support awards out there that give you this flexibility to explore what is best for your career. While I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do during my KT Fellowship (and was still able to do those things), some of the best moments over the last 3 years were unexpected detours I took to explore other opportunities. In my case, one of these detours led to me becoming the PI on the Study of Whole blood In Frontline Trauma (SWiFT) Canada study. This is the first prehospital transfusion clinical trial in Canada, and was the first use of whole blood in the Canadian civilian environment. So while yes, you should always take time for yourself, friends, and family, allowing some flexibility to travel off the path or take an extra meeting or two could open up a whole other world of possibilities.

Once our PSI Knowledge Translation (KT) Fellows take off from the starting line, they make strides as they move their knowledge translation activities and research program forward. As the finish line becomes clearer in their sight, we asked our fellows some questions to share their progress thus far, and what they look forward to in the remainder of their KT Fellowship.

What are some of your accomplishments from the KT Fellowship thus far?

The PSI Graham Farquharson KT Fellowship has afforded me numerous opportunities to pursue my own program of knowledge translation work and collaborate with mentors and colleagues on new projects. My clinical work and research focus on adolescent substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders (“concurrent disorders”).  I use clinical and health services research methods to understand the development, impact, and treatment of concurrent disorders in this population.

During my KT Fellowship, I am (1) working with community organizations in Ontario to identify needs and gaps in services and build capacity for adolescent concurrent disorders care, (2) developing a specialized child Substance Use and Concurrent Disorders program at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and (3) contributing to national standards development and implementation for paediatric concurrent disorders.

My program of KT under this fellowship began with a study to develop a framework outlining the components of child and youth concurrent disorders programs that has been published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (Rosic et al., 2024). My team then collaborated with community partners to conduct a community-based needs assessment to identify gaps in care for child and adolescent substance use and concurrent disorders in Eastern Ontario. We recently presented our findings at the Children’s Healthcare Canada annual conference in April 2025. With the goal of knowledge mobilization, I have led several presentations on paediatric concurrent disorders care locally and provincially within the Ontario Telemental Health Network. I have also collaborated with the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions (the Knowledge Institute) to develop a resource for healthcare professionals on paediatric concurrent disorders care, under the mentorship of my KT Fellowship mentor, Dr. Amy Porath, Director of Research and Knowledge Mobilization at the Knowledge Institute.

This year, in partnership with Kids Come First and CHEO, and funded by Health Canada, we are launching a clinical program to expand substance use screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment, housed in the Substance Use and Concurrent Disorders program at CHEO. Relatedly, we are conducting a study to examine the prevalence of concurrent disorders in youth accessing centralized mental health intake in collaboration with the Knowledge Institute and Kids Come First. Finally, to advance national standards implementation for youth concurrent disorders, I am leading a study examining the uptake of guidelines on assessment and treatment of nicotine vaping in hospital-based child and youth mental health programs across Canada. Protected time to engage in KT and research has been invaluable and access to a network of collaborators spurred by mentorship I am receiving during my KT Fellowship has led to these exciting opportunities.

What are some items/deliverables that you look forward to coming to fruition in the remainder of your KT Fellowship?

Over the next two years of my KT Fellowship, I look forward to ongoing collaboration with the Knowledge Institute that will result in knowledge products on service and system mapping in Ontario for child and youth concurrent disorders care. Additionally, we will launch our expanded Substance Use and Concurrent Disorders service at CHEO in July, filling key gaps in the continuum of care with community programs. Numerous KT activities will come from this work in order to disseminate knowledge within the broader clinical and scientific communities.

What are some things that surprised you during your fellowship thus far?

Most eye-opening has been the critical impact of mentorship in KT. As physicians and scientists, we receive most of our training in clinical care and primary research methods but often less training, or certainly less formal training, on knowledge mobilization. There are many skills required to engage in knowledge translation that effects change. As clinicians, we intuitively know the importance of research to improve our clinical care, yet there is often a gap in our ability to mobilize the knowledge to bring about necessary change and engage with relevant knowledge users and champions. I have been pleasantly surprised by the seemingly endless new opportunities to engage in KT related to my area of research, above and beyond what I initially sought out to do in my KT Fellowship. The mentorship I am receiving on KT from Dr. Porath has been key to this.

Upon receiving their approval letters and sharing the exciting news of the award with their community, the PSI Knowledge Translation (KT) Fellows begin preparing to get settled in their place at the starting line. As they embark on their KT Fellowship journey, we asked them few questions to know them beyond their recipient biographies, as well as some notes they could pass on to future applicants.

Please use 3 words to describe how you feel as you begin your KT Fellowship.

Grateful, inspired, supported

Why did you apply for the PSI KT Fellowship? How does this award align with your current research and career goals?

My journey as a trainee and early-career researcher has exposed me to different research methods and clinical settings. In both my research and clinical work, I have identified gaps in the reach and quality of services to young people with serious mental illness with clear sociodemographic disparities. As I look ahead to the rest of my career, I am increasingly motivated to bring effective models of care to all young people with serious mental illness. The focus of the PSI Graham Farquharson KT Fellowship is to move research discoveries into the real world to improve health outcomes; the PSI Graham Farquharson KT Fellowship will support me to bring research discoveries to youth with serious mental illness in real-world settings.

What are 3 to 5 general tips and notes you would pass on to those preparing their KT Fellowship application?

• Spend time getting to know your topic area by reviewing the research literature, speaking with clinicians or working in the area yourself, and engaging with people with lived experience. This will help you to develop thoughtful and informed approaches to research and demonstrate your expertise and suitability for funding in your application.
• Familiarize yourself with PSI’s definition of and approach to KT to ensure that your work aligns.
• Start identifying the people around you who have expertise in implementing research discoveries in your population of interest and can speak to your suitability to undertake your proposed programme of research. This will prepare you to select people who can act as a mentor and references for the application and provide you with the support and guidance to realize your vision.

Upon receiving their approval letters and sharing the exciting news of the award with their community, the PSI Knowledge Translation (KT) Fellows begin preparing to get settled in their place at the starting line. As they embark on their KT Fellowship journey, we asked them few questions to know them beyond their recipient biographies, as well as some notes they could pass on to future applicants. 

Please use 3 words to describe how you feel as you begin your KT Fellowship.

Excited, honoured, motivated

Why did you apply for the PSI KT Fellowship? How does this award align with your current research and career goals?

I applied for the PSI KT Fellowship to facilitate having more dedicated time for knowledge translation related to my research on youth reproductive mental health. My goal is to do research and implementation work that has a substantive positive impact on reproductive and mental health outcomes. The Fellowship affords me time to engage knowledge users including clinicians, community organizations, and youth with lived experience, and translate research findings into clinical care and services.

What are 3 to 5 general tips and notes you would pass on to those preparing their KT Fellowship application?

• This is a great opportunity for early career physicians to develop their knowledge translation programs including building relationships with community organizations and people with lived experience.
• When preparing your application, consider how knowledge can be translated not only into new projects, but also into existing clinical services to improve care.
• Keep trying! This was not my first time applying for a PSI KT Fellowship.