Together, research activity at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) totalled $146 million in 2018-19, up from $140 million the previous year. With their results being combined, this places them in fifth spot among comparable hospitals in Canada for research activity, or sixth spot when provincial health authorities are included. This data was released Friday, December 11, by Research Infosource.
“We’re very proud to be ranked as one of the top research hospitals in Canada,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “Research provides our patients with new treatment options and gives us the tools to continuously improve care. This has been even more important during COVID-19, as we’ve launched more than 60 research projects that are helping us understand, treat and prevent this devastating disease.”
“The past year has been a challenging period for scientists around the world, but not one without great strides in research, innovation, and possibility,” said Dr. Peter Liu, Chief Scientific Officer and Vice-President of Research at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. "Despite the challenges of our time, the Heart Institute is proud to have strengthened its longstanding tradition of innovation and research excellence.”
Notable research successes from The Ottawa Hospital and the UOHI from the last year include:
- A world-first clinical trial that is helping blood cancer patients avoid unnecessary blood transfusions and saving tens of thousands of units of blood each year.
- Development of a promising gene therapy approach that could one day help treat a deadly lung disease in newborns.
- Applying sophisticated computer science techniques to get 100 times more data than was previously possible from laboratory experiments on single cells.
- Identifying a variant of the inflammatory gene RIPK1 that is a driver of both obesity and atherosclerosis.
The Ottawa Hospital, together with the UOHI, also ranks fourth among more than 600 hospitals in Canada for competitive, peer-reviewed funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s top learning and research hospitals, where excellent care is inspired by research and driven by compassion. As the third-largest employer in Ottawa, our support staff, researchers, nurses, physicians, and volunteers never stop seeking solutions to the most complex health-care challenges. Our multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, attracts some of the most influential scientific minds from around the world. Backed by generous support from the community, we are committed to providing the world-class, compassionate care we would want for our loved ones.
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute has flourished into one of Canada’s most distinguished heart health centres for the unparalleled care it provides to its patients, a world-renowned research Institute that brings science from bench to bedside, and the country’s main influencer when it comes to preventing heart disease. Its promise remains the very pillar on which it was built: Always putting patients first.
Media contacts
Jennifer Ganton
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
613-614-5253
@email
Leigh B. Morris
Communications Officer
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
613-316-6409 (cell)
@email