Five Faculty of Health Sciences researchers awarded Canada Research Chairs

This composite image shows researchers Andrew Costa, P.J. Devereaux, Lindsay Kalan, Deborah Sloboda, and Meredith Vanstone.

Andrew Costa, P.J. Devereaux, Lindsay Kalan, Deborah Sloboda, and Meredith Vanstone have been named Canada Research Chairs.

By Adam Ward

Posted on March 13, 2024

The federal government has invested more than $5 million in five researchers from McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences who have been named Canada Research Chairs.

Researchers Andrew Costa, Lindsay Kalan and Meredith Vanstone are among McMaster’s newest Canada Research Chairs (CRCs), while Deborah Sloboda advanced to a Tier 1 and Philip James Devereaux, had his CRC renewed.

There are two tiers of CRCs which recognize accomplished and emerging leaders in their respective fields Tier 1 chairs are held for seven years and renewable once with an investment of $200,000 annually; Tier 2 chairs are held for five years and are renewable once with an investment of $100,000 annually, with an additional $20,000 annual stipend for first-term chairs.

“Congratulations to our Canada Research Chairs for achieving this esteemed recognition,” says Paul O’Byrne, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

“The CRC program allows us to continue attracting and retaining leading researchers, ensuring that both McMaster University and Canada remain at the forefront of excellence in health sciences research and innovation.”

Costa is a new Tier 2 Research Chair in Integrated Care for Seniors. He is an associate professor and Schlegel Research Chair in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact and the research lead at the DeGroote School of Medicine at the Waterloo Regional Campus.

“I am honoured to be nominated and awarded a Canada Research Chair in Integrated Care for Seniors. The chair will help me and my team to expand important initiatives that will help align our health system with the rapid demographic shift taking place,” Costa says.

Devereaux is a senior scientist with the Population Health Research Institute, a joint research institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, and a professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact and the Department of Medicine. Devereaux saw his Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair in Perioperative Medicine renewed.

“I am enormously grateful to the Canadian government for supporting my research program through a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair. The focus of my research is preventing and better managing major complications around the time of surgery. The goal is to find ways to prevent and better manage these complications and, in the process, improve the safety of surgery so that anyone can safely obtain the benefits of surgery.”

Kalan is an associate professor with the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and an expert in cutaneous infectious disease and the microbiome. She holds the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Skin Microbiome and Infectious Disease.

“Being nominated as a Canada Research Chair and returning to McMaster University, where my academic journey began, is a profound honour. This is where my passion for research was kindled, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the Canadian scientific community and training of our future scientific leaders.”

Sloboda has been awarded a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Early Origins of Health and Disease. A professor with the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Sloboda previously held a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Programming from 2012-2022. She is also an associate member of the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics.

“This funding will support investigations into novel mechanistic pathways that govern the relationship between early life adversity and postnatal disease and translate this biology to the public and policy-makers to inform strategic interventions and changes to policy. Understanding these links will offer new interventions to mitigate disease burden, and effectively translating this science will offer strategies for policy change around preconception and pregnancy health recommendations,” she says.

Vanstone has been awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Ethical Complexity in Primary Care. She is an associate professor with the Department of Family Medicine. She uses health policy and education strategies to improve the health-care system.

“This award recognizes the essential nature of a strong primary care system to the health of all Canadians. The focus on ethical complexity emphasizes the complex, uncertain, and very difficult nature of primary care work. Family doctors and other primary care providers are the foundation of the health-care system, working with patients from cradle to grave to provide care which centres the whole person. For our health system to thrive, we need more investment so that high quality team-based primary care is accessible to all, and the clinicians working in those teams are well supported to address the complex needs of their patients.”

See the full list of McMaster University researchers named Canada Research Chairs on Brighter World.

Dept. Biochem, Dept. FamMed, Dept. HEI, Research