Dr. Deborah Cook conducts patient-centred research in the ICU.  She is interested in risk factors for serious illness, prevention of ICU-acquired complications, life support technology, and end-of-life decisions for critically ill patients. Her methodological interests are in the design and conduct of multicenter randomized trials, research ethics, and the incorporation of diverse kinds of evidence into clinical recommendations. Dr. Cook is Academic Chair in Critical Care Medicine at McMaster, Director of Academic Affairs in the ICU at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, and holds a Canada Research Chair for Research Transfer in Intensive Care. She is a member of the CLARITY (Clinical Advances through Research and Information Translation) Research Group. She has had an enormous influence on evidence-based decision-making in critical care worldwide. Dr. Cook has been recognized for her accomplishments with numerous local, national and international awards. Most notably, she is a Distinguished University Professor at McMaster, and an Officer of the Order of Canada. She was awarded a Killam Fellowship as well as a CIHR Gold Leaf Prize for Impact. She has recently been appointed to the expert advisory panel for Canada’s Chief Science Advisor.

• CLARITY Research
• PROSPECT trial
• REVISE trial
• 3 Wishes project

Dr. Waleed Alhazzani (Founding Chair) and Dr. Emilie Belley-Côté (Co-chair) lead a team of experts in the field of clinical practice guideline development and systematic reviews, mostly, critical care clinicians with methodology expertise. This group of experts provides support for guideline development and another evidence synthesis, as well as mentoring and offering trainees opportunities to participate in various projects. GUIDE has been actively engaged in high-impact guidelines supported by SCCM and ESICM.  Most notably, Dr. Alhazzani is the methodology chair of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign as well as many other guidelines.

GUIDE Canada

Dr. Maureen Meade is a senior clinician investigator who has developed an international reputation for practice-changing clinical research in the field of lung protective ventilation strategies in ARDS. Her current focus of research relates to the management of deceased organ donors in the ICU.  She is the director of the Canada-DONATE Research Program, building a national research platform to support clinical trials in a field that is challenged by unique pragmatic, methodologic and ethical considerations. She collaborates with intensive care physicians, organ donation organizations across Canada, Canadian Blood Services, the Canadian National Transplant Research Program and the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. Dr. Meade has been recognized regionally and nationally for her strong mentorship of early career investigators.  As a member of the CLARITY (Clinical Advances through Research and Information Translation) Research Group, she has been very influential in evidence-based decision-making in critical care worldwide.

• CLARITY Research
• Canadian Critical Care Trials Group

Dr. Emilie Belley-Côté is an investigator conducting research that focuses on perioperative cardiovascular medicine, including improving the short and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. She is leading trials that assess optimal treatment in aortic valve disease as well as having methodologic expertise for guideline development.

Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud is an investigator conducting research in sepsis.  She leads Sepsis Canada, a national team of over 190 researchers whose aim is to “reduce sepsis-associated illness and death and to lessen the long-term impact of sepsis on patients and society”. Her research program extends from preclinical models and translational biomarker studies to clinical trials. She is the past president of the Canadian Critical Care Society and the inaugural president of the Canadian Sepsis Foundation.

Dr. Bram Rochwerg is an investigator conducting clinical trials in sepsis and fluid resuscitation research. He is conducting the FISSH trial (Fluids in Sepsis and Septic Shock) which evaluates different fluid types for resuscitation in patients with sepsis. He has specific expertise in a meta-analysis, network meta-analysis, resource utilization and clinical practice guideline development. As a member of the CLARITY (Clinical Advances through Research and information Translation) Research Group and an SCCM section representative, he has had a substantial influence on evidence-based decision-making in critical care worldwide.

RUBIC Program

Dr. Joanna Dionne is a Clinical Scholar completing her Ph.D. thesis. She is an investigator with a focus on gastrointestinal issues affecting critically ill patients. She is conducting a prospective multi-centre cohort study (DICE-ICU) that will determine the incidence, risk factors, consequences and epidemiology of diarrhea in the ICU.  In addition, she has methodologic expertise and an interest in clinical practice guideline development.

Dr. Michelle Kho is a clinician-scientist in the School of Rehabilitation Science as well as a physiotherapist in the St. Joseph’s Healthcare ICU in Hamilton. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Rehabilitation and Knowledge Translation. Dr. Kho leads a clinical research program of novel early rehabilitation strategies to reduce weakness and improve outcomes in ICU patients.  She currently leads CYCLE, a multi-centre international randomized trial of early in-bed cycling with mechanically ventilated patients to improve physical function. She is also interested in research methodology, clinical practice guidelines, and health services and outcomes research.

Dr. Jennifer Tsang and Dr. Erick Duan are the Co-Directors of the Research Program at Niagara Health. Together with other colleagues and with the support of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, they have created the Canadian Community ICU Research Network (CCIRNet). This is a novel network of community hospital ICUs in Canada working together to promote participation in clinical research studies. These investigators are studying the effects of this network while participating in several CCCTG studies. In addition to her expertise in critical care, Dr. Tsang is a Ph.D. scientist and a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, and she is building a research program around critical illness and obesity. Dr. Erick Duan has methodologic expertise and an interest in clinical practice guideline development.

Dr. Simon Oczkowski is an investigator formally trained in both bioethics and research methodology. His clinical and research interests include end-of-life decision-making in the ICU, organ donation, patient and family engagement in critical care as well as medical assistance in dying (MAID). His current research projects on MAID include a multi-centre mixed-methods study to develop and validate an instrument to measure patient and family satisfaction with MAID, as well as a series of observational studies evaluating medication use and complication rates in MAID. He is the co-lead of the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers’ Research Committee.