About us
The Pilot Marshal Project aims to support researchers as they implement Pilot Projects within unique and complex environments.
Interventions that are found to be effective on an individual scale, or within a specific context, often fail when implemented in a separate context.
Using the SUPPORT-Dialysis Pilot Project as a case study, we will identify key barriers and facilitators to Pilot Project implementation. Based on these findings, we will develop a Process Model to help guide the process of translating research into practice.
Background
In April 2023, the SUPPORT-Dialysis pilot study was launched at Toronto General Hospital. The study aims to determine the feasibility of using an electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROMs) assessment and response toolkit to improve symptom and distress screening and management support for patients on dialysis.
One month after the launch of the SUPPORT-Dialysis pilot study, it was found that several patients flagged as needing symptom management support were not referred for additional symptom care support by their nephrology clinicians. When translating research from the lab to the bedside or across different patient populations, many issues arise during the initial implementation of clinical trials or pilot projects.
The capstone project aims to use the SUPPORT-Dialysis pilot as a case study to determine and address the barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of pilot projects.
Team members
Owen Jones
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Sara Macanovic
Sara Macanovic is a second-year TRP graduate student, interested in translational research and implementation sciences. She is the team manager for the Kidney Health Education and Research Group at UHN with a background in neuroscience and mental health. In 2019, she joined the ENKAT-LD Education Pillar Team as an ENAKT-LD, Core Transplant Curriculum (CTC), and Explore Transplant Ontario (ETO) project coordinator.
Project Advisory Committee
Dr. Karen Born
Karen Born PhD served as Knowledge Translation Lead for the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign from 2015–2022 and in that capacity was responsible for dissemination of campaign content to patients and the public, the integration of the campaign into medical education and coordination of the Choosing Wisely international collaboration. She is recognized for the ability to effectively disseminate and communicate research and evidence to a wide range of health care system stakeholders, including decision makers and the public. Karen recently served as the Assistant Scientific Director for the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and co-founded the health care policy blog, healthydebate.ca. Karen teaches on knowledge translation, health policy, patient safety, quality improvement and resource stewardship.
Dr. Sonia Rodriguez-Ramirez
Sonia Rodriguez-Ramirez is a transplant nephrologist based at University Health Network, originally from Mexico. Her hope to become a successful Transplant Clinician in Quality Improvement. Sonia’s QI interests include high-value care, novel models of inpatient care and transitions of care, qualitative research, and emotional intelligence for organizations. She believes QI’s mission is about serving exponentially, beyond our human limits, by designing valuable healthcare systems to impact our community.
Dr. Katherine Rud
Dr. Katherine Rudzinski is a SSHRC-funded Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Social Work, University of Windsor. She has a Master of Arts in Criminology, specializing in addictions, and a doctorate in public health sciences from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. She was a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellow jointly with the Casey House Foundation. She has 15 years of experience working with and for people who use drugs on community-based research projects, including as research coordinator at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She has been a Co-I on projects funded by Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
TRP Supervisors
Joseph Ferenbok
Driven to improve patient care, Prof. Ferenbok catapults projects forward with passion, wisdom, and a contagious chuckle. He is an Associate Director of the Health Innovation Hub, a Faculty of Medicine initiative intended to connect, align, serve, and facilitate the translation, innovation, and commercialization of 'Health Matters'.
Edyta Marcon
Edyta loves to encounter new questions, apply new knowledge, and meet new people. As a Senior Research Associate at the U of T Donnelly Centre, she currently studies how RNA modifications regulate gene expression and how they relate to human health and disease. Her interests extend beyond the laboratory into the application of scientific research using human centric design thinking.
