What happens when research is embedded directly within the health system it is designed to improve?
At IWK Health, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Health System Impact Fellowship (HSIF) is helping answer that question by bringing researchers and health system partners together to tackle real-world challenges and turn evidence into meaningful improvements in care.
The two-year fellowship provides an opportunity for researchers to work within a health system organization while maintaining strong academic connections. The goal is not research for research’s sake, but research that responds to challenges identified by the health system and supports evidence-informed decision-making.
“The Health System Impact Fellow brings tremendous value to IWK Health by connecting leading edge research with the realities of healthcare delivery,” says LeeAnn Larocque, Vice President Clinical Care, Learning & Chief Nurse. “Their expertise, fresh perspective and collaborative approach strengthen our capacity to turn evidence into action, advancing innovation, supporting meaningful system change and ultimately improving care and outcomes for the patients and families.”
For Dr. Laura Kennedy, who completed her HSIF at the IWK in August, that meant bringing together her experiences as both a nurse and researcher to explore an important issue in women’s health: pain management during gynecological procedures.
Working with the IWK’s Women’s Health Program, Kennedy evaluated the Adult Comfort Promise in the Ambulatory Care Clinic. Through surveys, chart reviews and interviews, the team identified barriers and facilitators to implementing pain-management interventions and worked with patient partners to co-design strategies to address those barriers.
The work illustrates one of the fellowship’s greatest strengths: connecting research expertise with the knowledge and experience of the people working within the health system.
“I was able to merge my clinical experiences as a nurse and research experiences to study nursing-led interventions within healthcare,” says Kennedy. “I witnessed amazing efforts from frontline staff to management to implement interventions to improve women’s health.”
The project has also created opportunities to share learning beyond the original research setting. Kennedy presented the findings at the Ambulatory Care Education Day alongside Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Spencer, and the work will be shared at the Canadian Association of Perinatal, Women and Children’s Health Nurses (CAPWHN) conference.
“We were fortunate at IWK Health to have an HSIF working alongside our outpatient Gynecological team,” says Spencer. “She brought strong leadership and research skills that were foundational for the care we provide. She helped support the development of practical, evidence-informed solutions that addressed our specific need for improving pain care.”
The impact of this kind of work extends well beyond a single project. HSIF fellows contribute research skills, evaluation expertise and new perspectives to health system teams, while gaining a deeper understanding of the realities of implementing change in healthcare.
That connection is particularly important when addressing complex issues such as health equity, patient experience, clinician well-being, health outcomes and cost—the interconnected goals reflected in the Quintuple Aim.
“Our HSIF identified barriers and facilitators to change, supported health equity and clinician well-being, and helped improve patient outcomes and experiences,” says Spencer. “Ultimately, our HSIF mobilized our work with the Adult Comfort Promise to help achieve better health, better care, health equity for Women+, provider well-being, and value within the healthcare system.”
It also recognizes that meaningful healthcare improvement is a team effort. Clinicians are often the first to identify gaps between evidence and practice, but lasting change can depend on everyone from managers and administrators to ward clerks and environmental services staff.
At IWK Health, the fellowship creates space for that kind of collaboration—and for research to move beyond the academic setting and into the places where healthcare is delivered.
Now, that work continues with a new fellow.
Dr. Gianisa Adisaputri, is the recipient of a 2026 CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship. Embedded within the health system, Adisaputri will focus on co-producing an equity-focused quality improvement evaluation framework in Nova Scotia.
Her work will explore how health system improvements can be guided by the experiences of underserved communities and frontline providers, helping make health system transformation more accountable, inclusive and equitable.
Together, the work of fellows such as Kennedy and Adisaputri demonstrates the value of the HSIF: creating a bridge between research and practice, developing the next generation of health system leaders and helping organizations like IWK Health turn knowledge into action.
The result is research with a purpose, and the potential to make healthcare better for the people and communities it serves.