Welcome back members – we hope you had a wonderful summer and are enjoying fall. Over the past several months, we’ve been advancing a number of research projects and engaging closely with our clinical partners to strengthen connections between research and practice. This newsletter highlights a few important updates, achievements, and impactful work taking place across our network.
In This Update
- Primary Care Research – Funding Spotlight
- BC-PHCRN Research Initiatives
- Trainee Spotlight
- Upcoming Events
- Stay Connected!
Primary Care Research – Funding Spotlight
In March 2026, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Government of Canada announced $3M in funding to our pan-Canadian Network – the Canadian Primary Care Research Consortium (CPCRC) – through the PRIME initiative (Primary Care Reimagined through Impact, Mobilization & Engagement). The investment supports a two-year partnership between three organizations – CIHR, Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC), and the CPCRC — to accelerate practical, evidence-based improvements in primary care. Work is already underway engaging clinical teams across Canada.
PRIME Project Dashboard
Through its pan-Canadian distributed network model, HEC and CPCRC have partnered to equip primary care delivery teams across the country with research and quality improvement supports to help them implement innovative solutions to improve primary care access and quality. CPCRC has started to engage delivery teams across the country to collaborate and support implementation of these innovations. The below image offers a visual of this engagement and the different areas of innovation in primary care that are coming forward.
BC-PHCRN Research Initiatives
MAPLE-CHF: Multidisciplinary Approach for high-risk Patients Leading to Early diagnosis of Canadians with Heart Failure
Led by Dr. Nathaniel Hawkins, MAPLE-CHF is the Canadian arm of SYMPHONY, an international randomized controlled trial screening for heart failure in the community. Patients at risk for heart failure are identified through their electronic health records and randomized to usual care or a screening strategy using natriuretic peptides and artificial intelligence echocardiography.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact project coordinator Andrea Chee at achee01@mail.ubc.ca.
PREPARED: Pandemic pREparedness engaging Primary cARe and Emergency Departments
This pan-Canadian project is intended to enhance surveillance, improve care and health system efficiency, accelerate biomanufacturing of diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, and facilitate patient linkage to clinical trials, thereby improving health system efficiency and pandemic preparedness. PREPARED aims to integrate a point-of-care multi-pathogen testing system into primary care clinics and emergency departments. The four interrelated objectives are to:
- Enhance surveillance – identify new viruses and detect future pandemics
- Improve patient care and health system efficiency – improve rapid testing for multiple viruses
- Accelerate the development of treatments, vaccines, and diagnostic tests
- Facilitate linkage to trials – link patients to clinical trials
Our network is actively recruiting interested primary care practices, urgent primary care practices, or emergency departments. If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact project coordinator Emel Islamzada at emel.islamzada@ubc.ca.
OECD Patient Reported Indicator Surveys (PaRIS): Phase 2
Our network is preparing to launch Phase 2 of the OECD PaRIS survey in 2027! PaRIS is the OECD’s Patient Reported Indicator Surveys initiative where countries work together on developing, standardizing, and implementing a new generation of indicators that measure the outcomes and experiences of healthcare that matter most to people. The PaRIS survey fills a critical gap in information about health system funding, by asking about aspects like coordination of care and trust, as well as quality of life, pain, physical functioning and psychological well-being. Phase 1 reflections can be found here: Patient-Reported Indicator Surveys | OECD.
Trainee Spotlight
Haruka Furuichi is a second-year PhD student in the UBC School of Nursing who is passionate about helping people live healthier lives as they age. Haruka’s journey to research started in Japan, where she earned her Master of Science in Nursing. Professionally she has worked as a registered nurse and public health nurse as well as supported a municipality in Japan to study how neighborhood features, such as walkability, relate to frailty. Today, her doctoral research focuses on understanding how frailty develops over time, identifying factors that influence its progression, and exploring how prevention programs can reach those who could benefit most. With the BC-PHCRN, Haruka is helping validate the Canadian electronic frailty index and studying new approaches to primary care across Canada. She hopes to become a nursing researcher and educator, build connections between Canada and Japan, and turn research into better care. Outside of her academic work, you’ll find her baking, playing piano, or exploring Vancouver to find the best sushi!
Upcoming Events
Learning Series Webinars | Canadian Primary Care Research Consortium
Supporting Continuous Quality Improvement in Primary Care
Virtual | Nov 10, 2026 | 9:00 – 10:00am PCT | Presenters: Drs. Isabelle Gabourey and Jennifer Rayner
Click here for more information and registration details
Creating Enabling Conditions for Innovations in Primary Care
Virtual | Dec 8, 2026 | 9:00 – 10:00am PCT | Presenters: Colleen Ferris, Stephanie Conrad, and Maggie Keresteci
Click here for more information and registration details
Seminar Series | Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
Reducing health inequities for justice-involved children, adolescents, and adults: From epidemiology to impact
Hybrid | Nov 17, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:00pm PCT | Presenter: Dr. Stuart Kinner
Click here for more information and registration details
Must Leaders Practice What They Preach? Role Commitment and the Institutional Standing to Direct
Hybrid | Dec 8, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:00pm PCT | Presenter: Dr. Daniel Telech
Click here for more information and registration details
Symposium | UBC Data Science and Health
AI & the Future of Medicine 2026: Balancing Regulation and Innovation
In person at UBC Robson Square, Vancouver | Nov 21-22, 2026 | 8:45am – 4:00pm PCT
Click here for more information and registration details
Health Policy Conference | UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
The Price of Care: Productivity, Value and Canada’s Healthcare Future
Hybrid | April 5-6, 2027
The 2027 CHSPR health policy conference will engage attendees in policy debates associated with productivity in Canadian healthcare. Speakers will examine the impact of policies associated with improving healthcare productivity, including healthcare services and technology innovation for Canada’s aging population; allocative efficiency policies between sectors and provider groups; comparisons between jurisdictions’ policies; labour substitution policies; cost-shifting; and the intersection between private and public insurance programs. A call for workshop proposals is open until Nov 13 and a call for poster abstracts is open until Dec 11.
Stay Connected!
We love to hear from our members. Please feel free to send us an email highlighting the following in your area, if you would like it included in future newsletters:
- Research updates
- Publications
- Awards and achievements
- Events
- Collaboration opportunities
Together, we are building a stronger primary health care research community across BC.
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