Earlier this fall, Pride in Patient Engagement in Research (PiPER) hosted its second PiPER Research Day to highlight its goals and achievements in improving health outcomes by engaging people with lived experience in research. The event welcomed over 203 registrants, including individuals with lived experience and representatives from various research fields, and was a resounding success.
PiPER is a transformative research initiative at the University Health Network (UHN) that was launched in 2022. Its mission is to actively engage persons with lived experience (i.e. patients), families, and caregivers as part of research teams, ensuring that their voices are integral to improving health outcomes and enhancing the quality and relevance of research outputs.
The Research Day was held on October 9 at the Guild Inn Estate in Scarborough, where attendees could enjoy outdoor spaces and light-filled meeting rooms, setting the stage for a day of collaboration, learning, and inspiration.
Dr. Brad Wouters, Executive Vice President of Science and Research at UHN, kicked off the event by highlighting PiPER’s history, role within Research at UHN, achievements to date and future role within UHN. Maureen Dunne, a neurodivergent business leader, delivered a keynote presentation titled, "Embracing the Neurodiversity Paradigm: Turning Differences into Strengths," that urged attendees to rethink neurodiversity and view these differences as strengths that drive innovation. Another keynote speaker, Stephanie Lurch, an educator and physiotherapist, followed with her compelling talk, "Manifesto of a Critical Consciousness." She called for a deeper understanding of anti-racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion, emphasizing the importance of transformative change across all systems.
The event featured workshops, story sharing sessions, oral presentations, and posters that brought together people with lived experience, researchers, trainees, and health care leaders. These sessions and presentations focused on integrating patient voices into research. Highlights included stories on real-world impact, posters, and an art exhibit that showcased innovative projects and enabled researchers and people with lived experience to connect and collaborate on future initiatives.
PiPER Research Day delivered a compelling and urgent message: creating a more inclusive and effective learning health system is not only necessary but possible, particularly through engaging people with lived experience in research. PiPER Research Day reinforced that institutions like UHN must lead the way by embedding the voices and perspectives of patients at the heart of our research.
Thank you to the Research Day Planning Committee, volunteers, speakers, and attendees who made PiPER Research Day possible. Beyond Research Day, PiPER continues collaborating with TeamUHN to develop new policies, processes, resources, and research methods that support the implementation of transformative research experiences, driving collective impact toward a healthier world.
For more information on PiPER, click here or email piper@uhn.ca. Follow PiPER on X and LinkedIn.
PiPER Research Day was made possible due to the support of our partners: The Ontario SPOR Support Unit (OSSU), UHN’s Research IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Antiracism), PiPER, and the North American Conference on Integrated Care (NACIC), who supported the attendance of people with lived experiences. NACIC also supported two PiPER Research Day presenters (Adeife Akingbade and Vishma Sookdeo) to present at NACIC 2024 in Calgary.