Dr. Benita Hosseini receives Future Trial Leaders Award

Upstream Lab Scientist Dr. Benita Hosseini has received the Pragmatic Trials Training Program: Future Trial Leaders Award from Health Data Research Network Canada.

Funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the program prepares highly skilled professionals to lead pragmatic clinical trials or studies embedded in practices and use real-world data sources. The two-year training prepares leaders to efficiently test treatments that healthcare providers and systems can implement in routine care.

In addition to the award, Dr. Hosseini will have the opportunity to develop a large-scale pragmatic trial protocol with a network of other trial leaders, postdoctoral fellows and researchers. Her engagement in the program will support a proposal to evaluate the impact of integrating a point-of-care multiplex-pathogen testing system into primary care clinics and emergency departments.

“Participation in the HDRN Pragmatic Trials Training Program is a strategic step in my career. I anticipate gaining a deeper understanding of designing robust and effective pragmatic trials through this program,” said Dr. Hosseini.

The program includes learning about various implementation and data management strategies and understanding how to mitigate potential challenges. It also emphasizes engagement strategies, as patient participation is key to the success of any trial. “I am excited to learn about different strategies to engage patients, improve their trial experience, and ensure their continued participation,” she added.

Pragmatic clinical trials are conducted in existing care settings, such as hospitals or clinics, with patients whose health outcomes may improve from interventions. When done correctly, they can yield more generalizable results faster and at a lower cost, but only a few researchers in Canada are trained in this field. Dr. Hosseini is among the next generation of trialists who will contribute to accelerating the advancement of healthcare innovations from discovery to application.

Dr. Hosseini is also an Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. At Upstream Lab, she is a lead researcher of various trials: CanTreatCOVID assessing effective treatments for COVID-19, AIM-Viral implementing multi-pathogen testing in healthcare settings, ENGAGE improving access of vulnerable patients to primary care, and APT in pandemics developing guidelines for future pandemics.