Let’s crack on!
What’s going on with research impact in Canada? What does the future hold? How can we do better?
In this round table Jonathan Grant, Eddy Nason and Kathryn Graham discuss the Canadian Impact Agenda, how it has evolved and what this means for grant makers, universities, research institutes and researchers today.
- How has Canada’s research environment changed?
- What factors are influencing the current impact agenda?
- What could be done to support effective future research strategies?
About the panelists
Dr. Jonathan Grant
A personal interest in biomedical and health R&D policy, research impact assessment, the use of research and evidence in policy and decision-taking, Jonathan has had a diverse career as Head of Policy at Wellcome Trust, President of RAND Europe and Vice President and Vice Principal (Service) at King’s College London. He is Senior Advisor to researchfish by interfolio and runs a small consultancy, Different Angles, that focuses on the social impact of universities and research.
Dr. Kathryn Graham
Kathryn is the Executive Director of Performance Management and Evaluation at Alberta Innovates, a publicly funded provincial research and innovation (R&I) organization. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) and has successfully implemented their health impact framework in Canada. A co‐founder of the International School on Research Impact Assessment, she teaches researchers on how to integrate Societal Impact into research plans.
She has over 25 years of strategic evaluation experience in R&I. Her expertise is in developing and implementing impact frameworks for complex systems. Kathryn is a social scientist and bridge builder. She has chaired numerous impact groups and publishes in the area. She brings international experience and innovative practices to her work.
Eddy Nason
With over 15 years experience in developing, analyzing and evaluating research systems, Eddy Nason brings provincial, national and international expertise to his role as Senior Advisor Creating Impact for Genomics in Society at Genome Canada. He has advised numerous government departments on research system development and analysis, as well as providing science foresight exercises for the UK government. He is an expert in Research Impact, having authored numerous influential reports, tools and frameworks to assess impact and train others in research impact assessment. Eddy was part of a three-person expert advisory panel on evaluation, impact analysis and data capabilities for CIHR, and has advised research funders across Canada and internationally on health research strategies and ecosystem management. Prior to working for Genome Canada, Eddy was Assistant Director at the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit (OSSU) and worked with a number of think-tanks in Canada and the UK. Eddy is part of the Advisory Board for the CIHR Institute Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, a lead on research impact narratives for the Canadian Health Services and Policy Research Alliance, and an advisor to the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. He has an MPhil from Cambridge University in molecular genomics and a BSc from Edinburgh University in developmental biology.
