After a comprehensive search and selection process, the W21C Research and Innovation Centre is excited to welcome Dr. Mary Brindle, MD, MPH, FRCSC, into the new role of W21C Academic Director.
In this role, Dr. Brindle will look to develop and execute the academic priorities for W21C in the areas of research, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the University of Calgary. This will include raising awareness of W21C, as well as finding and extending opportunities for health research and innovation on campus and beyond.
Dr. Brindle is a pediatric surgeon at Alberta Children’s Hospital and Professor of Surgery and Community Health Sciences in the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. She has acted as co-Scientific Director and co-Senior Medical Director of the Alberta Surgery Strategic Care Network. She is also Director of the Safe Surgery Safe Systems Program at Ariadne Labs, TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She leads international work to optimize the performance of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. Dr. Brindle is a member of the ERAS Society Executive where she has taken on the role of the Secretary of the Society and has led the establishment of standards for ERAS guideline creation. Dr Brindle has a long history of collaborating with W21C throughout the development of her Efficiency, Quality, Innovation and Safety (EQuIS) research platform.
Dr. Brindle will begin as W21C Academic Director on August 1, 2022. We are extremely excited to work with Dr. Brindle in her new role.
Thank you, Dr. Conly!
The W21C directors offer a sincere and heartfelt thanks to Dr. John Conly, CM, MD, who has been W21C Medical Director since 2013. Dr. Conly’s continuous support and guidance over the years has been instrumental in making W21C the successful health innovation and research centre that it is today. With the appointment of Dr. Brindle, the position of W21C Academic Director will replace the role of W21C Medical Director, however, Dr. Conly will continue to remain as part of the W21C through projects and strategic leadership.
“It was very exciting to learn that Dr. Mary Brindle was chosen to take on the role of Academic Director of W21C,” says Dr. Conly. “Her natural creativity, enthusiasm, training, and interests in preventing adverse events in healthcare, along with her current role addressing health system issues in Efficiency, Quality, Innovation, and Safety, makes her a perfect fit for W21C and its innovative and pioneering spirit. A warm welcome to Mary as she embarks on this new journey.”
Dr. Conly has had many key moments over his years with W21C, including co-founding the Centre with Andrea Robertson, creating and opening Unit 36 at the Foothills Medical Centre, in 2004.
Other highlights include:
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His assistance in creating the biannual W21C Innovation Academy and the Global Health Innovation Academy; scientific and investment pitch competitions focused on identifying and nurturing health innovations locally and globally.
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Leading W21C’s work in improving hand hygiene monitoring through a novel open-source innovation for hand-hygiene monitoring and compliance using interaction design.
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Being the project lead on W21C’s Human Factors Evaluation of Simulated Ebola Patient Scenarios project, and subsequent presentation of the project work to Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium and her delegation.
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Serving as co-Principal investigator on a project investigating drone delivery of medical supplies to remote communities during the pandemic.
To read Dr. Conly’s full bio, please click here.