Dr. Lavis takes national prize for health policy impact

John N. Lavis, director of the McMaster Health Forum, is the co-winner of an award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) for his career-long efforts to ensure high-quality research is used in decisions about health systems. 

The annual CIHR Barer-Flood Prize in Health Services and Policy Research, is given to a Canadian researcher who has had a transformative impact through health services and policy research. Lavis is the 2015 co-winner along with Julio Montaner, a prominent AIDS researcher and professor of the University of British Columbia.

“I strongly believe in the value of building bridges between the worlds of research and policymaking,” said Lavis. “Research evidence can play a key role in strengthening health systems and in getting the right mix of programs, services and drugs to those who need them.”

The two professors will receive the award at the federal, provincial and territorial health ministers’ meeting in Vancouver on Jan. 20.

“This recognition, particularly in the context of this meeting of health ministers, sends a strong message that policymakers at all levels of government are expected to find and use evidence to inform policy,” said Lavis.

Lavis holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Informed Health Systems. He is the Director of the McMaster Health Forum, Co-Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Evidence-Informed Policy, Associate Director of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Associate Member of the Department of Political Science at McMaster University.

> Read CIHR's official announcement
> Read the McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences announcement