Jeanette Ward’s appointment as director of the Institute of Population Health (IPH) marks the beginning of a new phase in the Institute’s growth. Ward brings extensive experience in academia, service and administration to her position at the University of Ottawa.
In 1994, she worked as director of the Needs Assessment and Health Outcomes Unit (NAHOU) in Australia’s Central Sydney Area Health Service. NAHOU was conceptualized as the first service-based public health research unit in the New South Wales public health system. Under her leadership, NAHOU soon became an acclaimed success. Similar units dedicated to research and evaluation were then established in other health services.
Ward was drawn to the Institute of Population Health because of its unique consortium of nine faculties and federal partners, such as Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Other key partners include the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Canadian Public Health Association.
“As director of the Institute, I see myself working particularly to influence our external environment so that it is as conducive as possible to the productivity of our scientists and their academic endeavors,” says Ward.
At the IPH, she will contribute to graduate research supervision, mentoring and innovative practitioner/researcher exchanges and sabbaticals that will encourage cross-fertilization of ideas and a shared understanding of realities and issues.
Ward started her duties as director in May 2005. She also has an appointment as a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine.
