HHS and McMaster inspire the next generation of health researchers
Hamilton General Hospital parking garage closure June 22 - October 2026. High school students spent seven weeks over summer working with research teams at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and our key academic partner McMaster University through the Secondary School Health Research Bursary Awards program. Launched…
High school students spent seven weeks over summer working with research teams at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and our key academic partner McMaster University through the Secondary School Health Research Bursary Awards program. Each summer, 15 students are awarded bursaries to shadow researchers and.
Marc Jeschke, HHS’ vice president of research and innovation, and chief scientific officer. Gaea Robbins is a member of the Mi’kmaq Nation, and the first Indigenous student in the program’s 22-year history, says program organizer Donna Catherwood, HHS’ research program and events coordinator, and.
What Happened
Gaea received a dedicated bursary for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students, established last year to encourage Indigenous applicants. She was born with spina bifida occulta and also supported a close friend who was hospitalized due to a life-threatening illness.
Hamilton General Hospital parking garage closure June 22 - October 2026.
Launched in 2004 and hosted by HHS in partnership with McMaster, this program is designed for senior secondary school students interested in health, life sciences and research careers.
“I’ve been getting exposure to new and different kinds of research,” says Anya, who in high school started working as a research intern at a pain lab in Ottawa.
Key Details
Alison Fox-Robichaud, is a critical care physician at HHS’ Hamilton General Hospital, a national sepsis expert and researcher, and HHS chair in sepsis research. Fox-Robichaud has mentored a high school student every summer since the program started, and she championed the creation.
This knowledge helps researchers develop new and better approaches to rehabilitation.
The lab aims to improve the lives of people living with muscle, bone and joint pain by better understanding how pain affects movement.
Packham co-founded the lab to develop new approaches to pain and movement care, drawing on insights from more than 25 years of treating patients at HHS.
Why It Matters
Gaea, who’s entering Grade 12, learned how to conduct a scoping review of biomarkers related to an experimental therapy for sepsis. A scoping review brings together and evaluates the available research on a topic.
Tara Packham, an occupational therapist and pain researcher at McMaster’s Interdisciplinary Movement and Pain Research in Translational Science (IMPRinT) lab.
She spent her placement being mentored by Dr.
What Reports Say
Coverage of the story so far points to:
Continued reporting by Hamilton Health Sciences as more details emerge
