Early Career Investigator Award

Nominations for 2019 are closed.

2019 Early Career Investigator Award Recipient:
Dr. Sheila Garland

Dr. Sheila Garland received her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2012 from the University of Calgary under the supervision of Drs. Linda Carlson and Tavis Campbell. She completed a 3-year CIHR funded post-doctoral fellowship in behavioural sleep medicine and integrative oncology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 2015, Dr. Garland has been a registered clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Oncology, and the director of the Sleep, Health, & Wellness Laboratory at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Her work focuses on helping people with cancer sleep well and live better and she has been involved in the development, delivery, and evaluation of exploratory and evidence-based interventions including cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and acupuncture. She has received research awards from the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine, the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute, the Canadian Psychological Association, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the Society for Integrative Oncology. Dr. Garland was also awarded the President’s Award for Outstanding Community Engagement Partnerships for her patient-oriented research with Young Adult Cancer Canada from Memorial University. To date, she has received approximately $750,000 in research grants and has published 61 peer-reviewed papers and 7 book chapters.

This award, supported by CIHR – Institute of Cancer Research, honours a new investigator for outstanding contributions to research in the field of psychosocial oncology. Candidates must be within seven years of completing their postgraduate, fellowship or equivalent specialist training (defined as a PhD or MD or equivalent). Please note times of prolonged leave (e.g. medical leave, maternity leave, compassionate leave) should not be counted towards the seven years.

Recipients are distinguished by the level and quality of research output at this early career stage.

• Click here to view the Early Career Investigator Award Terms of Reference.

Eligibility

• The nominee must be within seven years of completing his or her highest level of training (e.g., graduate training, medical or postdoctoral fellowship, or equivalent specialist training).
• Eligibility is limited to members in good standing of CAPO (for at least one year prior to the nomination).

Application Criteria

• Nominator must be a CAPO Member (Regular, Affiliate, Retired) in good standing.
• Application for the award will consist of:
  • A confidential letter of nomination from the nominator.
  • One letter of support from other individuals to whom the nominee is known, also specifying why the nominee meets the award description above (supporters need not be CAPO members).
  • Complete curriculum vitae, with details of specific termination dates of degrees and post-graduate training.
  • Statement from the nominee, not to exceed 500 words, highlighting significant research accomplishments in the area of psychosocial oncology.

Application Process

• Complete nomination packages must be submitted electronically to the Chair(s) of the Awards Committee (c/o the CAPO office) by no later than April 30, 2019. Submissions should be in PDF format – in one file.
  Please submit to:
  
  • Anthony Laycock, Association Manager, CAPO, [email protected].
• Nominations and supporting documentation can be submitted in either French or English.
• The Awards Committee will invite members of the CAPO Board (barring those with real or perceived conflicts of interest) to review the nominations and vote for a recipient of the award. In the event of a tie vote, the last three CAPO past presidents, excluding the immediate past president (who are clear of any conflict of interest) will review the tied nominations and vote amongst themselves to select a winner.
• If no suitable recipients are nominated, no award will be given.
• There is no monetary value to this award.

Past Winners

• 2019 – Dr. Sheila Garland (NL)
• 2018 – Dr. Sylvie Lambert (QC)
• 2017 – Dr. Shane Sinclair (AB)
• 2016 – Dr. Jennifer Brunet (ON)
• 2015 – Dr. Sophie Lebel (ON)