Every month, staff, researchers, physicians, learners and teams across Unity Health Toronto celebrate important honours, achievements and awards. Congratulations to all who’ve been recognized in July!

Seventeen research projects based at Unity Health Toronto have been awarded more than $17.5 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) 2025 spring project grant program. The federal program recognizes projects that have the greatest potential to advance health-related research, including research on health care, health systems and/or health outcomes. Learn more.

Congratulations to all the successful Principal Investigators: Dr. Andrew Advani, Dr. Jane Batt, Dr. Venkat Bhat, Dr. Akash Goel, Dr. Tara Gomes, Dr. Ziv Harel, Dr. Eno Hysi, Dr. Mohammad Karamouzian, Dr. Hagar Labouta, Dr. David Mazer, Dr. Veronique Miron, Dr. Raphael Schneider, Dr. Janet Smylie, Dr. Andrea Tricco, and Dr. Jennifer Watt.

Dr. Earl Bogoch, orthopedic surgeon at St. Michael’s, has been appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Mary Simon. This is in recognition of Bogoch’s research in fracture prevention and how it has improved patient outcomes nationally and internationally. 

Dr. Earl Bogoch

Dr. Joan Cheng, chief of the emergency department at St. Joseph’s, was the 2025 recipient of the May Cohen Award for Women Mentors from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). This is in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the development of women’s mentorship advocacy.

Dr. Joan Cheng

Dr. Ripudaman Minhas, developmental pediatrician at St. Michael’s, has been awarded the 2025 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Excellence Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics. This award recognizes pediatricians who have demonstrated excellence in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in pediatric medicine.

Dr. Ripudaman Minhas

Nancy Tahmo, PhD candidate at University of Toronto, has been awarded with a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Tahmo received this award for her work in community-based participatory modeling of HIV transmission among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Kenya.

Nancy Tahmo

Dr. Andrea Tricco, scientist at St. Michael’s and executive director of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, was recognized for co-authoring one of the most cited papers of the 21st century, according to Nature. The paper is titled “The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews.”

Tricco has also been promoted to the role of Professor, Affiliated Scientist at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, effective as of July 1.

Dr. Andrea Tricco

Dr. Subodh Verma, cardiac surgeon-scientist at St. Michael’s, has been awarded the 2025 Canadian Society of Cardiac Surgeons (CSCS) Achievement Award and the 2025 Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Research Achievement Award – Basic and Translational Science. These awards are given annually to a member who has made significant contributions to the academic, research, or clinical scopes of cardiac surgery both nationally and internationally. 

Dr. Subodh Verma

Dr. Jennifer Watt, geriatrician at St. Michael’s, has received the Mid-Career Investigator Prize in Research on Aging from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aging. This prize is given to the top mid-career researcher with the highest ranking project in the Spring 2025 Project Grant competition. Watt’s project was titled “Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health clinical practice guideline on the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: Assessing and treating apathy and sleep disturbances.”

Dr. Jennifer Watt