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ABOUT THE RESEARCH TEAM

The ACTION for Health team brings together approximately 55 researchers, support staff, students and community members from a range of disciplines. They are responsible for:

• Data collection and analysis
• Project administration/management
• Internal and external communication

Many Investigators have long histories of collaboration. They represent academic communities in Canada as well as Austria, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands. They work in fields such as communications, library and information sciences, computer science, health promotion, health informatics, psychology, social work, policy development, community medicine, sociology, as well as information ethics and law. This diversity brings an important variety of perspectives and issues together, contributing to the distinct nature of the ACTION for Health project.

Research integration and project administration are an important aspect of the team's work. A visual overview of this management structure can be seen in the Organization Chart (PDF, 315Kb).

Team Description
Team members are divided into six broad categories: Principal Investigaor, Co-Lead, Co-investigator, Collaborator, Research Assistants, Support Staff and Community Partner.

The Principal Investigator is responsible for:

• Providing overall project leadership
• Chairing the project integration team
• Reporting to the funder (SSHRC)
• Maintaining financial accountability
• Synthesizing and disseminating project findings

As established scholars, Co-Leads are responsible for:

• Setting intellectual direction and managing research undertaken within a specific thematic area (on a macro level)
• Supervising and mentoring students and Post-Doctoral Fellows assigned to their research area
• Being Ambassadors for their project theme
  

Co-investigators are scholars who:

• Lead ACTION for Health sub-projects
• Manage specific sub-project(s)
• Work with Community Partners on individual sub-projects to make academic findings relevant and accessible to the larger community

Collaborators
Collaborators are prominent scholars in specific disciplines who act as research advisors. They offer expertise and academic direction, without participating directly in individual investigations.

Research Assistants
Research Assistants are undergraduate and graduate students as well as Post-Doctoral Fellows who conduct research, help manage sub-projects and disseminate research findings.

Support Staff
Support staff develop and maintain the international communication infrastructure, undertake administrative and other tasks essential to the project's day-to-day operations.

Research Partners
Organizations such as health authorities, libraries, and community health clinics who work in partnership with researchers. Their contributions help to:

• Develop a sub-project's research focus
• Maintain connections to the communities and populations most affected by the research
• Bridge the gap between academic findings and the public