Our Company
About Us
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton has included discovery as part of its mission since the Sisters of St. Joseph’s first established their Hospital in 1890. With the formation of the medical school at McMaster University in the 1960s, the academic research endeavours at St. Joe’s expanded significantly. As the Hospital’s capacity for research grew, the need to establish a research administration team was met through the creation of the Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre in 1993.
More recently, Research St. Joseph’s – Hamilton (RSJH) was conceived as a separate entity that would allow further growth of research at our Hospital. Branded as The Research Institute of St. Joe’s Hamilton, RSJH became the official, autonomous administrative body for research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton on April 1, 2014.
As a SR&ED eligible entity for third-party research investors, the newly minted Research Institute was able to pursue previously missed opportunities to directly fund research. Combined with an effective marketing campaign launched in mid-2014, The Research Institute gained prominence and steadily grew the body of research and discovery within St. Joe’s. The Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre became one of four original pillars of The Research Institute.
Today, RSJH operates across five research pillars with an annual budget exceeding $25 million. In 2018, the Kidney & Urinary pillar was divided into the Kidney pillar and the Genitourinary pillar, after considerable research investment was made that will allow further growth and specialization.
While staying true to its original mandate by providing administrative support to researchers within St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, The Research Institute has grown to become a fully operational Institute with specialized IT for research, marketing, finance, training, and compliance services. It has helped to build research programs within other hospital systems, including Niagara Health, and works with our McMaster University partners to protect and commercialize intellectual property. Through seminars and events, The Research Institute has also contributed to recognizing the achievements of our researchers, and integrating St. Joe’s within Hamilton’s innovative network of health science organizations.
Part of the Research Administration Team poses for a group photo at our 2019 Midsummer Mixer
The Research Administration Team
The Research Institute’s administration team consists of the Scientific and Executive Directors, as well as specialists from a variety of fields who work collaboratively to meet the needs of St. Joe’s research community. The team is continuously working to improve the various processes of research administration in order to create efficiencies that allow our research community to thrive.
Some of our major services provided to affiliated researchers include:
- Contract negotiation and drafting
- Finance, planning, reporting
- Information technology
- Quality assurance
- Human resources management
- Events
- Marketing and media relations
- Laboratory infrastructure
