Priority Setting Workshops Sets the Stage for Funding Success

On Monday, June 5, 2023, the Network held our first Priority Setting Workshop at the University of Toronto’s Mississauga Campus. This event brought together community members, policy teams, healthcare providers and government representatives to help our research and academic teams understand the needs of the community, and ways in which we can collaborate on research projects to improve health outcomes for Peel Region. More than 70 people attended this day of discussion, information sharing and planning.

“The workshop, which will help us determine future Catalyst Grant funding, was incredibly effective,” says Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, Director of the Novo Nordisk Network for Healthy Populations at the University of Toronto. “Everyone was excited to discuss tangible projects we could develop to reduce type 2 diabetes risk in Peel Region. It was an inspiring and productive day, which has laid the groundwork for our next round of funding.”

At the event, attendees were broken up into teams based on their areas of expertise and interest. In these small groups, they could discuss potential projects they felt would support healthy population change in Peel, and develop an initial plan for how they would launch that idea. What was the goal? Who were the potential partners? What did they need for success?

At the end of the session, each of the groups presented the ideas they had developed. As a next step, all workshop attendees will complete a follow-up survey to indicate their interest in participating in the identified projects in preparation for workshop number two on October 5th. At workshop number two, teams will come together to work on further developing their project ideas and formulate research questions – continuing the momentum towards a full funding submission.

“Our hope as a Network is to be able to fund several Catalyst Grant projects that are truly representative of the needs of this community,” says Lipscombe. “At the workshop, 10 ideas were developed that have the potential to move forward into viable research and community programs. We are excited to see what these teams can create given their enthusiasm, experience and desire to enact positive change in their communities.”