Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/699741
38 JUNe/JULY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com See the full interview online Q how did you start out in this industry, and how has it brought you to where you are today? I started out my working life in the Navy. After leaving the Navy, I worked clinically and then became an academic. In 2009, I worked with Brig. Gen. (Ret'd) Bill Rich- ard, my former base commander, and the then Surgeon General Cmdr. Hans Jung to engage people and develop a concept for CIMVHR. In 2010, we launched CIMVHR – now a network of 41 Cana- dian and seven International universities dedicated to researching the health needs of military personnel, veterans and their families. Q What is your role at your organization today? I am the Scientific Director. Q What was your most challenging moment? In the beginning, it was forming an insti- tute like no other. We work at arms-length from DND and VAC, but we ensure we are fulfilling their needs and doing rele- vant research that can be rapidly translated into policies, programs and treatments that benefit military personnel, veterans and their families. Q What was your "aha" moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our readers? tell us that story. I think my "aha" moment came when I realized how committed the Canadian aca- demic community is to our national heroes. I had very senior, accomplished academics help us get started because they suddenly realized that their father or grandfather had been suffering from PTSD, but no one knew what it was. Now they had the re- search and were able to re-frame their life in the context of what we know now. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? That we have built a way for cutting edge research to be incorporated into new poli- cies, practices and programs – and it is happening! Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? I am an excellent time manager, I have a great team, and I am a chronic networker – I am always linking people and organiza- tions for the advancement of military and veteran health. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? I believe commodities-based organiza- tions are very innovative. The consumer demands innovation and technology within the commodity sector. For exam- ple, within grocery supply chains, if a spe- cific product is recalled, they know exactly how many went out, where they went, and they can be off the shelf within hours. We have nothing like that in academia or the health care sector. Questions regarding the organization Q What are some of the biggest impediments to innovation in our industry sector? The lack of recognition by the federal re- search granting agencies that military and veterans constitute a unique segment of society, so it can be difficult for our re- searchers to get grants focused on this population. Q how has innovation become ingrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? We have built this unique organization from the ground up. Since there is noth- ing else quite like it, we have had to be innovative to get us where we want to go. We got here by being innovative. It is sim- ply how we do business. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? Our real "industry" is research. I believe the technologies and trends that will drive the biggest changes for us are in terms of mining data. I believe we will be able to use population-based data combined with cog- nitive computing and electronic medical records to ensure the best data is available to inform health policy-making, program development and personalized treatments. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Think big, start small, move fast and col- laborate. Dr. Alice B. Aiken Co-founder and sCientifiC direCtor Canadian institute for Military and Veteran HealtH researCH