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Dr. Jessica Wong Awarded Prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation (CCRF) congratulates Dr. Jessica Wong, from Ontario Tech University’s School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, on her recent award of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. This prestigious Government of Canada award funds the country’s top scholars to help them positively contribute to Canada’s economic, social and research-based growth. Only 70 fellowships are presented annually.


As a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, Jessica Wong, PhD is focusing her research on back pain with the aim to optimize health and improve access to rehabilitation services for older adults with disability.


“With its focus on ‘Tech with a Conscience, Ontario Tech University upholds a unique and socially minded research environment to serve the interests and needs of complex populations. Immersed in this rich environment, I will gain additional expertise on the intersection of epidemiology, rehabilitation, and health policy to improve the well-being of people with disabilities,” said Dr. Wong.

 

Back pain is the leading cause of disability and the main reason for unmet physical health-care needs in Canada and worldwide. Unmet needs greatly affect older adults with chronic conditions and disability, representing key barriers to health. Dr. Wong has received three CCRF grants for her work in this area and her Banting research will look at prevention strategies to reduce the burden in older adults with back pain to understand treatment needs across sex, gender and diversity. The goal is to lead an independent program of innovative, policy-relevant research focused on aging and physical wellness.

 

Through her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Wong will learn, develop and apply other cutting-edge analytic approaches, including population-based risk tools, to examine determinants, health inequities and prevention strategies related to disability and rehabilitation. The Fellowship provides Dr. Wong with the unique opportunity to interact with scientists and other postdoctoral fellows, mentor junior researchers and network with others in the content and methodological area of disability and recovery.

 

“Dr. Wong is most deserving of the prestigious Banting Fellowship awarded to the very best post-doctoral applicants in Canada,” says Dr. Pierre Côté, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ontario Tech University. “Chronic low-back pain is the main cause of disability in Canada, yet we have very few means to effectively prevent it or treat it. This award has set Dr. Wong on an academic trajectory that will impact health policy nationally and internationally.”

 

 

 

This article was adapted from the February 6, 2023 press release entitled TWO ONTARIO TECH SCHOLARS AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS BANTING POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS

 

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