Saving Lives Through Science: A Global Emergency Medicine Trials Summit

Description of the summit

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the global research response, particularly in emergency medicine (EM), was hampered by the absence of an integrated global Learning Health System that could be leveraged to rapidly generate evidence to guide clinical and policy decisions in around the world. Climate-mediated disasters are also adding new challenges to caring for emergency department (ED) patients around the globe including marginalized patients who are the most impacted by climate change. Pandemic and climate-mediated disaster preparedness both need similar research infrastructure to be readily activated when needed.

While the World Health Organization played a crucial role in coordinating the global response to COVID-19 such as sponsoring the SOLIDARITY trial, there were certain limitations and challenges they faced in relation to global trials and learning health systems: (1) limited authority and enforcement, (2) resource constraints, (3) data sharing and standardization challenges, (4) fragmented research landscape, (5) political and economic influences, (6) delays in information dissemination, and (7) limited capacity building in low- and middle-income countries. Despite these limitations, the WHO played a vital role in coordinating the global response to COVID-19. Notwithstanding these important efforts, the pandemic highlighted the need for a stronger and more integrated global health architecture with enhanced capacity for coordinating research, promoting data sharing, and facilitating rapid learning and knowledge translation.

The UK COVID-19 experience demonstrated how a highly performing integrated Learning Health System can deliver timely evidence to answer urgent questions using innovative pragmatic platform trials. Building on the success of the UK’s response, global EM research could improve its pandemic and climate-mediated disaster preparedness by exploring how clinical trials could be more globally integrated to support an equitable Learning Health System.

This summit plans to bring EM trialists from around the world together in person or virtually to discuss how their trial networks operate in their respective countries and present their success stories and lessons learned. Guest speakers with insight into global pandemic trials will be invited to speak about how global EM trial networks could work together to expand international collaboration and participation in clinical trials in EM. Trialists from multiple international and national level trial networks will be invited to attend. This will be an open meeting and all trialists interested in participating will be welcome to this in-person or online summit. Finally, a paper on this summit will be submitted to the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine summarizing the discussions held during the meeting about the benefits of leading international clinical trials in emergency medicine, the challenges that need to be addressed and recommendations for future international clinical trial efforts in emergency medicine. All invited Faculty speakers and interested attendees will be invited to co-author the publication.

Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1- Compare and contrast the structural and operational characteristics of at least three different national or international emergency medicine trials networks, citing specific examples.

2- After reviewing case studies of international emergency medicine trials networks, participants will be able to highlight the scientific impact of these networks and evaluate the key lessons learned in terms of their implications for future trial design and collaborations.

3- Through expert panel discussions, participants will discuss potential strategies to strengthen partnerships between national and international emergency medicine trials networks, with the goal of enhancing preparedness for future pandemic trials.

Palais des Congrès, Montreal, Canada. Room 511CF. https://congresmtl.com/visiteurs/acces/

All times are Eastern Time Zone, Canada

8:00-8:30 – Introductions with Patrick ARCHAMBAULT – Land Acknowledgement and Icebreaker

Patrick Archambault is an emergency physician, intensivist, and clinician-researcher at Université Laval. He is a full professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine and in the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care. His research projects focus on establishing a Learning Health System to study: (1) the improvement of the transition of care for frail older patients in the emergency department; (2) the use of shared decision-making tools to support patient decisions in critical care; (3) the design and implementation of collaborative knowledge tools through wikis; and finally, (4) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency departments in Canada. In 2024, the FRQS recognized him as an accomplished clinical researcher (chercheur clinicien chevronné), and the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians awarded him the Ian Stiell Research Award as researcher of the year, notably for his work on the transition of care for older adults in our emergency departments in Quebec. Patrick Archambault is also the co-director of the Health Systems Axis within Précisa and co-responsible for the sustainable health founding principle within the Digital Health Network.

8:30-8:50 – The International Forum for Acute Care Trialists: Building global collaboration in acute care research. Remote Presenter: John MARSHALL

John Marshall is a Professor of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Toronto, and a Senior Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of Unity Health Toronto. He received his medical degree from the University of Toronto, followed by post-graduate training at Dalhousie University in Halifax and McGill University in Montreal. He is the rounding and current Chair of the International Forum for Acute Care Trialists (InFACT), past-Chair of the International Sepsis Forum (ISF) and the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG), former Secretary-General of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care (WFSICC), and past-President of the Surgical Infection Society (SIS). He is the Canadian principal investigator for the REMAP-CAP trial, and co-chairs the R&D Roadmap Committee of the Clinical Characterization and Management of COVID-19 of the World Health Organization. He is a Senior Editor of Critical Care Medicine. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, delivered more than 1200 talks at national and international meetings, and been cited more than 180,000 times (Google Scholar).

8:50-9:10 – Trying to achieve a learning health system during a pandemic. Remote Presenter: Srinivas MURTHY

Srinivas Murthy is an academic pediatric intensive care and infectious diseases physician at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His clinical and academic interests are in improving the management of patients with severe infections.

9:10-9:30 – Undertaking Emergency Medicine Trials in the UK. Remote Presenter: Steve GOODACRE

Steve Goodacre is Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Sheffield and Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is an Emeritus National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator and a Senior Associate Editor for Annals of Emergency Medicine. He has been Chief Investigator for 21 and co-investigator for 34 major research projects, including eleven multicentre trials. He chaired the UK NIHR Health Technology Assessment Commissioning Committee until 2020 and the NIHR Clinical Trials Unit Standing Advisory Committee until 2023. His research interests include organisation of emergency care, economic analysis, clinical trials, and clinical risk prediction in emergency care. https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/smph/people/academic/population-health/steve-goodacre

9:30-9:50 – Prehospital and Emergency Medicine Research Ecosystem in India. Remote Presenter: G V Ramana RAO

G.V. Ramana Rao is the Director of the Emergency Medicine Learning Centre & Research at EMRI Green Health Services. Dr. Rao brings 37 years of experience in emergency medicine, complemented by qualifications in Community Medicine Public Health, Geriatric Medicine, and Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. His contributions include membership in the National Ambulance Code and the Global Resuscitation Alliance, as well as key roles with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). As Chief Editor of the Indian Emergency Journal and a Lifetime Achievement Awardee by the Society for Emergency Medicine, India, he has also contributed to WHO’s emergency care frameworks. Dr. Rao has overseen the training of over 800,000 individuals.

9:50-10:10 – Panel discussion with John MARSHALL, Srinivas MURTHY, Steve GOODACRE, and Ramana RAO. Moderator: Patrick ARCHAMBAULT

10:10-10:40 – Refreshment Break & Networking

10:40-11:10 – The Canadian Emergency Department Research Network (CEDRN) and Learning Health Systems. Presenter: Corinne HOHL

Corinne completed her MDCM and FRPC at McGill University before Masters training in Epidemiology at the University of British Columbia. She is Professor and Head of UBC’s Department of Emergency Medicine, Scientist at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, and Associate Member of UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. She is also the Academic Lead for Emergency Care BC, the provincial health improvement network. She practices Emergency Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital. Her research interests are in Emergency Medicine, patient safety, health systems innovation, learning health systems, and innovative trials. In 2020, she became the Chair of the Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network which informed the pandemic response and became the largest active research network in the history of Emergency Medicine in Canada. In 2022, was awarded the Researcher of the Year Award by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians.

11:10-11:30 – PREC: Little Patients, Big Impacts. Presenter: Samina ALI

Dr. Samina Ali is a pediatric emergency physician at the Stollery Children’s Hospital and a Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine (University of Alberta). She is a national award-winning researcher, mentor, educator, and leader. Dr. Ali is Chair of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC), Canada’s emergency research network for children. She is also the Western Canadian hub lead for Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), a national organization dedicated to improving pain care for children. Dr. Ali’s internationally recognized research program concerns better treatment of children’s emergency care with a focus on pain treatment-related clinical trials, responsible prescribing of opioids, management of medical procedure-related pain, technology to improve pain care, and more recently, equitable access to care and better meeting family needs in the emergency department. Dr. Ali has published over 200 articles in emergency and pain care and had her works featured in local and international media and podcasts.

11:30-11:50 – Network of Canadian Emergency Researchers (NCER) Perspectives on Clinical Trials. Presenter: Laurie MORRISON

Dr. Laurie J. Morrison is a Professor and Clinician Scientist in the Division of Emergency Medicine at the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her research is centered on the evaluation and implementation of timely treatments in acute emergency situations. She established Rescu, a collaborative prehospital research network that has become CanROC. Dr. Morrison also founded the Collaborative Specialization in Resuscitation Sciences, which has trained over 80 graduate students. With over 380 publications, she has contributed to the 2005, 2010, and 2015 North American Guidelines. She provides scientific oversight for the Continuous Evidence Evaluation strategy of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation and is the founder and past chair of the Network of Canadian Emergency Medicine Researchers, which supports emerging researchers and multicenter trials.

11:50-12:10 – Panel discussion with Corinne HOHL, Samina ALI and Laurie MORRISON. Moderator: Patrick ARCHAMBAULT

12:10-12:30 – Wearing Three Hats: Clinician, Researcher, and Person Living with Long COVID. Remote Presenter: Anne BHÉREUR

Anne Bhéreur is a Family and Palliative Care Physician since 2003 at the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. She is also an Associate Clinical Professor at the Université de Montréal. Despite the disability associated with Long COVID that keeps her away from practice since December 2020, she participates in different research projects and committees with the triple hat of person with lived experience, clinician and researcher. Among others, she is co-director and patient partner of the Health Systems Axis of the Réseau de prévention des crises en santé (Précrisa – precrisa.ca) and sits on the Steering committee and the Patient Advisory Council of Long COVID Web (longcovidweb.ca).

12:30-13:30 – Lunch & Networking – Prepared lunch boxes on site

13:30-13:50 – Community mobilization to address structural inadequacy in health services for Inuit in southern Quebec Presenters: Christopher FLETCHER and Lisa WATT

What role do small community-run health organizations play in responding to global health crisis? This question animates our presentation on the action research program at the Qavvivik Inuit Family and Community Health Center. Qavvivik is an Inuit run and lead non-profit that serves the population of the approximately 2000 Inuit living in and around Montreal. Inuit are a distinct Indigenous people whose traditional homelands known as Inuit Nunangat cover the vast northern regions of Canada. Beginning with a brief overview of research on community mobilization in indigenous communities in Quebec during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we then describe the process through which the Qavvivik was created, it’s impacts and challenges. Qavvivik is a direct outcome of a CIHR funded Qanuikkat Siqinirmiut health survey. The survey is the first attempt to describe the health of Inuit living outside of the North. While delayed by the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is now near completion. The goal of the survey was originally to provide the knowledge base on which to build health services like Qavvivik. The process was sped up in response to changing priorities and political realities during the pandemic. We hope that the presentation will encourage consideration of how small-scale and local efforts can intersect with and inform global health strategies.

Christopher Fletcher, Ph.D. is a medical anthropologist concerned with the relationship between culture and health generally, the intersection of Indigenous models of health and healing with mainstream biomedicine, and the identification and reduction of health inequity. He is Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at Université Laval and researcher in the Population Health and Optimal Health Practices Axis, at the CHU de Québec Research Centre. A career-long ally of First Nations and Inuit communities in Canada, he has worked on numerous community-based and collaborative research projects. He is the director of the Qanuikkat Siqinirmiut project, a mixed-methods population health survey of Inuit in Southern Québec. He was also codirector of the Qanuilirpitaa 2017 Nunavik Health Survey Community Component through which an Inuit cultural model of health was developed. He is also co-lead of the team developing the Qavvivik Inuit Family and Community Health Centre in Montreal, an Inuit-lead non-profit organization created in 2022.

Lisa Watt, originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, is the Executive Director of the Qavvivik Inuit Family and Community Health Centre. With over 20 years of experience in southern Quebec, she brings lived experience, leadership, and a deep commitment to Inuit health and community development. Throughout her career, Lisa has worked to empower Inuit in all sectors, playing a key role in workforce development through training, funding, and recruitment. Known for her collaborative approach and fluency in Inuktitut, English, and French, she serves as a cultural and linguistic bridge in diverse settings. At Qavvivik, Lisa focuses on expanding health services, strengthening community ties, and fostering an inclusive, welcoming environment. Her vision is grounded in care, respect, and resilience. She has received training and certifications from McGill University, the Canadian Career Development Foundation, and national seminars in health and administration. Her lifelong dedication to advocacy and healing continues to shape her work.

13:50-14:10 – Implementation evaluation of an evidence-based emergency nursing framework (HIRAID®): a cluster randomised control trial from Australia. Presenters: Julie CONSIDINE and Kate CURTIS

Julie Considine has been an Emergency Nurse since 1991 and is Deakin University’s Professor and Chair in Nursing at Eastern Health, Victoria, Australia. Her research program focuses on improving the quality and safety of patient care by supporting clinical decision-making, research use in practice, and ensuring effective models of service delivery. This program has attracted more than $13M in funding. Julie Considine is the world’s most published author in the field of Emergency Nursing and in 2023, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service emergency nursing, tertiary education and professional associations. She is an expert in practice change and design of educational strategies to support practice change.

Kate Curtis has been an Emergency Nurse since 1994, is Director of Emergency Research Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD, Professor of Emergency and Trauma Nursing at the University of Sydney. Her translational research program, which focuses on improving the way we deliver care to patients and their families, has attracted more than $23 million in funding. She is the world’s most published author in the field of Trauma and Emergency nursing, has mentored more than 70 clinicians in research projects and was the 2019 Australian nurse of the year. She is an expert at leading change and implementation in complex clinical environments.

14:10-14:30 – GEMINI: Harnessing hospital data to improve healthcare. Presenter: Fahad RAZAK

Dr. Fahad Razak is an internist at St Michael’s Hospital and holds the Canada Research Chair in Data-Informed Health Care Improvement at the University of Toronto. He serves as Provincial Clinical Lead at Ontario Health and Vice President Research at the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine. Dr. Razak co-founded GEMINI, the largest hospital research and quality improvement network in Canada, used by over 1000 scientists and health leaders. He completed degrees at the University of Toronto and was a fellow at Harvard. Notably, he received mentorship and new investigator awards from the Canadian Society for Internal Medicine and the President’s Impact Award from the University of Toronto. Dr. Razak served as Scientific Director for Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and contributes to advisory committees for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as the BMJ.

14:30-14:50 – Panel discussion with Christopher Fletcher, Lisa Watt, Julie Considine, Kate Curtis, and Fahad Razak. Moderator: Patrick ARCHAMBAULT

14:50-15:10 – The Canadian Critical Care Trial Group. Remote Presenter: Rob Fowler

Rob Fowler is critical care physician and H. Barrie Fairley Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, chief of the trauma-critical care program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is the immediate past Chair of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group.

Rob’s clinical and academic focus includes access and outcomes of care for critically ill patients and infection-related critical illness. Rob is the lead for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research – funded COVID-19 Network of Clinical Trials Networks, co-principal investigator of the Canadian Treatments for COVID-19 (CATCO) Trial and the international multicentre Bacteremia Antibiotic Length Actually Needed for Clinical Effectiveness (BALANCE) Trials. He has assisted or worked with the World Health Organization during SARS, pandemic and avian influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

15:10-15:30 – Refreshment Break & Networking

15:30-15:50 – European Society for Emergency Medicine. Presenter: Robert LEACH

Dr. Robert Leach is a Belgian-trained emergency physician and Head of the Emergency Department at CHwapi in Tournai, Belgium, where he also leads prehospital (SMUR) and paramedic (PIT) teams. Actively involved in emergency medicine training and education, he is a former president of the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) and a long-standing Belgian representative. Dr. Leach contributes to numerous national committees and the Scientific Committee of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. A published expert in emergency and critical care, he co-authored theuropean Guidelines for the management of acute pain in emergency situations. A frequent international speaker and advisor to the European Parliament, he holds national responsibilities for mass casualty incidents and serves on its Superior Health Council and Conseil fédéral de l’Aide Médicale Urgente.

15:50-16:10 – GUARD/ATTACC-CAP platform trial . Remote Presenter: Sylvain LOTHER

Sylvain Lother is an Infectious Diseases and Critical Care physician, and Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba. He is co-principal investigator for the GUARD-Resp platform trial, a large international adaptive trial which is investigating various treatment strategies to prevent critical illness and improve short- and long-term outcomes for patients hospitalized with pneumonia.

16:10-16:30 – Précrisa: Together, for better preparedness. Presenter: Caroline QUACH-THANH

Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh is a Professor at the University of Montreal (Microbiology, Infectious Diseases & Immunology; Pediatrics) and adjunct Professor at McGill University. She is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist at CHU Sainte-Justine, and holds the Canada Research Chair, Tier 1 in Infection Prevention and Control. Dr. Quach directs the POPCORN network for pandemic preparedness and co-directs the Précrisa network for health crisis preparedness. A prolific researcher with over 200 publications, she previously chaired Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization and currently chairs the Quebec Immunization Committee. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and has received numerous awards, including being named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women in 2019 and Officière de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2022.

16:30-16:50 – Panel discussion with Robert LEACH, Sylvain LOTHER and Caroline QUACH-THANH. Moderator: Patrick ARCHAMBAULT 

16:50-17:10 – Closing remarks and plenary. Presenter: Patrick ARCHAMBAULT 

Your support team

Registration fees: $150 in-person, $40 virtual

In collaboration with:

For information: Martyne Audet, Research Coordinator. martyne.audet.cisssca@ssss.gouv.qc.ca