Biography of the Scientific Director
Nancy Edwards, RN, PhD
Nancy Edwards is a Full Professor in the School of Nursing, with a cross-appointment to the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa; Principal Scientist, Institute of Population Health; Senior Scientist, Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute; and Academic Consultant, City of Ottawa (Public Health Services). Dr. Edwards obtained her undergraduate nursing degree from the University of Windsor and completed graduate studies in epidemiology at McMaster University and McGill University. Dr. Edwards has held a career scientist award and was a Visiting Professor at Tianjin Medical University, China; and at Guerrero University, Mexico. Currently, Nancy is the holder of a CHSRF/CIHR Chair Award in Nursing (2000-2010). The focus of her award is "Multiple Interventions in Community Health Nursing Care". Nancy's clinical and research interests are in the fields of public and population health. She has conducted health services, policy and clinical research both nationally and internationally and was the inaugural Director of the Population Health PhD program at the University of Ottawa. She has contributed to over 115 peer-reviewed and 100 technical publications and presented nearly 300 conference papers. Through her research in the fields of falls prevention, maternal and child health care, tobacco control and HIV and AIDS, she has informed the design and evaluation of complex multi-level and multi-strategy community health programs. She has been appointed to a variety of board positions; invited to sit on regional, provincial and national advisory and expert panels; and consulted on community health program design and research initiatives in Canada and internationally. Her work in global health has spanned four continents where she has led both development-oriented and research-focused projects.
Dr. Edwards is the recipient of numerous honours. In 1997, she received the Tianjin Hai He award from Tianjin Municipal Government, China, for outstanding contributions by a foreign professor. She was awarded an honorary lifetime membership by the Canadian Public Health Association in 2000 and an honorary lifetime membership from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario in 2008, and received the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing national research award in 2004. In honour of her contributions to "long-term changes in policy and practice" the Mayor, City of Ottawa proclaimed "Nancy Edwards" Day in 2006. In 2007 she received the University of Ottawa Research Excellence Award; a YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Science, Research and Technology category), an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C, and became a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2008, she received a Centennial award from the Canadian Nurses Association and was named a distinguished professor of the University of Ottawa.
