SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Life-changing research

The Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) is the largest research group at Queen’s, with over 140 Queen’s faculty and staff, and 85 member hospitals and cancer centres across Canada working with a global network of 20,000 investigators and clinical trial staff. Since 1980, CCTG has supported more than 600 cancer trials to  test anti-cancer and supportive therapies worldwide, enrolling 100,000 patients from 40 countries.

^{Queen's Art of Research Submission: Elastic Trichrome Stain on Human Colon by Lee Boudreau, Staff (Canadian Cancer Trials Group), Tissue Bank, Queen's University}

A transformational gift

Queen’s Cancer Research Institute (QCRI) has been renamed the Cara & Murray Sinclair Cancer Research Institute (SCRI) in recognition of their $25 million contribution to significantly advance cancer research at Queen’s. With this support, Queen’s will be home to two new advanced science facilities and offer expanded training opportunities to improve cancer care and treatments locally, nationally, and around the world.

World-leading expertise

In 2023, Queen’s welcomed Dr. Paul Kubes as the new Canada Excellence Research Chair in Immunophysiology and Immunotherapy. His research program is at the forefront of real-time imaging of the immune system. Understanding how and why changes in a person’s immune cell biology occur to our stable state can help to decipher the complex immune pathways involved in cancer, infection, and chronic disease.

Connected minds

Queen's has partnered with York University to pursue a new interdisciplinary research initiative, Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society. The project led by York received $105.7 million in 2023 from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund to advance research into a more inclusive metaverse, understand how virtual reality can be leveraged for community organizing, develop neurotechnologies for healthy aging, support Indigenous data sovereignty, and understand how brain function changes when people interact with AI versus other humans. Together, York's leading expertise in human science, disruptive technologies, and social justice will be paired with Queen's established strengths in advanced computing, AI, human health, and ethics to better understand the world's future as a techno-social collective.

^{Queen's Art of Research Submission: More than Meets the Eye by Donald Brien, Staff (Centre for Neuroscience), Queen's University}

Expanding education

The Queen's Weeneebayko Health Education Program is a partnership between the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA), Queen's University, and the Mastercard Foundation to transform healthcare in Northeastern Ontario. The program will prepare Indigenous students for careers in medicine, nursing, midwifery, and other health professions through culturally-informed education while establishing a new training site in Moosonee that will serve coastal community sites, improving patient outcomes and addressing gaps in healthcare delivery.

In 2022, Queen's and Lakeridge Health announced a new joint education and training program designed to address the ongoing family physician shortage in Southeastern Ontario communities. The Queen's-Lakeridge Health MD Family Medicine Program builds on a long-standing partnership between the two institutions with students studying and training at the Lakeridge Health satellite campus and participating in clinical placements in communities in Southeastern Ontario early in their education.

Mental health supports

Queen's Student Wellness Services provides confidential Mental Health Services, including one-on-one appointments with mental health professionals, groups, events, and training. Students can also use the online self-directed tool Therapy Assistance Online (TAO) to design a personal intervention plan or access free 24/7 mental health support through Empower Me.

The Champions for Mental Health program is a student-led initiative developed in 2021 by the Student Mental Health Collective in response to both student feedback and research calling for increased mental health promotion in academic and campus environments. In 2023, more than 60 Queen's faculty, teaching assistants, and staff members were recognized as Champions after being nominated by students for showing compassion, encouraging a sense of belonging, inspiring health-promoting behaviours, and promoting student mental wellbeing.

Sexual health

The Queen’s Sexual Health Resource Centre is a confidential, non-judgmental, sex positive, pro-choice, queer positive, non-heterosexist, and feminist information and referral service that provides students with sexual and reproductive education and health care services.

^{Queen's Art of Research Submission: Aging with Oasis by Riley Malvern, Staff (Health Services and Policy Research Institute), Queen's University}

Collaborating on research

Queen’s collaborates closely with the Kingston General Hospital Research Institute, the research arm of the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, and Providence Care, a local health organization. More than 350 investigators at this not-for-profit academic institute are leading innovative research projects that are making a global impact on health and wellbeing.

Developed with a group of seniors living in a Kingston-area apartment building, Oasis Senior Supportive Living Program is a unique model of active aging-in-place. Researchers Catherine Donnelly and Vince DePaul from the School of Rehabilitation Therapy at Queen’s are leading a research project to evaluate and expand the Oasis model across the country.

Providing health services to the broader community

The Neuroscience Outreach Program, located at the Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen’s University, strives to improve the Kingston community’s awareness and understanding of neuroscience. Programmers lead lecture series, educate athletes about concussions and brain safety, perform hands-on experiments with local children, and provide companionship to elderly patients.

^{Queen's Art of Research Submission: The Wiring of the Brain by Donald Brien, Staff (Centre for Neuroscience Studies), Queen's University}

Building community together

Queen's students have a long history of fundraising for causes locally, nationally, and globally. During the past year, student-organized events have raised more than $650,000 to advance research in cancer care from the Queen's Cure Cancer Classic initiative to Queen's Relay for Life, both approaching two decades of fundraising, and the inaugural Queen's Med Fights Cancer hockey game.

^{Queen's Art of Research Submission: Miracle at 12-Seconds – Cure Cancer Classic Charity Rival Game by Jason Zhao, BASc Student (Engineering Physics), Queen's University}

Advancing health beyond our borders

Queen’s is committed to improving the health and wellness of individuals and communities across the globe. The University’s International Centre for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation works to mainstream disability and advance the concept of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) practice in collaboration with persons with disabilities. Initiatives aim to improve health care and social services for people with disabilities, their families, and their communities in Canada and 15 other countries around the world.

Queen’s Health Outreach (QHO) is a student-run non-profit that promotes health through peer-to-peer discussions in classrooms in Canada and around the world. Each year QHO implements programs for students in Belize, Guyana, Kenya, and across Canada that aim to improve individual and community health.

Responding to humanitarian situations

The Refugee Health Initiative is a collaboration between Queen's Family Health Team, Kingston Community Health Centre, and KEYS, Kingston and region's largest provider of comprehensive employment services and services to newcomers, designed to support government-assisted refugee families with ensuring they receive appropriate and necessary care to manage their health and prevent any worsening of health outcomes. Together, they have developed comprehensive resources for healthcare providers, newcomers, and community organizations for the provision of care for refugees from around the world who settle in the region. 

Health and wellness policies

Queen’s prioritizes health and wellness in its operations. To protect our community’s health and well-being, Queen’s maintains a tobacco and smoke-free environment on all our campuses and properties.

Empowering our people

In 2022, Queen's Human Resources launched a five-year strategic plan, Empowering our People, which identified employee wellbeing as a strategic priority across the Queen's community. Starting with the creation of the Employee Wellness Services unit, Human Resources aims to align supports for employee wellbeing and become a wellness leader in developing and engaging in initiatives that contribute to a healthy and accessible workplace.