Dr. Heidi Cramm elected as Canadian Academy of Health Sciences fellow

News & Announcements | 26 Aug 2026

Dr. Heidi Cramm, Associate Dean, Research Programs and Professor, School of Rehabilitation Therapy in Queen’s Health Sciences (QHS), has been elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). The honour recognizes her research on the mental health and well-being of veteran, military, first responder, and public safety families.

Election to the CAHS is one of the country’s highest distinctions in health sciences, recognizing peer-nominated leaders for outstanding contributions to the health of Canadians through research, healthcare, and leadership. Fellows join a national community of scholars that advise governments and the public on pressing health issues and help shape national research and policy priorities.

An international expert in her field, Dr. Cramm has helped shift how military and public safety organizations support the people connected to those who serve. Her research has built recognition of family health as central to the health of the workforce, while affirming that families’ needs and experiences matter in their own rights.

Dr. Cramm serves as research lead for Garnet Families, a national research and engagement hub based at Queen's that supports defence and public safety families and those who study, serve, and support them. Named for the garnet gemstone that symbolizes love, loyalty, and safe return to family, the hub combines research and community development expertise with lived experience to bring attention to these families’ distinct needs.

At its core is the Garnet Families Partnership, an interdisciplinary, international collaboration spanning 20 occupational sectors. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the partnership connects families, researchers, policymakers, and program leaders across jurisdictions to advance the health and well-being of the families the hub serves. It works to ensure families are recognized alongside the personnel they support, while building the relationships and infrastructure needed to move research into policy and practice.

As an occupational therapist, Cramm sees the partnership as an example of her profession’s wider role.

"The most common way that people interact with occupational therapists is through disability or injury. They may be less aware of the profession’s direct work with communities to improve systems," says Dr. Cramm. "Being named a CAHS fellow is particularly meaningful because it recognizes work that centres families who serve alongside defence and public safety personnel and highlights the role occupational therapists have as agents of change."

Dr. Cramm has received several national honours for her research, including the Colonel Russell Mann Military Family Health Research Award, Canada's top honour in military family research, which she has received multiple times, and the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Leadership Award. She was also the first researcher in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy to be awarded the Mihran & Mary Basmajian Award for Excellence in Health Research and was recently recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International.

With her election, Dr. Cramm joins other Queen’s researchers named CAHS fellows for their contributions to shaping the future of Canadian health sciences. The honour also reflects the university’s commitment to research that directly informs policy and practice, a priority identified in Queen’s Strategic Research Plan. Learn more about CAHS' 2026 fellow recipients.

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Dr. Heidi Cramm elected as Canadian Academy of Health Sciences fellow

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