Dr. Kerstin de Wit honoured with Basmajian Award

News & Announcements | 20 Sep 2022

Dr. Kerstin de Wit is the 2021-2022 recipient of the Mihran and Mary Basmajian Award for Excellence in Health Research.

Established by Dr. J.V. Basmajian in memory of his parents, the Basmajian Award is granted annually to faculty members who have made an outstanding contribution to health research. As the recipient of this award, Dr. de Wit is being celebrated for the significant impact that her research has on patients, policy, healthcare and the public good.

Dr. de Wit’s research is focused on improving testing for bleeding and clotting conditions in the emergency department. Holding the titles of Associate Professor and Research Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine, she has leveraged two clinical specialities, emergency medicine and thrombosis medicine, to create a niche area of clinical study.

Since joining the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. de Wit has excelled as the leader of multiple research programs. She has demonstrated that current evidence-based protocols are not well-suited to the emergency department and continues to develop simplified protocol to improve testing for bleeding and clotting disorders.

Dr. de Wit’s research is particularly important due to the unprecedented pressure, and strain on resources that emergency departments are currently facing. Her research aims to alleviate this pressure by reducing unnecessary testing and conserving resources. Additionally, Dr. de Wit is focused on improving patient outcomes by reducing the time patients spend in emergency departments and improving detection of serious conditions such as intracranial bleeding and pulmonary embolism.

“I think the main goal with all of my research is that I’m trying to make the emergency department more patient-centred,” she told Queen’s Health Sciences last year.

The Mihran and Mary Basmajian Award for Excellence in Health Research Presentations, Lectures and Reception will be held on December 6 from 4-6PM in Room 132A – the Britton Smith Foundation Lecture Theatre – in the School of Medicine. It will also recognize recipients from the past two years: Dr. Amber Simpson (2019/2020); Dr. Heidi Cramm and Dr. Timothy Hanna (2020/2021).

At the event, Dr. de Wit will present on her outstanding contribution to medical research.

Dr. de Wit believes her research could have a major impact on aging populations. “What we’re hoping to produce is a checklist with four or five variables,” she explained in her interview. “That way, the emergency doctor would be able to see if the patient does not check any of the boxes and know they don’t have to do the head scan. If we're able to produce this and show that it's safe and effective, then I think it would impact emergency doctors around the world.”

Dr. Kerstin de Wit honoured with Basmajian Award

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