NHRC Archives
2020 - 2023

2023

2023

The Fourth Annual National Health Research Conference (NHRC) of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) was held on November 17, 2023. The theme was “Healthcare for the Future: Emerging Threats and Sustainable Solutions”. The 2023 NHRC was a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Health; Tobago House of Assembly; Faculty of Medical Sciences and Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development, The University of the West Indies; University of Trinidad and Tobago; University of the Southern Caribbean; the Regional Health Authorities; and the Trinidad and Tobago National Nursing Association.

Highlights

RESEARCH & NETWORKING

Hyatt Regency Hotel

The 2023 NHRC convened at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, attracting a diverse assembly of over 200 participants. Among them were researchers, policymakers, physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, medical students, and various other stakeholders.

Patrons were afforded the opportunity to attend live research presentation sessions, fostering an environment of knowledge dissemination and professional networking.

FEATURE PRESENTATION

Dr Wayne Frederick

Dr Wayne Frederick (Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery and Former (17th) President, Howard University) returned to his homeland to deliver a timely presentation on “A.I. and Healthcare".

Professor Gerard Hutchinson

Professor Hutchinson was honoured with the Research for Health Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his indelible mark on the field of psychiatry.

In his feature presentation at the 2023 NHRC, Professor Hutchinson spoke about his work on the socio-developmental origins of psychosis and mental health disparities.

RESEARCH PRIZE WINNERS

To culminate the exciting Conference, prizes were awarded to the top presentations in different categories.

Best Oral Presentation Prize

Rajini Haraksingh

Best Poster Presentation

A.A. Abdool, V. Ahay, R.A. Aziz, B. Bux, K. Edwin, A. Mcleod et al.

Postgraduate Student

Researcher Prize

Saskah D. Thompson

Undergraduate Student
Researcher Prize

G. Julien, A. Gooding, C. Rampaul, L. Boodram, N. Gokool, R. Ali et al.

Conference Delegates’ Choice

- Best Poster

Corey George &
Carol-Anne Stephens

Early Career Researcher Prize

Dr Kristen C. Jaggernath

PARTNERS & SPONSORS

In addition to the institutional partners, the 2023 Conference was supported by several sponsors, including St. Augustine Medical Laboratory, John E. Sabga Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer, Smith Robertson & Company Limited, and Genethics Pharmaceuticals / Bryden pi Ltd.

Learn more about the 2023 sponsors here.

2022

2022

The Third Annual National Health Research Conference (NHRC) of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) was held on November 25, 2022. The theme was “Pandemics, NCDs and the Future: When Infections and NCDs Meet”. The successful hosting of the 2022 NHRC was a sterling example of what can be achieved through strong partnerships. The collaborating institutions included the Ministry of Health; Tobago House of Assembly; The University of the West Indies; University of Trinidad and Tobago; University of the Southern Caribbean; and the Regional Health Authorities.

Highlights

FACE-TO-FACE ENGAGEMENT

Hyatt Regency Hotel

After the first two years in the virtual landscape, the 2022 NHRC was hosted face-to-face at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, with around 200 attendees.

Satellite events around the conference included an online Training Workshop and a Health Fair. The Workshop, which was held on November 24 was titled “Conducting Research During a Pandemic: Online Platforms and Ethical Issues”. The Health Fair was hosted by the North West Regional Health Authority and provided conference delegates with free health screenings.

DIGITAL POSTER BOARDS

An Innovative Showcase

In addition to Four Sessions of oral presentations, over 50 digital poster presentations were displayed on large screens during scheduled breaks. This was the first use of digital poster screens at a large research conference in T&T and they facilitated greater engagement and interaction among delegates.

OPENING CEREMONY

The Opening Ceremony featured remarks by senior officials from the partner institutions:

Welcome by Professor Donald T. Simeon (Director of the Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development, and Chair of the NHRC Inter-Institution Planning Committee)
Opening Remarks by Professor Terence Seemungal (Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI)
Remarks by Dr Colwick Wilson (President, USC)
Remarks by Professor Prakash Persad (President, UTT)
Remarks by Professor Indar Ramnarine (Deputy Principal, The UWI, St. Augustine)

Remarks by Dr Faith B.Yisrael, Secretary, Health, Wellness & Social Protection, Tobago House of Assembly; and
An Address by The Honourable Minister of Health of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr Terrence Deyalsingh.

INTERNATIONAL GUEST SPEAKER

Professor Jonathan Patz

Professor Patz (John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment, University of Wisconsin-Madison) joined the Opening Ceremony virtually to deliver a captivating presentation on “The Climate Crisis: Implications for both Infectious and Non-Communicable Diseases”.

Professor Terence Seemungal

Professor Seemungal was honoured with the Research for Health Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the field of internal medicine and pulmonary diseases.

In his feature presentation at the 2022 NHRC, Professor Seemungal shared his research motivations and highlights of his work over the past three decades.

RESEARCH PRIZE WINNERS

To culminate the exciting Conference, prizes were awarded to the top presentations in different categories.

Early Career Researcher Prize

& Best Oral Presentation Prize

Gavaskar Ramnanansingh

Undergraduate Student
Researcher Prize

J. Gopaulsingh, Z. Gopee, R. Gould,
A. Gray, K. Harripersad et al.

Postgraduate Student

Researcher Prize

Shane Charles

Best Poster Presentation

Sara K. Ramjit, Shastri Motilal

Conference Delegates’ Choice

- Best Poster

Cherelle Thompson

on behalf of D. Dookeeram, H. Seetharam, K. Caton, S. Stoute et al.

PARTNERS & SPONSORS

In addition to the institutional partners, the 2022 Conference was supported by several sponsors, including Trinidad and Tobago Moves (Ministry of Health), EBSCO Information Services, Western Scientific Limited, Condell Consulting, Roche, Guardian Life of the Caribbean Limited, Bayer, and V&S Pharmaceuticals.

Learn more about the 2022 sponsors here.

2021

The second annual National Health Research Conference of Trinidad and Tobago was successfully hosted on November 18-19, 2021. The success of the Conference was largely due to the effective collaboration of the multi-sectoral partners i.e., the Ministry of Health; Faculty of Medical Sciences & Centre for Health Systems Research and Development, The University of the West Indies (UWI); The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT); University of the Southern Caribbean (USC); and Regional Health Authorities. The Conference provided a platform to showcase indigenous health research findings that could potentially inform the development of policies, guide clinical practice and programming, and strengthen the country’s health system. It was aptly themed “Building Resilience through Research in a Pandemic”.

Highlights

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

Interative Online Platform

Policy actors and health researchers congregated virtually once again, to actively participate in the two-day Conference. Exciting features on the Hubilo platform included an interactive chat box during presentations, live news feed for posts and generating polls, direct chat and meeting scheduling among attendees, and lounges for group video/audio conversations. There were over 30 oral presentations and live Q&A sessions, and the opening and closing ceremonies were streamed live, open to the public.

3D POSTER HALL

An Immersive Experience

As with the previous year, the 2021 NHRC featured a virtual, 3-dimensional poster hall, this time with over 30 poster presentations.

OPENING CEREMONY

Welcome by Professor Donald T. Simeon (Director of the Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development, and Chair of the NHRC Inter-Institution Planning Committee)
Opening Remarks by Professor Terence Seemungal (Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI)
Remarks by Dr Colwick Wilson (President, USC)
Remarks by Professor Prakash Persad (President, UTT)
Remarks by Professor Brian Copeland (Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, The UWI, St. Augustine)

In his Address, the Honourable Minister of Health, T&T, Mr Terrence Deyalsingh highlighted the need for evidence-based healthcare practice, and commended researchers for their invaluable contributions to the Ministry’s response to COVID-19. He also emphasised the pertinence of this collaborative event, especially during the pandemic.

View the recording of the 2021 Opening Ceremony here.

INTERNATIONAL GUEST SPEAKER

Professor David R. Williams

Professor Williams is the Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health and Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also a Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology at Harvard University.

Professor Williams complemented the Minister of Health’s sentiments; accentuating the importance of mental health during the pandemic in his presentation, "Resilience for Mental Health in the Age of COVID".

FEATURE SPEAKERS

Renowned Experts in their Fields

Professor Christine Carrington

Professor of Molecular Genetics and Virology, Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS), The UWI

- "Lessons from SARS-CoV-2 Genetic Surveillance in the Caribbean: What now? What next?"

Professor Clive Landis

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, The UWI, Cave Hill

- "The Triple ‘C’ Threat to the Caribbean: Chronic Disease, Climate Change, and COVID-19"

RESEARCH AREAS

Oral and poster presentations covered a wide range of areas including:

COVID-19 – Vaccine Uptake and Hesitancy; Adapting to the New Normal
Non-Communicable Diseases
Clinical Studies
Quality of Life
Cancers
Mental Health
Pharmacy
Oral Health
Laboratory Studies

The abstracts were published in a Supplement of the Caribbean Medical Journal.

WEBINAR

Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice

Another key feature of the 2021 Conference was a Webinar on “Sustaining Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice through an Evidence-Based Approach in a Pandemic”.

The University of the West Indies (St. Augustine and Mona campuses) and PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centres at University of Illinois in Chicago and Duke University collaborated to host this webinar as one of a three-part series of webinars on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice.

RESEARCH FOR HEALTH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

AWARDEE

Professor Vijay Naraynsingh

The 2021 NHRC celebrated Professor Vijay Naraynsingh's 38-year contributions to health research, including 343 publications in peer-reviewed journals, contributions to five surgery textbooks, establishment of Doctor of Medicine (DM) programs at The UWI St. Augustine, and over 150 presentations at regional and international scientific and professional meetings.

Read an exclusive interview with Professor Naraynsingh in Volume 4, Issue 1 of the CCHSRD Newsletter.

RESEARCH PRIZE WINNERS

To bring the curtains down on another exciting two-day Conference,

five prizes were awarded to the top presentations in different categories.

Early Career Researcher Prize

Nikita Sahadeo

Best Poster Presentation

Candice Sant

on behalf of C. Sant, C. Oura,

and K. Georges

Student Researcher Prize &

Best Oral Presentation
Timmy Ramnanansingh

Conference Delegates’ Choice

- Best Poster

Halimah Mohammed

on behalf of H. Boodram, I. Hosein, H. Mohammed, J. Mohammed,

I. Montserin, I. Ogir, I. Oguneme,

I. Segulam, C-M. Alexander

View the recording of the 2021 Closing & Awards Ceremony here.

PARTNERS & SPONSORS

In addition to the institutional partners, the 2021 Conference was supported by two Diamond Sponsors: British Medical Journal (BMJ) and Medical Marketing Company Limited (MMCL).

BMJ’s Denise De La Rosa delivered a talk on increasing research impact in which she offered practical information to attendees seeking to publish research.

Davide Colombo presented on behalf of MMCL and spoke on the development of their Integrated Point of Care Testing Model and its Contribution to Critical Patient Monitoring for COVID-19.