2022 Merit Awards Recipients

Maureen Cava’s nursing career has spanned 45 years, 30 of which was in public health practice in Ontario. She retired in 2018 from Toronto Public Health as the Manager of Professional Development and Education. She holds an undergraduate and graduate degree in Nursing. She was in the 2006 graduating EXTRA Fellowship Program sponsored through the Canadian Health Research Foundation. Her leadership in the development of a professional practice model for public health was ground breaking for public health practice. This saw the establishment of professional practice leaders in Toronto Public Health for all disciplines. Her research includes survivorship, frailty, seniors quality of life and SARS. She has received large funding grants to support program development for succession management, leadership/mentorship, competency development and performance management.

Maureen has assisted in curriculum development for the Nursing Scholar Practitioner Program alongside Nipissing University, University Health Network and The Hospital for Sick Children. She has taught at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University and George Brown College in the undergraduate nursing programs. Currently she is sharing her knowledge and expertise at Safehaven for Community Living as an infection and prevention control nurse assisting developmentally challenged youth and their families. She has published extensively in peer reviewed journals and has several book chapters to her credit. As well, she has had the opportunity to share her work at provincial, national and international conferences.

Maureen has had the privilege of being a member of two research ethics boards, at Ryerson University and Public Health Ontario. She currently sits on the Veritas Research Board as a community representative. She is a past Board Member on the Canadian Nurses Association, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, the Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario, and the University of Toronto Library Consortium. She was the inaugural President of the Ontario Public Health Nursing Leaders Association.

Her most recent endeavour is as co-host on a six-part podcast series, Stories from the Field: Public Health Nursing in Ontario. This series will be used to enhance the undergraduate nursing curriculum to encourage students to consider public health as a career option.

Dr. Lorelli Nowell began her nursing career in 2000 following completion of her BSN at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. Her love of nursing and passion for lifelong learning fuelled her advanced education, culminating in a MN degree in 2012 and a PhD in Nursing in 2017. Throughout her academic career, she has always focused on mentorship, professional development, and innovative teaching and learning.

After receiving her PhD, Dr. Nowell was recruited to an Eyes High Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Calgary (UCalgary) Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning where she led the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of a University Certificate in Teaching and Learning. Following her fellowship, she was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing, UCalgary with a Teaching and Learning Research Professorship. Her research interests are inspired by her years of teaching and learning in higher education, her passion to improve student learning experiences, and her desire to positively impact the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities through quality nursing education. She purposefully interweaves teaching and research to push the boundaries of teaching and learning knowledge and practice.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Dr. Nowell has been nominated for Faculty of Nursing Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Awards, a UCalgary Student Union Teaching Excellence Award, a UCalgary Graduate Student Association Excellence in Teaching Award, an Advance Higher Education Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence, and a UCalgary Award for Educational Leadership. In 2021 she was recognized with a prestigious UCalgary Teaching Scholar award. These are clear testaments to her value and impact as an educator.

Dr. Nowell constantly promotes and encourages innovation in nursing education. She is a highly skilled collaborator who works effectively within and across disciplines and continents with colleagues from Education, Medicine, Social Work, and Kinesiology in the U.S., U.K., Sweden, and Australia. She is rapidly becoming a global leader and model educator whose altruism and expertise in teaching and research inquiry are helping raise the profile of Canadian nursing and making significant impacts on nursing education and, ultimately, the health care of Canadians.

Dr. Kelly Metcalfe researches the risks, prevention and treatment of hereditary breast cancers — particularly BRCA1 and BRCA2 associated cancers. She leads large national and international research studies, mentors young researchers, teaches university courses, and counsels women with hereditary breast cancer. Appointed as Assistant Professor to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Nursing in 2002, she became Full Professor in 2013 and is currently the Associate Dean, Research & External Relations. She is also a Senior Scientist in the Familial Breast Cancer Research Unit at Women’s College Research Institute, and the Hereditary Cancer Co-Lead for the Gilgan Centre for Women’s Cancers at Women’s College Hospital.

A pioneer in our understanding of the use of bilateral mastectomy for hereditary cancer prevention, Dr. Metcalfe showed that bilateral mastectomy can reduce the risk of dying by 50% for women with BRCA-associated breast cancer. This evidence was profiled in worldwide practice guidelines for BRCA carriers. Dr. Metcalfe then developed a decision aid for women with a BRCA mutation that is now widely used in clinical practice.

Her research on equitable access to genetic testing has transformed women’s lives. Her work with Cancer Care Ontario, for example, led to an expansion of genetic testing criteria for women at high-risk for hereditary breast cancer, and the development of a clinical pathway for cancer prevention for these women.

Dr. Metcalfe’s excellence in nursing research has been recognized with many awards including the Award for Excellence in Nursing Research. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is also a College member of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2021 she received the Wendy Lack Women of Action Scientific Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund, the first nurse to receive this award.

Dr. Metcalfe is an outstanding nurse researcher leading an internationally renowned well-funded program of research. Dr. Metcalfe is transforming nursing research and practice, while improving the lives of women with, or at risk of, hereditary breast cancer. Her research makes a difference and demonstrates the power and value of nursing research.