Since Forum 2013, CIMVHR has presented 13 master's and doctoral students’ scholarships and awards that celebrate excellence and potential in their research field. While the annual Forum was on hold in 2020, the valuable research supporting the health and well-being of our Veterans, military members and their families was not. And so, CIMVHR was delighted to have the opportunity to celebrate three emerging researchers, recognizing their promise to the field of military, Veteran and family health research.

Wounded Warriors Canada is a national mental health service provider creating mental health programs that support Canada's Veterans, first responders and their families. In recognition of the importance of research, in 2013, Wounded Warriors made a 10-year, $400,000 commitment to CIMVHR to help increase research supporting the military and Veteran community. Their annual scholarship is awarded to a PhD candidate who demonstrates excellence in their research while exhibiting significant potential for a career in military, Veteran and family health research.

The 2020 Wounded Warriors Doctoral Scholarship in Military and Veteran Health Research was awarded to Kate St. Cyr, from the University of Toronto, for the research Sex-specific differences in mental health service utilization amongst Canadian Armed Forces Veterans in Ontario: a population-based study.

In 2014, the Royal Canadian Legion launched its scholarship in Veteran Health Research. The goal of the scholarship is to ensure that soldiers returning home have ample supports in place as they potentially face a "new battlefield" of challenges. These challenges may include physical and mental injuries, or social challenges as Veterans reintegrate into family and community life. The scholarship aims to help create support systems based on research evidence from the best and brightest Canada has to offer.

The 2020 Royal Canadian Legion Masters Scholarship was awarded to Abdelhakim Khellaf, from the University of Toronto, for the research Improving Traumatic Brain Injury Classification using Multimodal Data-driven Approaches.

Dr. Mark Zamorski led the Research and Analysis Section of the Directorate of Mental Health for the Canadian Forces Health Services Group from 2002 until his passing in 2018. Before his death, Dr. Zamorski and his husband Philip Edwards set up a $5,000 annual award for post-graduate students researching epidemiological and mental health problems in military personnel, Veterans and their families. Dr. Zamorski's legacy lives on through his research and each year as we present this award in his name.

The 2020 Dr. Mark Zamorski Award was presented to Valerie Ranger, from the University of Ottawa, for the research Cognitive reserve, cognition, and post-traumatic stress disorder: findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

On February 18, 2021, CIMVHR’s Student and Post-Doctoral Engagement Committee (SPEC) hosted a fireside chat that featured our 2020 scholarship and award recipients. During the event, the 2020 recipients of the Royal Canadian Legion Masters Scholarship in Veteran Health Research, Wounded Warriors Doctoral Scholarship in Military and Veteran Health Research, and The Dr. Mark Zamorski Award spoke about their research highlights and the scholarships and award application process and answered questions from the student-based audience.

The SPEC members led the second part of the event, providing an opportunity to engage in an open conversation about their areas of research and to ask questions of fellow student colleagues.