We are pleased to announce the appointment of Isabelle Gagnon, PhD, as Associate Dean and Director of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy (SPOT), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), 成人VR视频, effective June 16, 2025. Prof. Gagnon will be replacing Laurie Snider, PhD, who has served in this role with creativity, passion and commitment since May 2018, growing the School鈥檚 programs and reputation while ably steering it through the pandemic. We thank Prof. Snider for her leadership of SPOT over the past six years, as well as for agreeing to remain in the position until Prof. Gagnon鈥檚 tenure begins next June.
Prof. Gagnon received a BSc in Physical Therapy from 成人VR视频 before obtaining her MSc and PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Rehabilitation) from the Faculty of Medicine at Universit茅 de Montr茅al where she also completed post-graduate training in the Department of Health Administration.
Prof. Gagnon is Full Professor in SPOT and Associate Member, Department of Pediatrics at 成人VR视频 in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Since joining SPOT in 2008, she has been responsible for the pediatric curriculum of the physical therapy program. In this capacity, she engaged the pediatric physical therapy community from various clinical sites in Montreal to co-design a curriculum flowing from the university to the clinical settings and back to the university that facilitates continuity, empowers clinical partners in becoming active participants in delivering content and ensures relevance of what is taught for students to become entry-level physical therapists competent and passionate in working with children and their families.
Since 2019, she has served as Associate Director of Research in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) at the Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital (MCH) of the 成人VR视频 Health Centre (MUHC), where she contributed to improve a formal research structure and framework, leading to the creation of the Division鈥檚 Clinical Research Unit. She also developed a research curriculum for PEM fellows which she teaches and coordinates.聽In 2023, she became Co-Chair of the Child Health and Human Development Program at the Research Institute of the MUHC.
Prof. Gagnon鈥檚 research program is focused on rehabilitation and aims to better understand the consequences of pediatric concussions and other injuries, as well as optimizing recovery by developing specific interventions which contribute to improved return to activities. Her current research focuses on improving early identification, diagnosis and acute management of concussion in pediatric emergency departments through creating an interdisciplinary model of care and testing how it improves children鈥檚 experiences after their concussion.
Working closely with MCH Trauma department team members, Prof. Gagnon co-founded the first Child and Adolescent Concussion Clinic in Canada. The clinic鈥檚 work has contributed to significantly reducing both unnecessary hospital admissions and the number of return visits to the Emergency Department.
She is a co-founder and executive member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-funded Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research consortium. She is also a co-principal investigator of the Canadian Concussion Network, also funded by the CIHR, which guides coordinated national research and knowledge translation to reduce the risk of concussions and their consequences in individuals of all ages.
Prof. Gagnon鈥檚 international work includes being part of the Steering Committee for the Traumatic Brain Injury Common Data Elements (CDE) project of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the United States. She is an active member of the Provincial Strategy on Concussion, has given nearly 90 invited presentations at the provincial, national and international levels, and authored nearly 130 peer-reviewed publications. Since 2008, she has supervised the research of 25 students from the undergraduate to post-doctoral levels. In 2014, she was named to the FMHS Honour List for Educational Excellence.
As Associate Dean and Director of SPOT, Prof. Gagnon will oversee the School鈥檚 undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as research training at the graduate certificate, masters, doctoral and postdoctoral levels. She will oversee faculty recruitment, mentorship and career development, provide active leadership in national and international research initiatives and ensure that SPOT continues to develop and build its relationships with other departments and institutes across 成人VR视频 and with other Montreal universities.
Please join us in congratulating Prof. Gagnon on her appointment and wishing her every success in her new role.
Lesley Fellows, MDCM, DPhil
Vice-President (Health Affairs)
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
and Health Sciences
Christian Pineau, MDCM
Vice-Dean, Academic Affairs