Community organizations
Community organizations and clinics are study sites. In SCALE-POCT, they take part in process mapping, interviews and focus groups, and review the tools co-designed with them.
People & about
A research group that advances implementation science methods and applies them where access to care is hardest.
Founded in 2023 at McGill University, the RISE³ Lab (Research in Implementation Science for Healthcare Engagement, Effectiveness and Equity) brings together postdoctoral fellows, research staff and graduate students with partners across Canada and internationally.
What we work on
Advancing implementation science methods, and applying them to improve care in health systems.
Our applied studies prepare health services to adopt point-of-care testing for hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, and long-acting HIV prevention, with community organizations, correctional health services and clinics across Canada. Trainee-led and collaborative projects extend the same methods to other clinical areas, including cancer care, mental health services and neonatal intensive care.
Theories, models and frameworks
Guidance for choosing and using theories, models and frameworks: the SELECT-IT meta-framework, an umbrella review of 701 of them now under review, and planned work on whether they remain fit for purpose under today's pressures on health systems.
SELECT-IT meta-framework ↗Artificial intelligence in implementation science
Through AIM-IS, a framework, toolkit and reporting standard for rigorous, responsible use of AI in implementation research and practice. Protocol published; scoping review complete; guidance in development.
AIM-IS study →Hybrid effectiveness–implementation studies
The statistical methods, designs and outcome structures of hybrid type II studies, where effectiveness and implementation carry equal weight, mapped in a scoping review led by Dr. Marc Parsons.
Hybrid type II methods review →The three commitments in the lab's name, engagement, effectiveness and equity, shape every study: partners help set questions and choose strategies, studies show what works and for whom, and the applied work focuses on the people care reaches least well.
Chairholder
Canada Research Chair in Implementation Science for Health Systems Transformation
Dr. Guillaume Fontaine, RN, PhD · McGill University
The Chair, held by Dr. Fontaine, Assistant Professor at the Ingram School of Nursing and Associate Member in the Department of Global and Public Health at McGill University, supports a research program with two strands: developing implementation science methods, and applying them to infectious disease prevention and care, and other clinical areas. The RISE³ Lab is the group through which that program is delivered; its trainees, staff and partners carry out the studies described on this site.
Research priorities
- Consolidating the theoretical evidence base of implementation science and improving how theories, models and frameworks are chosen and used.
- Responsible use of artificial intelligence in implementation research and practice.
- Implementation trial design, hybrid effectiveness–implementation studies, and their outcomes.
- Preparing health services to adopt point-of-care testing for hepatitis C and other STBBIs, and long-acting HIV prevention.
Associated projects
Training
The Chair supports graduate and postdoctoral training in the lab, and the Fundamentals of Implementation Science and Using AI in Implementation Research and Practice courses at the McGill Summer Institutes.
Team
Alumni
Chenrui Xie · Véronique Thibault · Nikolas Argiropoulos · Joshua Ramos · Maimouna Mbengue · Salome Attah · Olivia Di Lalla · Talia Meyers · Charlene Weight
How we work with partners
Partners make decisions, not only contributions.
People with lived experience
Members with lived experience sit on community advisory boards and steering committees, where they help interpret findings, choose implementation strategies, co-design materials and make project decisions.
Health systems and research networks
Correctional health services, clinics and public health partners host sites; the CanHepC and CTN+ networks connect the work nationally. International collaborators include the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney.
Collaborating institutions
Work with the lab
Trainee positions, research partnerships, training and consulting, and philanthropic support.