The SOPHIA Collaborative is a group working on the Health Services Research Lab implementation platform.

Implementation science involves methods and strategies to promote adopting and integrating evidence-informed practices, interventions, and policies into real-world settings to improve health outcomes and services.

How we work

SOPHIA Collaborative is embedded within the Health Services Research Lab at the Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute CancerCare Manitoba. The Lab's goal is to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

Our approach to healthcare innovation is based on the Learning Health System. The focus is on collecting and applying data to generate knowledge to improve practice.

Our three platforms

We use expertise from the following scientific areas to achieve our goal of improving the lives of people affected by cancer:

  • Understand how best to implement evidence-informed practice.

  • Improve the availability of novel data. 

  • Evaluate the impact of healthcare delivery.

What we believe

How can we turn research into real-life benefits for people?

New research holds incredible potential to improve outcomes in our healthcare system. The passion for discovering new knowledge drives us forward, but ensuring these discoveries lead to better results is key. While progress may sometimes feel slow, every step brings us closer to meaningful change.

Aligning research discoveries with what patients truly want and need is crucial. By focusing on translating research into practice, we can overcome the challenges and barriers in healthcare, turning knowledge into action that directly benefits patients.

Sophia is also a Greek goddess whose name means “wisdom.” She had an intense curiosity and passion for discovering new knowledge, leading her to follow a bright, shimmering light into darkness. This is a metaphor for our current healthcare system.

Project Life Cycle

Our project life cycles are inspired by the Ariadne Labs Arc — a three-stage innovation pathway that uses human-centered design and rigorous testing to produce evidence-informed, transformative innovations that impact populations at scale.

Ariadne Labs is a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Project Phases

We work with diverse stakeholders to advance our research. We aim to demystify the basic research concepts so everyone can contribute meaningfully to our research. Each project at the Health Services Research Lab focuses on three learning health system areas: practice to data, data to knowledge, and knowledge to practice. Our projects advance through the Ariadne Labs Arc using a systematic approach to advance our understanding of cancer and improve the lives of people affected by it. This systematic approach is represented by the project phases:

Designing a research study is like building a house. Just as constructing a house requires careful planning, choosing the right materials, and ensuring a solid foundation, a well-designed research study demands meticulous preparation. Below is a high-level summary of the different phases of our research studies to demystify the process for the diverse stakeholders we engage with:

  • Defining an opportunity for research is like picking where you will build your house. Just as selecting the right location for your home requires considering the environment, resources, and future potential, identifying a research opportunity involves evaluating the landscape of existing knowledge, available data, and the potential impact of your findings. Both processes demand careful planning, foresight, and a clear vision to ensure a solid foundation for future growth and success.

    Identifying the problem or opportunity

    • The first step is to clearly define the opportunity that the research study aims to address. This involves understanding the context through stakeholder engagement and identifying knowledge gaps.

    Stakeholder engagement

    • Participatory research involves a partnership between the academic researchers and the people who will either be affected by the results or who will need to use the results. There is always an element of learning. All the stakeholders learn something throughout the research process, often from each other. Participatory research involves action and is undertaken to create a change. For instance, in organizational participatory research, the aim could be to change practice, for example, improving dementia care access.

    Identifying knowledge gaps in existing research

    • We conduct a thorough literature review to understand what has already been done and where we can contribute. This also ensures that the research does not duplicate existing studies.

  • In the initial stages of building a house, an architect creates blueprints that outline the structure, dimensions, and layout. Similarly, a research team begins designing a research study with a detailed research protocol that defines the aims and objectives. This proposal acts as the blueprint for the entire study, guiding the researcher through each phase of the process.

    Defining the aims and objectives (i.e., 'the golden thread')

    Developing a research strategy

    • A research strategy is a general term used to refer to the approaches, methods, or tools that will be used in the research.

    • A research approach is a way of selecting and collecting evidence for investigation and analysis of hypotheses.

    • Methods are the tools, techniques, and processes that are used to enact the “high-level” research approach.

    • Tools are the means for gathering information based on the methods.

    • E.g., Our research approach is experience-based co-design and we will use the appreciative inquiry method. To collect data, we will conduct world cafes.

    Resource and budget planning

    • Salaries & Wages (e.g., Research Assistants, Biostatisticians, Programmers, Knowledge Broker)

    • Materials & Supplies (e.g., office supplies, laptops)

    • Other (e.g., travel, publication costs, space rental, stakeholder engagement, knowledge translation).

    Allocating roles and responsibilities

    • Define co-investigators, collaborators and other stakeholders

    • Assigning tasks and responsibilities to team members

    Feasibility assessment and risk management

    • Identify potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them.

  • Project management

    Knowledge management

  • Integrated knowledge translation

    End of study knowledge translation