Annette Marie Cormier O'Connor (born 1950) is a distinguished professor and

professor emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the School of Nursing at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is a Tier 1

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Healthcare Consumer Decision Support and was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 2018.

Early life and education

O'Connor was born in 1950 as one of four sisters. O'Connor earned her

Bachelor of Science in Nursing The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN, BScN) also known in some countries as a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) or Bachelor of Science (BS) with a Major in Nursing is an academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by an accredited ...

degree from the

and began working as a nurse before earning her

Master of Science in Nursing A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is an advanced-level postgraduate degree for registered nurses and is considered an entry-level degree for nurse educators and managers. The degree also may prepare a nurse to seek a career as a nurse adminis ...

and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degrees at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

Career

In the 1990s, O'Connor focused on nurse and patient decisional conflicts. She co-wrote a chapter with Linda O'Brien-Pallas about this topic and began developing a conceptual framework to create a patient decision aid program. After meeting with government health officials, O'Connor began the Patient Decision Aids Research Group in 1995 with

Peter Tugwell Peter Tugwell (born March 30, 1944) is a Canadian physician and Professor in the Department of Medicine and School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. He is known for promoting clinical epidemiology and championing ...

. Together, they began the Patient Decision Aids Research Group to research health care related solutions to arthritis, diabetes, various cancers and heart disease. In 2004–05, she was awarded the University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Research and the John M. Eisenberg Award for Practical Application of Medical Decision Making Research by the Society for Medical Decision Making. With funding from Bell Canada, O'Connor was also named director of the Bell Patient Decision Support Laboratory in February 2004. The laboratory, in partnership with the Ottawa Hospital Foundation, was created to help train medical practitioners in decision making and assist in aiding patients. This included funding for computer workstations, online decision aids, audio and video recording equipment and meeting rooms for focus groups and interviews. The following year, O'Connor led a

Canadian Institutes of Health Research The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; french: Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the M ...

Group in Decision Support and the International Cochrane Review of Trials of Decision Aids. As a result of her work at the Ottawa Health Research Institute regarding developing decision, O'Connor was awarded the Ottawa Life Sciences Council 2006 Health Innovation Award. In 2012, O'Connor was awarded the Career Achievement Award by the Society for Medical Decision Making and later was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. As well, as a result of her research, O'Connor was honoured as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Consumer Decision Support. Following her election as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, O'Connor joined the Expert Panel on Effectiveness of Health Risk Communication as part of the

Council of Canadian Academies The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) (french: Conseil des académies canadiennes, CAC) was created to perform independent, expert assessments of the science that is relevant to important public issues. The CCA's assessment scope includes the na ...

. In 2018, O'Connor was named an Officer of the

for her research in health care.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Annette Canadian women academics Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Living people Officers of the Order of Canada University of Ottawa alumni University of Ottawa faculty University of Toronto alumni 1950 births