10/18/2026
Congratulations to the incredible finalists for the Emerging Professional award! ✨
Dr. Alexa Yakubovich is an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University whose innovative research focuses on understanding and preventing violence and its impacts on health, with a particular focus on violence against women. Over the past four years, Dr. Yakubovich has led the groundbreaking Interprovincial Violence Against Women Project, one of the largest Canadian studies examining the preparedness of health and social care sectors to respond to violence against women.
Dr. Jane Francis is an emerging leader in nutrition and health equity whose interdisciplinary research is addressing one of Nova Scotia and Canada’s most pressing challenges: food insecurity among socially and economically vulnerable families. A registered dietitian and tenure-track Assistant Professor in the School of Nutrition and Dietetics at Acadia University, Dr. Francis brings together nutrition, sociology, and public health to understand how social and economic factors shape infant feeding, food security, and health during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood.
Dr. Justine Dol is helping reshape postpartum care by developing innovative, accessible digital health solutions that support parents and families through the transition into parenthood. Dr. Dol is the inaugural Dr. Margaret Oulton Accelerate Chair in Women+ Health Research at IWK Health, where she leads the EMPOWER research program. Her work champions equitable, patient-centred care, with a focus on ensuring families can access evidence-based support when they need it most. Dal Health
We can't wait to celebrate the finalists and award the winner at the 24th Annual Discovery Awards.
The Emerging Professional Award is proudly sponsored by Solid State Pharma Inc.
