Umbrella’s amazing board member Cindy Trytten was the recipient of the Celebration of Excellence Award from Island Health for developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships that benefit the organization, colleagues, clients, and the communities we serve.

In 2012, Island Health recognized that research was key to realizing our vision and achieving our strategic priorities, and committed to building the organization’s capacity to generate and use evidence to improve health and care in our communities.

Collaboration was at the heart of that commitment, and from the first, Cindy championed and modelled the power of fostering collaborative partnerships.
Under her leadership, the Research team has developed enduring relationships with patient partners, clinicians and decision-makers, academic researchers and institutions, community organizations, foundations, and funders.
The team is now a one-stop-shop for anyone interested in generating, synthesizing, or applying evidence to improve care and services.

Cindy was nominated by Knowledge Broker Jenny Cartwright and Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator Sean Spina. In their own words:

“Cindy is a visionary, and has worked tirelessly to develop a strong, collaborative research environment aligned with Island Health’s values and strategic priorities. Her positive attitude means that she does not see obstacles as barriers but as opportunities for innovation. Through her effervescent spirit, she has helped foster a culture of evidence-based practice and continuous learning within and beyond the organization.” –Jenny

“Cindy has thrown her resources and unwavering support behind my research, advocating on my behalf and allowing me to follow my passion for optimizing the impact of technologies on clinical practice. This has included facilitating conversations with the Ministry of Health, health funders and outside organizations. Under her leadership, the efforts of the research and capacity building department resulted in a successful Planning award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada’s largest federal funding agency for health research. Since Cindy arrived at Island Health she has built formal relationships with funding organizations and universities across Canada. As a result, Island Health clinicians have secured significant funding from various granting sources to support world-leading research. I wouldn’t get to do what I do every day if it wasn’t for Cindy.” —Sean

Cindy adds:

“I’m absolutely honoured to be a part of a team of equally deserving colleagues who use their leadership capabilities every day for forge the relationships and partnerships that synergize our efforts to improve care for the patients we serve. Thanks also to Sean Spina for being a tireless, perseverant champion for research and innovation at Island Health, and for having the initiative to build partnerships that move our organization forward in attaining its vision!”