Dr. Winnie Sun, RN, PhD
Dr. Winnie Sun completed her PhD in Nursing and collaborative graduate program in Health Services and Policy Research at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Ontario Tech University, and she is holding a research appointment as the Co-Research Director of the Advancement in Dementia Care Centre (ADCC) in Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, in Ontario Canada. As a nurse with clinical expertise in gerontology, Dr. Sun develops a strong expertise in educating nursing students about the care of older adults, with emphasis on individuals with cognitive impairment in community health, home healthcare and long-term care settings. As a research scientist in gerontology, Dr. Sun possesses a research agenda with a strong focus on the development, utilization and advancement of technology-enabled dementia care, while supporting older adults with the goal of aging in place. Dr. Sun possesses a strong publication record in refereed journals and book chapters in community health, mental health, gerontechnology, geriatric and dementia care, as well as an active and diversified track record of conducting interdisciplinary research in gerontology, including Tri-Council, national and provincial funding (ie. Canadian Institute for Health Research CIHR; Social Science and Humanity Research Council SSHRC; Centre for Brain Health Innovation (CABHI); AGE-WELL).
As a Research Director of ADCC, her research agenda focuses on advancing the creation of aging and dementia-friendly communities through evidence-informed research and practices, as well as the scaling up of technological innovation to promote aging in place and supporting capacity-building of workers in the care of older adults across the care continuum. aims to improve the quality of life of those living with dementia by using innovation to develop new approaches to support their psychosocial needs and behavioural challenges. In 2024, Dr. Sun received the Research Excellence Chair Award from Ontario Tech University where she focuses on leading the development of AVOID frailty model of care to promote healthy aging and dementia care. Her goal is to advance dementia-friendly communities through spreading and scaling up its innovations, research, and evidence-informed practices to support knowledge translation initiatives and workforce capacity-building in both the Durham Region and beyond.
To achieve the goal of leveraging partnerships to build a competent dementia care workforce, she was awarded the Micro-Credential Challenge Funds from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities with the goal of developing Dementia Care Micro-credential to support capacity building in Long-Term Care Using GEN (Gamified Educational Network). Dr. Sun is also awarded with several funding from WeRPN and CIHR to examine “Staffing Stability in Long-Term Care”; “Development of an Emotional and Compassionate Model of Care in Long-Term Care”; “Development of a Workplace Retention Framework to Build Capacity in Long-Term Care”; as well as “Building Psychological Safety in Long-Term Care”. Examples of past and recent contributions in developing technology-enabled dementia care included her award as a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from AGE-WELL (Canada’s Technology and Aging Network), and her recent development of virtual reality reminiscence therapy and exergaming/cognitive stimulation interventions for persons with dementia funded by Ontario Shores, Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). For World Alzheimer’ Day in 2023, Dr. Sun was awarded the Ambassador Award from the Alzheimer’s Society of Durham Region for her ongoing commitment to raising awareness and challenge the stigma around Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. This award recognizes Dr. Sun’s dedication to advance a program of research with the goal of leveraging the creation of aging and dementia-friendly communities to make a meaningful impact to those older adults living with dementia across the Durham Region of Ontario and beyond.
