Tell us a little bit about yourself!
My name is Shawn Adderley and I am from Dartmouth, NS. I defended my MSc in Pharmacology from Dalhousie University last summer and started the MBA program one week later. I previously worked as a zookeeper specializing in venomous reptiles for eight years before pursuing my MSc. My diverse background has helped develop my passion for knowledge translation and human connection, and ultimately instilled in me a desire to help bridge the gap between science and business. I love to rock climb, get outdoors, and travel!
Who or what inspires you? Why do you love what you do?
I am very fortunate to be surrounded by an incredible group of family and friends. Their faith in me – even when my passions involved snakes and alligators while working as a zookeeper – has been a constant source of inspiration and motivation. On a more personal level, I have always been most energized when working with diverse teams to solve complex problems that have the potential to help people. During my MSc I realized I had a deep passion for health-sciences research and innovation – learning about new ways to improve quality of life for people in quantifiable ways, and following these breakthroughs from research to development became a huge interest. Taking my MBA has shown me how I can leverage my science background, and passion for human connection and knowledge translation to build a career in the interdisciplinary niche between science and business. Working with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub is in perfect alignment with this, and I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to help move the dial for healthcare in my home province.
How did you learn you wanted to work in healthcare?
I have had the privilege of working in many different industries. Over the last 10-15 years I have worked as a search and rescue coxswain in the Canadian Coast Guard, a zookeeper of exotic animals travelling across Canada, a health sciences researcher in pharmacology, and guided burgeoning pharmacists through their case-based learning materials. At first glance, these may seem like disparate professions - but whether I was rescuing people from sinking boats in the Northumberland straight, teaching Canadians about conservation and exotic wildlife, studying the complexity of the human body, and helping guide future healthcare practitioners, my focus has always centred around my passion for communication and helping people, and my desire to make a positive impact on those around me.
In addition to my professional experience, like many Nova Scotians, I have lived our healthcare system – I was in the IWK for the first three years of my life and between myself, friends, and family I have spent more time than I’d like between the Dartmouth General Hospital and QEII Health Sciences Centre. I have experienced the highs and lows and I have seen the strengths and the areas that need work. Working in healthcare, and specifically, healthcare innovation seems like the best opportunity to bring my experiences together to maximize my positive impact, and give back to a healthcare system that I have personally benefitted from. I am incredibly thankful for the path I have taken to get here, and the opportunities that lay in front of me.
What attracted you to apply to Nova Scotia Health for your corporate residency?
Working in healthcare has always been an aspiration of mine, but I admit that I had never expected the opportunity to arise from a business lens. The job posting sounded like everything I wanted from a position and reading into the Nova Scotia Health Research & Innovation annual report got me thinking even more. A new department devoted to leading innovation and research within the healthcare system to deliver high-impact solutions for patients and providers? Opportunities to build relationships with some of the brightest and most innovative minds in Nova Scotia? Working alongside a dynamic, goal-oriented, intelligent, and incredibly supportive team? What’s not to be attracted to? Sign me up!What have you learned in your first month working with our Innovation team?
I have learned that things move fast… like, really fast. You need to learn how to pivot on a dime, and juggling priorities to ensure we’re meeting the most urgent needs of Nova Scotia Health practitioners and patients is a daily occurrence. We at Nova Scotia Health are lucky to have an incredible team of healthcare providers, researchers, administrators, managers, coordinators, executives, and everyone in between, dedicated to improving the lives of Nova Scotians (who are incidentally some of the kindest and most amazing people in the world – I may be admittedly biased on this note). However, there are also a lot of inefficiencies in the healthcare system that need to be addressed. I’ve only been working with the Health Innovation Hub for a few months, but to sum up what I have learned so far, it’s that things are about to change in a big way – and the future of healthcare in Nova Scotia is very bright. What do you hope to achieve during your eight months with Nova Scotia Health?
I have been incredibly fortunate to be trusted to help work on some big initiatives for the province, which has been both humbling and incredibly exciting. My primary goal over the next eight months will be to learn as much as I can from the incredible team and stakeholders around me, do my best to understand the changes that are most important to Nova Scotians, and work as hard as I can to deliver the high-impact solutions for patients and providers that the Innovation team is promising.What do you think the future of innovation at Nova Scotia Health looks like?
I am quickly developing a well-informed optimism about innovation in Nova Scotia. We are very fortunate already to live in one of the most incredible regions in the world, and have a thriving, rapidly growing innovation sector. As I watch our Innovation team grow, I think that we are well on the way to creating an ecosystem that will be able further support the disruption that Nova Scotia needs to streamline innovation around our amazing healthcare providers, to give them the resources and support that they need to provide Nova Scotians with the world-class care they deserve. The future starts now.
Have you been working on any exciting projects?
Exciting is an understatement! I have been working very closely with our research team to help develop and roll out our new Nova Scotia Health Clinical Trials Unit (CTU). While working on this project, I have already been able to listen to input from many different stakeholders from our clinician investigators and research staff, to almost every therapeutic area you can think of, all the way to representatives from the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The breadth of interest that we’re generating around the Nova Scotia Health CTU is incredibly exciting, and the amount of stakeholders involved really shows the scope of this project. It is truly massive – both in project size, and its implications for new healthcare opportunities for Nova Scotians. This is an ongoing lift from all areas of Nova Scotia Health, and I have been incredibly impressed with the 24/7 effort being given to this. It feels incredible to be working with such a diverse team, dedicated to making Nova Scotia a primary player in the world of CTUs, and to bring those benefits directly to Nova Scotians – who deserve nothing less than the best.
About the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub
The Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub is leading innovation and research within the healthcare system to deliver high-impact solutions for patients and providers. Through strategic partnerships with clinical champions, industry, healthcare foundations, governments and academic partners, Nova Scotia Health’s Innovation Hub is transforming healthcare through the best available evidence and innovative solutions. It’s also a catalyst that is fostering an innovative mindset and approaches to bring about positive system change.
