Ronald Chow, a resident physician at the University of Toronto and DPhil candidate in Evidence-Based Health Care at the University of Oxford, has received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral programme award and the University of Toronto Department of Medicine’s 2026 Outstanding Research Trainee Award.
The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral programme recognises and supports the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers. By supporting high-quality research training, the programme aims to foster impact within and beyond the research environment.
The Department of Medicine Outstanding Research Trainee Award recognises outstanding performance in research by residents in Department of Medicine programmes. Recipients are selected based on evidence of outstanding research performance, including work with significant scientific impact, recognition by professional societies or conferences, research dissemination or contribution to scholarship.
Before coming to Oxford, Ronald studied epidemiology at Yale University and biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto. He has also trained as a research intern/fellow at Mass General Brigham, Harvard University, and New York Proton Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Ronald’s DPhil in Evidence-Based Health Care thesis explores measuring and defining time toxicity in cancer pharmacologic trials. While pharmacotherapy offers survival benefits and reduces recurrence risk, it can also cause significant toxicity. Physiological toxicities such as nausea and vomiting, fatigue, and dyspnoea have long been documented. However, attention is increasingly being paid to non-physiological toxicities, including financial and time toxicity.
Supervised by Dr Georgia Richards and Professor Carl Heneghan, Ronald’s research investigates how much time toxicity cancer patients experience in trials and how it can be measured. Through his work, Ronald aims to support the development of standardised tools for measuring and reporting time toxicity, helping to capture the treatment burden experienced by patients and inform more patient-centred decision-making.
Together, these awards recognise Ronald’s research training and contributions as an aspiring physician-researcher. The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship will support his Oxford postgraduate work and continued advanced training in clinical epidemiology. Ronald’s broader aim is to integrate rigorous research methods into clinical practice. His research interests include clinical epidemiology, oncology, evidence synthesis, and software as a medical device.
Commenting on receiving these awards, Ronald shared, ‘I am deeply honoured to receive the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship and University of Toronto's (Canada) Department of Medicine Outstanding Research Trainee Award. This recognition reflects the mentorship, collaboration and generosity of an exceptional community of students, residents, fellows, staff and international colleagues whose support has shaped both my work and my development as a researcher. I am especially grateful to the mentors and collaborators who have challenged, guided and inspired me throughout this journey, and I share this award with all of them. It is a privilege to contribute to research that advances clinical practice and patient care alongside such remarkable teams.’
The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine warmly congratulates Ronald on these achievements, which recognise his contribution to patient-centred cancer care research and evidence-based health care.