Q&A: Dr. Nicole Letourneau, Assistant Dean, Mentorship for Research and Grant Success

Dr. Nicole Letourneau firmly believes the world needs more nursing research. In her new role as assistant dean, mentorship for research and grant success at the Faculty of Nursing, she’s helping to advance her colleagues’ success through mentorship to do exactly that.

“I am passionate about nursing research because I truly believe it can make changes in the world – for the better!” she says. “I am grateful to have the opportunity help others to fulfill this important and inspiring practice role in nursing.”

In July 2024, Letourneau was appointed to this new academic leadership role at UCalgary Nursing. The role was created to provide guidance for graduate students, post-doctoral trainees and early career faculty members developing competitive grant funding applications and enhancing their research capabilities. The position focuses on providing mentorship, guidance and support to nursing faculty and graduate students in pursuit of tri-council and national grants.  

According to Dr. Lorelli Nowell, associate dean, graduate programs at the Faculty of Nursing, Letourneau brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the position. Her leadership roles, including serving as scientific director of the AVA Training Platform and Research Excellence Chair in Parent and Child Health, highlight her commitment to advancing research impact and mentoring the next generation of scholars.  

“As a seasoned researcher and leader with over $80 million in total research funding and an extensive publication record, Dr. Letourneau has demonstrated her ability to secure competitive grants and lead large-scale, interdisciplinary initiatives,” says Nowell.  

“Mentorship for graduate students and early-career researchers is essential to foster the development of research skills, enhance grant-writing success, and accelerate the establishment of impactful research programs,” she adds. Nowell says that this type of mentorship can strengthen research capacity, support career progression, and ensure a sustainable pipeline of innovative nursing scholars contributing to health-care advancements and academic excellence.

Letourneau agrees and says “it’s important to support success of junior colleagues – the value of mentorship and support cannot be overestimated. It is key to developing the next generation of researchers and building and sustaining the enterprise of nursing research.  

“The creation of nursing knowledge is essential for the discipline and profession of nursing and of course, improvement in patient care and health.”

Letourneau shares with us what she hopes to achieve in her new role below.

Why is mentorship for new and early career researchers so significant?  

“When you are new to a research career, how to build a research program can seem overwhelming and even daunting. I want to demystify the process and break it down so that my nursing colleagues can attain funding to support their research programs. The reality is that while most research programs require funding, the tools and skills necessary to attain that funding and run a research program are not really taught in graduate school.  

I want to support early career researchers to be successful through attainment of grantsmanship skills, for their sake, the sake of the profession of nursing and for the sake of our patients. I am certainly biased, but I believe that nursing offers a unique, more holistic perspective on patient and client health than other disciplines, that the world needs.”

How do you see it helping our grad students and post-doctoral trainees?  

“I can provide advice, guidance, and feedback on establishing a nursing research career and research program, finding synergies in creating research teams, and framing and writing scholarship, award, and grant applications with persuasion in mind.

I am also a big cheerleader for my colleagues’ success and really want to help them advance their important ideas. Patients benefit from nursing knowledge and other disciplines can benefit from our unique disciplinary perspective, so again, we need to do more of it.”

Given your own success with research funding and grants, how would you describe challenges/opportunities around external funding for nursing researchers?  

“Finding research opportunities and fitting research projects to the grant requirements is a challenge, but surmountable. Also, writing papers, supervising students, undertaking service, etc., all the while managing existing studies and planning and writing new grants is a big challenge.  

It takes patience, persistence, time management, and perhaps most importantly, team support. Once research projects are funded, the learning environment is outstanding for students and trainees because there are so many opportunities to grow as a scholar, while the research is being undertaken. This is the beauty of being part of a research team – there are so many synergies and shared goals focused on helping patients and clients.”

Did you have mentors who helped you in your research career and if so, what were some of your key takeaways/lessons you learned?  

“My goodness, yes! I think often of my mentors who launched me and supported me over my career. I am eternally grateful for having them in my life. I had amazing mentors and wouldn’t have had my career without them. I still seek mentoring, too, because there is always something to learn that can make your work or you better. Dr. Miriam Stewart was an outstanding mentor to me over my career, beginning in my post-doctoral fellowship in 1999, and I miss her since her passing in 2023. A great part of this position is that it allows me to pay it forward and emulate the inspirational examples of my mentors.”

How will you work with nursing faculty, grad students and trainees?  

“I am really enjoying one-on-one sessions with colleagues and providing personalized, written feedback and suggestions. I am meeting and communicating with colleagues frequently as they develop and execute their plans for attaining awards, etc. I am also developing and delivering workshops on important topics, such as persuasive scholarly writing. I am laser-focused on supporting my colleagues’ great ideas with any insight and strategies I can offer, to improve fundability of their important nursing research and award applications.”