‘Discovery comes from great questions’

When Lisa Porter was barely old enough to read, her parents bought a family-sized set of encyclopedias from a door-to-door salesperson.

The A-to-Z world was suddenly at the six-year-old’s fingertips, in books that answered more questions than she knew how to ask.

Today, as the new Vice President Research and Scientific Director at St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Lisa continues to ramp up her quest to learn more: so many puzzles yet to be decoded and problems yet to be solved.

“To me, health research is curiosity, creativity and constantly asking questions. Discovery comes from exploring great questions. You can’t have a ‘eureka’ moment without asking why things work, or don’t work – and that’s what we do so well here at St. Joseph’s.”

She is convinced that St. Joseph’s is an ideal place where health research and improved patient care intersect.

“We’ve got some amazingly innovative people who are asking so many important questions,” she says.

“Research must be integrated into health care and embedded in everything we do. Anywhere we don’t have answers, that’s a job for researchers.”

- Lisa Porter, Vice President, Research and Scientific Director, St. Joseph's Health Care London

Following her passions 

Lisa was raised in Sault Ste. Marie to parents who prioritized learning and imagination. Her father repaired electronics and was an avid inventor; her mother was a self-taught income-tax-preparer who prided herself on attention to detail.

“I was that kid in the class who loved to learn. I still do,” Lisa says. “Even as a kid reading these encyclopedias – that’s research, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.

“I’m also cognizant of all the supports I had when I was younger - not everyone has the same level of privilege. Many people face huge personal and systemic barriers that I did not experience, and we need to create spaces to recognize and cultivate their learnings.”

The first in her immediate family to attend university, Lisa discovered she enjoyed the intellectual puzzles of pharmacology. After graduating with a degree in biology and pharmacology, she worked for a large bio-pharmacology firm in Montreal but itched to direct her own research interests. She earned her PhD at McMaster University, then did postdoctoral research in San Diego.

“I went to grad school basically to ask the questions I wanted to ask. I just followed my nose and my passions.”

Her work led to a career as a cancer scientist at University of Windsor where she is a distinguished professor in biomedical sciences and was the founding director of We-Spark Health Institute, which specializes in research, education and training, and community engagement. 

She continues to conduct foundational cancer research at her PorterLab as she and her team discover new ways to rapidly detect and treat cancers.

Valuing excellence

Lisa began her role at St. Joseph’s in February, drawn here by the organization’s reputation for research and its core mission and vision.

“At St. Joseph’s we live our values and care for our patients. That’s the bottom line in everything we do. I legitimately believe that, and that’s why it’s a privilege to be part of St. Joseph’s.

“I also love that excellence is one of the values of St. Joseph’s. Excellence doesn’t mean we have all the answers. It means we’re continuously striving to be better. It means we’re asking questions that can drive better health care – not just for the patients we serve, but for national and global impact, too.”

Lisa leads strategic planning for research across the organization as the new St. Joseph’s-led Lawson Research Institute evolves from a joint-venture with London Health Sciences Centre. As both researcher and research director, she is temperamentally driven to blend vision and pragmatism, creativity and strategy. She is problem-seeker and problem-solver, risk-taker and realist.

And she wants to encourage, inspire and spotlight those qualities in the researchers, scientists, clinicians and students who have made this their life’s work.

“Researchers are passionate about what they do. They innovate. They dive full into it because they know the power of what research can deliver for the community,” she says.

As St. Joseph’s increases its local and global impact, Lisa envisions an expanded medley of partnerships bringing about a broader network of influence.

“I want research to be everyone, everywhere,” she says and points to the words on her blue St. Joseph’s lanyard. “It says, ‘Discovery matters here,’ and that’s the place all of us need to be.

“We need hospitals, industry, patients and policy-makers coming into the fray. It can’t be just the researcher, the scientist. It’s about having champions embedded in all walks of life, from first line of care to people who can influence systemic change. It’s a messy piece, but it’s also how we fulfil this bigger mission to help everyone who comes to us for health care.”