Flourish Lab

We are pleased to share that our Scientific Director, Rohan D’Souza, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board.

It is a role rooted in the standard of research at its earliest stage, before findings are published and before work reaches participants, clinics, or care pathways. For someone whose research has been shaped not only by maternal health outcomes, but by how evidence is produced and applied in practice, the appointment feels entirely fitting.

Congratulations, Rohan.

Flourish Lab Rohan D’Souza has been appointed Vice Chair of the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB), effective April 1, 2026.

How should a health system respond when things go wrong?

Pregnancy care in Canada is designed around what usually happens. But it is the rare, serious complication - the near-miss, the system fracture - that reveals whether care is truly working.

Earlier this month, over 50 clinicians, researchers, advocates, and health leaders came together in Hamilton for the CanOSS-Ontario Design Meeting - a milestone in the development of a provincial learning system for serious pregnancy complications.

At the heart of that conversation was CanOSS - the Canadian Obstetric Survey System. CanOSS is not a research project or a data repository. It is a national quality improvement initiative built to answer the question too often left unasked: why?

Why this patient, in this setting, under these circumstances? Why did the system fail to prevent harm - and what must change to prevent it in future?

The discussions were rigorous and honest - about design, about ethics, and about how to return learning to systems in ways that improve care. The outcome? More than a plan. Momentum.

As severe complications rise - and as inequities persist - this work could not be more urgent. CanOSS offers a path forward: a mechanism to help health systems reflect, respond, and reform.

This is not just a public health priority. It is a duty of care.

Read more here: https://shorturl.at/4b09e