Dr. Carolyn Steele Gray

• 2025–present; Expert Panel Member, Health Authority of Catalunya, Spain
• 2025–present; Executive Committee Member, Digital Health & Discovery Platform (TFRI)
• 2024–present; Senior Investigator, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health
• 2024–present; Senior Scientist, Science of Care Institute, Sinai Health
• 2024–present; Technical Committee Member, CAN/HSO Virtual Care and Services Standard
• 2024–present; Advisory Member, Primary Care Academy Impact Group, Flanders, Belgium  
• 2023–present; Associate Professor (status), Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto
• 2023–present; Canadian National Lead, Open Digital Health
• 2022–present; Executive Committee Member, IFIC Canada Hub
• 2021–present; Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Implementing Digital Health Innovation
• 2021–present; Associate Editor (Digital) International Journal of Integrated Care
• 2018–present; Co-Founder & Co-Lead, Special Interest Group on Digital Health & Data Enabling Integrated Care, International Foundation for Integrated Care
• 2018–present; Co-Founder and Co-Lead, International Goal-Oriented Care Learning Collaborative

• Fellowship, AMS Healthcare Compassionate Care and AI, Toronto; 2020–2021 
• Postdoctoral fellowship, IHPME, University of Toronto, Toronto; 2014–2016 
• Postdoctoral fellowship, Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, Toronto; 2013–2016 
• PhD with Dr. Raisa Deber, Health Services Research, University of Toronto, Toronto; 2008–2013
• Master of Public Policy & Administration with Dr. Janet Lum, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto; 2007–2008
• Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; 2002–2006 

• 2025 – Mid-Career Researcher Award, North American Primary Care Research Group
• 2025 – Digital Health Canada Leader of the Year
• 2025 – Eugenie Stuart Award for Best Thesis Supervisor, IHPME, University of Toronto, Toronto
• 2021–2026 – Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Implementing Digital Health Innovation
• 2021 – AMS Healthcare Fellowship in Compassion and Artificial Intelligence
• 2019 – Educator’s Honour Roll, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottowa
• 2018 – Faculty Mobility Fund Research Stay, Ghent University, Belgium
• 2011 – Evaluator Excellence Award, Canadian Evaluation Society 

Digital Bridge: Supporting safe transitions from hospital to home

The Digital Bridge project is designed to improve care transitions for patients with complex needs leaving hospital and returning home. Too often, patients and families face gaps in communication and coordination between hospital teams, primary care providers and community supports. Through extensive co-design with patients, caregivers and providers, we developed a digital platform that connects information, shares patient-reported goals and ensures care plans are communicated clearly across settings.

We are conducting real-world evaluations of Digital Bridge, including pragmatic trials, to understand how technology can support safer and more person-centred transitions. This project has become a test bed for learning how to embed digital tools into existing workflows and care models. Students joining this project gain experience in co-design, implementation science, and mixed-methods evaluation in partnership with patients and health system leaders.

Why it matters: Improving transitions reduces avoidable readmissions, enhances patient and caregiver confidence and strengthens relationships between hospitals and primary care providers.

Value-Aligned Digital Health Implementation Tool

We know that digital health tools succeed only when they align with the values of the people and organizations using them. To help ensure alignment, our team developed the Value-Aligned Digital Health Implementation Tool. This tool uses prompts and structured reflection to guide decision-makers in assessing whether new technologies support core values such as equity, compassion and person-centredness.

We are now refining and validating the tool through surveys, Delphi panels, and case studies across multiple settings. The next step includes building a web-based platform to make the tool widely accessible to health systems, providers and researchers. Students involved in this project will gain hands-on experience in implementation science, digital health evaluation and tool development, with opportunities for cross-jurisdictional collaboration.

Why it matters: This project helps health systems move beyond “tech-first” adoption and instead embed technology in ways that reflect what truly matters to patients, providers and communities.

Co-design guidelines (PRECISE)

Co-design has become central to health research and innovation, yet there has been little consistency in how co-design is described, reported and evaluated. The PRECISE project (Preferred Reporting Items for Co-Design in Research) brings together researchers, patients, providers and decision-makers to develop international guidelines and a checklist for co-design in health research.

We are using scoping reviews, consensus-building methods (like Delphi), and international workshops to create clear standards that help ensure co-design projects are transparent, rigorous and reproducible. Our group is also exploring equity-focused approaches to co-design, ensuring that diverse perspectives are represented and respected.

Why it matters: These guidelines will raise the quality and credibility of co-design work worldwide, making it easier for future researchers, including our trainees, to design projects that are impactful and publishable.

Special Interest Group: Data and Digital Services Enabling Integrated Care (IFIC)

International adoption of digital health in integrated care remains uneven, with successes in some regions and persistent challenges in others. To tackle this, we co-lead the International Foundation for Integrated Care’s Special Interest Group (SIG) on Digital Health and Data Enabling Integrated Care. This group convenes researchers, system leaders, policymakers, patients and industry partners from around the world.

Through webinars, conference sessions, collaborative publications and joint grant proposals, the SIG creates a platform for sharing lessons, best practices and emerging frameworks for digitally enabled integrated care. Students working on this project will have opportunities to connect with an international network, contribute to comparative research and co-author outputs that reach global audiences.

Why it matters: By linking international expertise, the SIG ensures that digital innovation supports—not hinders—the delivery of integrated, equitable and person-centred care.