Céline Gélinas, B.Sc.(N), M.Sc.(N), Ph.D
Researcher, Centre for Nursing Research, Jewish General Hospital
Project Director, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital
Professor, Ingram School of Nursing, McGill University
Co-Director, Quebec Network on Nursing Intervention Research
Evaluation and Nursing Interventions in Critical Care
Céline Gélinas joined the staff of the Centre for Nursing Research as a nurse scientist in 2007. She is a Professor at the Ingram School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University; a Project Director at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital; and the Co-Director of the Quebec Network on Nursing Intervention Research (RRISIQ). A Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) Research Scholar Career Awardee since 2009, Dr. Gélinas leads a research program on pain in critically ill adults in collaboration with scholars from North America and Europe.
Her research interests in critical care nursing, pain assessment and management, and measurement build on her past experience as a nurse in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). She has developed and validated pain assessment tools, such as the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) and the Faces Pain Thermometer, which are being used in clinical settings and in research locally and internationally. The CPOT has been translated in more than 15 languages and implemented in hundreds of ICUs worldwide. She is currently co-leading a CIHR-funded research team working on validating a new technology, the Nociception Level (NOL) Index, for ICU pain assessment (project grant 2020-2025). Between 2014 and 2018, she headed the pain section of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)'s taskforce charged with updating the 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Pain, Agitation, and Delirium in Adult Patients in the ICU (2018 PADIS Guidelines: www.sccm.org/ICULiberation/Guidelines).
She has published widely in scientific journals and textbooks, in addition to sharing her research at local, national, and international conferences. Her contributions to the fields of pain research and critical care nursing have earned her several awards, including the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec (OIIQ)'s Prix Florence - Enseignement et recherche en sciences infirmières (2021), the Pioneering Spirit Award of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (2019), the Canadian Pain Society Early Career Award (2014), and the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec's Prix Florence – Relève (2004). She completed a Master’s Degree in Nursing (2000) and a Doctorate in Nursing and Measurement (2004) at Université Laval in Quebec City, and post-doctoral training (2006) in Nursing at McGill University.
Publications
Current Research Projects
Gélinas, C., Wagenaar, A., Arbour, C., Dubé, J. N., Goldfarb, M., Houle, J., Laizner, A. M., Laporte, G., Martel, M. O., Pagé, G., Perreault, M., Wang, H. T., Williamson, D., Yang, S. and collaborators. Prévalence, facteurs et trajectoires de douleur chronique à la suite d’un séjour aux soins intensifs: Du congé à 12 mois. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Project Grant. (2025-2029)
Goldfarb, M., my role as co-investigator. Clinical Trial Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Family Members in the Intensive Care Unit: A Study Within A Trial Randomized Factorial Design. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Catalyst Grant: SPOR Innovative Clinical Trials (iCT). (2024-2026)
Goldfarb, M., my role as co-investigator. Co-development of a Post-ICU Family Caregiver Intervention with Family Members from Underrepresented Groups. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Planning Grant. (2024-2025)
Gélinas, C., Arroyo-Novoa, M. C., Bolesta, S., Burry, L., Carini, F., Martel, M. O., Perreault, M., & Williamson, D. Iatrogenic Withdrawal Syndrome from opioid and sedation therapy in critically ill adults: Content validation of its symptomatology with experts. Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain (AECRP), Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation (LAEF). (2023-2026)
Gélinas, C., Laizner, A. M., Garland, R., Kapoustina, O., Poitras, A., Petizian, S., & Biron, A. Coping with Chronic-ICU Related Pain (CIRP): Perspectives from survivors and their family caregivers. McGill Nursing Collaborative – Education and Innovation in Patient-and-Family-Centered Care. (2023-2025)
Gélinas, C., Arbour, C., Houle, J., Bernard, F., Charbonney, E., Dubé, J.-N., Laporta, D., Perreault, M., and collaborators. Determinants, coping, needs and preferences for support in ICU survivors suffering from chronic pain: A convergent mixed-methods study. RRISIQ Innovative Project Grant. (2023-2025)
Gélinas, C., Purden, M., Clausen, C., Clavel, N., Di Nardo, E., Doucette, V., Fontaine, G., Gartshore, K. Patient-family caregiver dyads’ and nurses’ perspectives on the Hospital@Home program implementation at the CIUSSS West-Central-Montreal virtual care unit: A convergent parallel mixed-methods descriptive study. RRISIQ Innovative Project Grant. (2023-2025)
Gélinas, C., Laporta, D., Amaral, A., Bernard, F., Bérubé, M., Burry, L., Charbonney, E., Choinière, M., Dubé, J. N., Gosselin, E., Houle, J., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Milhomme, D., Morin, S., Perreault, M., Purden, M., Rochefort, C., Rose, L., Scales, D., Thiffault, N., Tousignant-Laflamme, Y., Williamson, D., decision makers, graduate students, patient partners, international experts and professional associations. Managing Pain In Collaboration in the ICU (MPIC-ICU): Impact on clinical practices and patient outcomes. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Project Grant. (2020-2027)
Gélinas, C., Richebé, P., Gallani, M.C. Laporta, D., Richard-Lalonde, M., Shahiri, S & Wang, H. T. Validation of a new multi-parameter technology to better diagnose pain in the adult intensive care population: The Nociception Level (NOL) Index. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Project Grant. (2020-2026)