Jason M. Harley, PhD, is the Director of Research at the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning (SCSIL). They are an Associate Professor (tenured) in the Department of Surgery, Director of the Simulation, Affect, Innovation, Learning, and Surgery (SAILS) Lab and an Associate Member of the Institute for Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill. They are also a Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).
Their research has been internationally and nationally recognized by several awards and honors, including induction into The Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s (SSH) ASCEND Leadership Network, The Canadian Association of Medical Education (CAME) Certificate of Merit Award, and The Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award from the Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning (TICL) SIG of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Professor Harley Is a member of the SSH's Research Committee, an Associate Editor for the British Journal of Educational Psychology, and a member of the editorial boards of other leading education, psychology, and health professions journals, including Learning & Instruction and Simulation in Healthcare. They completed their FRQSC and SSHRC CGS-funded Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at McGill University in 2014 and held an FRQSC-funded postdoctoral position in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Montréal from 2014-2015. Prior to moving into health professionals’ education they were an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta from 2016-2019. Prof. Harley’s research on supporting health professional trainees’ psychological well-being is supported by several grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada as well as The Montreal General Hospital Foundation, Mitacs, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
They chair the Multidisciplinary Research Advisory Committee (MRAC) and advance simulation research at the SCSIL. They aim to bring education science to the SCSIL—to make research a thoroughly integrated aspect and consideration in the SCSIL’s daily operations, planning, and mission. Their leadership has led to the creation and iterative development of the first SCSIL research policies, guidelines, progress tracking, and activities to promote and celebrate research at and beyond the SCSIL. They have led two Research Retreats since their appointment in 2020 and published a piece in Health e-News in 2024 celebrating the ongoing Golden Age of Research the SCSIL is currently enjoying.
