On October 18, 2016, the Association francophone pour la savoir (Acfas) announced during its annual gala in Montreal that Catherine Fichten from Dawson College is this year’s recipient of the Prix Acfas Denise-Barbeau pour la recherche au collegial. Dr. Fichten is the Co-Director of the Adaptech Research Network, which conducts research by, for, and with students with disabilities.

Dr. Fichten has two main areas of research. One is concerned with factors which help or hinder the inclusion of individuals with various disabilities in community life. She is interested in the role that higher education and information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play in allowing individuals with a variety of disabilities to participate fully in the Canadian mainstream. The second theme of Catherine’s research concerns sleep, insomnia, and sleep related aspects of behavioural medicine and health psychology. Her work has focused on the determinants and treatments of insomnia and other primary sleep disorders, and on sleep and daytime functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome. This research has had a profound impact on Dawson College, the college network and the field of psychology over the past 40 years.

The Prix Acfas Denise-Barbeau was created in 2014 in honour of Denise Barbeau, a pioneering pedagogue and college researcher. It is awarded each year to a college researcher in recognition of the excellence of their research and the visibility their work receives, both at home and internationally.