David leads York’s award winning Knowledge Mobilization Unit that provides services to researchers, community organizations and government agencies who wish to use maximize the economic, social and environmental impacts of university research.  Dr. Phipps has been named the most influential knowledge mobilizer in Canada. In 2012 York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit was awarded a best practice award from the European-based Knowledge Economy Network. In 2012 he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his work in knowledge mobilization.  In 2013 he was one of three national finalists for the Impact Award – Connections category from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He was also awarded the 2015 Research Management Excellence Award (Canadian Association of Research Administrators) and 2015 President’s Award for Innovation in Knowledge Mobilization (Institute for Knowledge Mobilization). In 2015 he was named the Gordon and Jean Southam Fellow from the Association of Commonwealth Universities. In 2017 Research Impact Canada received the Directors’ Award for Inter-Institutional Collaboration from the Canadian Association of Research Administrators.

He is the Knowledge Translation Lead for Kids Brain Health Network of Centres of Excellence and is the Network Director for Research Impact Canada, Canada’s knowledge mobilization network including 15 universities investing in strategies to maximize the impact of research.