Over $600 million in funding
will support health researchers seeking to improve disease
prevention and treatment, and strengthen healthcare for
Canadians
CALGARY, July 28, 2015 /CNW/ - Top Canadian health
researchers are receiving up to seven years of funding to tackle
pressing health issues, such as cancer, autism, heart disease and
dementia, thanks to an investment announced today by the Honourable
Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health.
Over $600 million is being awarded
through 650 grants to researchers working at universities and
hospitals across Canada. This
includes the first 150 recipients of the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research (CIHR) Foundation Grants and recipients from the
CIHR Open Operating Grants competition. Foundation Grants provide
long-term support for Canada's
research leaders to undertake innovative and high impact programs
of research. The Open Operating Grants invest in research and
knowledge translation projects across the full spectrum of
health.
Together, these two programs support the best ideas proposed by
Canada's health researchers.
Recipients of these grants were selected through a rigorous
peer-review process – the internationally accepted benchmark for
ensuring quality and excellence in scientific research.
Quick Facts
- The Government of Canada is
the single largest contributor to health research in Canada, investing roughly $1 billion every year, primarily through grants
from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
- Over $600 million is being
awarded to support health researchers from across Canada, including researchers in Alberta whose work has the potential to change
lives.
- The announcement complements other important Government of
Canada investments in health
research, including the Canada First Research Excellence Fund
(CFREF). This $1.5 billion investment
over the next decade will help Canadian post-secondary institutions
excel globally in research areas, including close to $114M for Medicine by Design, a University of Toronto project aiming to realize the
promise of stem cells to treat and cure degenerative
diseases.
- Economic Action Plan 2015 also provided an additional
$15 million per year to CIHR to
expand the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research and support
additional research to better understand and address the health
challenges posed by anti-microbial resistant infections.
Quotes
"Our Government understands the importance of investing in
health research; the knowledge created and discoveries made provide
us with the foundation for health innovations and the information
necessary to make important improvements in healthcare. We are
proud to support Canada's health
researchers whose outstanding work is producing scientific
breakthroughs and helping Canadians lead healthier lives."
Rona Ambrose
Minister
of Health
"Within each project lies the promise of a stronger and
healthier future for us, for our children, and for our
grandchildren. Thanks to the tireless work of health
researchers, Canadians have access to better prevention strategies,
better diagnostics, better treatments, better care, and – hopefully
– even cures."
Rona Ambrose
Minister
of Health
"As MP for Calgary Centre, I am pleased to see all the great
health research that is taking place right here in our city. The
fantastic work being done, every day, to improve the health and
well-being of children at the Alberta Children's Hospital, as well
as in research institutions and hospitals all over the province,
speaks to the incredible talent of our researchers and the value
they bring in helping make Canada
a stronger, healthier country."
Joan Crockatt
Member of
Parliament for Calgary Centre
"Canada is home to exceptional
health researchers. Our new Foundation Grants will provide stable,
long-term support to some of these top minds so that they have the
time and resources needed to find new ways of preventing disease,
managing chronic conditions and enhancing health care delivery. The
investment being announced today means better prevention, better
treatment, and better healthcare now and for future
generations."
Dr. Alain
Beaudet
President, Canadian Institutes of Health
Research
"The new Foundation Grants and Open Operating Grants from the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research are a tremendous investment
in our leaders in health research. They not only support the
outstanding academics and clinicians who help solve some of
Canada's most critical health
issues, they also support our emerging research stars. The
University of Calgary is home to some
of the world's leading experts in health research, especially in
the areas of brain and mental health and infections, inflammation
and chronic diseases. Our entire university community is
honoured to be recognized by CIHR for our research excellence and
to be among the first recipients of these new grants."
M. Elizabeth Cannon, PhD, FCAE,
FRSC
President, University of
Calgary
"The long-term support the CIHR Foundation grants provide
optimizes opportunity for what research should be - taking the most
promising, leading-edge ideas and making them happen."
Dr. Adam Kirton
CIHR
Foundation Grant recipient
Associate Professor of
Pediatrics and Clinical Neurosciences
Cumming School of
Medicine, University of Calgary
Associated Links
Foundation Grant Recipients
Open Operating Grant Recipients
Minister Holder Announces Legacy Investment in Research to
Create Life-Saving Cells, Tissues and Organs
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research
(CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency.
CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable
its translation into improved health, more effective health
services and products, and a strengthened health care system for
Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and
support to more than 13,700 health researchers and trainees across
Canada.
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Fact Sheet
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is
Canada's federal funding agency
for health research. CIHR provides leadership and close to
$1 billion in funding to support more
than 13,700 health researchers and trainees across Canada.
As announced on July 28, 2015 by
Minister of Health Rona Ambrose,
over $600 million is being awarded
through CIHR to support 650 health research projects and programs
of research from across Canada.
This includes the first 150 recipients of the new CIHR Foundation
Grants which will provide long-term support for Canada's research leaders to undertake
innovative and high impact programs of research.
Twenty-three of the Foundation Grants were awarded to new/early
career researchers who have demonstrated high potential early in
their research careers. The average total grant size of a
Foundation Grant is of $2.7M over 5
to 7 years.
A total of 500 grants were also awarded from the CIHR Open
Operating Grants competition which invests in research projects
proposed by researchers across the full spectrum of health.
Recipients of these grants were selected through a rigorous
peer-review process. Over 1000 peer reviewers dedicated their time
and expertise to review the research proposals.
These are examples of projects that will be carried out by grant
recipients across the country:
- Dr. Janice Eng at the
University of British Columbia will
develop, evaluate and implement new treatments to improve the
recovery and health of Canadians who are living with the effects of
a stroke.
- Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum at the
University of Alberta will improve
early detection, diagnosis and treatment for children with autism
spectrum disorder.
- Dr. Tracie Afifi at the
University of Manitoba will look for
new ways to prevent child abuse and strengthen Canadian
families.
- Dr. Yvonne Bombard at the
University of Toronto will improve the
evaluation of new genomic technologies and their adoption in
clinical practice.
- Dr. Eric Boilard at Université
Laval in Quebec City will explore the role of blood
platelets in disease and identify targets for the development of
new treatments for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
- Dr. Roy Duncan at Dalhousie University in Halifax will study proteins responsible for
cell to cell fusion and their potential as tools for the
development of new ways to treat disease or deliver
medication.
Recipient Lists
Foundation Grant Recipients *
Open Operating Grant Recipients *
SOURCE Canadian Institutes of Health Research