IMHA On The Move - September 2011

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Table of Contents

Message from the Interim Scientific Director

Phillip GardinerWelcome to the September edition of IMHA-On The Move. I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer and are ready to get back into the full swing of things. As you may know, I was asked to take on the challenge of Interim Scientific Director of IMHA, a position I was delighted to accept in light of Dr. Aubin's appointment to CIHR as Chief Scientific Officer/Vice-President of Research. Having served as an IMHA Advisory Board member since 2007 and as the Chair for the past year, I am very familiar with IMHA and the broader research community. I truly look forward to working with you in continuing to advance research and knowledge translation initiatives in musculoskeletal health and arthritis, rehabilitation, skin and oral health.

One of the first things that I did as Interim SD was attend the Alliance for the Canadian Arthritis Program (ACAP) research workshop in Toronto (July 11-12, 2011) which was co-hosted by IMHA. It was a lively meeting featuring presentations and breakout sessions centered on the future of arthritis research in Canada. The workshop aimed to identify research priorities in arthritis and implementation strategies to address these priorities in working towards a national framework for arthritis. It was a great way for leaders in the arthritis field to come together and share their visions for the future of arthritis research and care in Canada.

As always, IMHA has a busy year planned. In October we will hold a Research Ambassador meeting in Vancouver, and a Training Grants workshop in Quebec City; in November, we will host a Café Scientifique entitled 'Oral Health: more than bad breath' and an advisory board meeting in Winnipeg; and in the spring, we will hold a Young Investigator meeting in Toronto. These are just a few highlights and we will continue to add to this list as the year goes on.

Alain MoreauMonique GignacI would like to take this opportunity to introduce the new interim Chair of our Institute Advisory Board (IAB) Dr. Monique Gignac who has served on our IAB since 2009 and our new interim Vice Chair Dr. Alain Moreau. We also welcome our two newly-appointed IAB members Dr. Marc Pouliot and Dr. Stephen Robinovitch (see page 2) and look forward to working them over the course of their terms.

As always, IMHA welcomes your comments and questions. Please feel free to contact us at imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca.

Phillip Gardiner PhD, Interim Scientific Director
Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Ask the SD

We invite you to send questions that you have about IMHA, to imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca. This section of the newsletter will feature the answer to one of these questions.

Did you know?

In recent bibliometric analyses performed by l'Observatoires des sciences et techniques commissioned by CIHR and IMHA, it was found that Canadian researchers published 2,416 arthritis articles between 2000-2008, tying with the US and UK with an Average Relative Citation (ARC) of ~1.33. An ARC value above 1.0 for a country means that, on average, the country's publications in a particular field (in this case, arthritis research) are cited more often than the world average. Also of interest, researchers funded by IMHA's strategic initiatives budget alone contributed to 41% of all arthritis-related papers by Canadian researchers in 2008.

Meeting IAB Members

This September, IMHA welcomes Dr. Stephen Robinovitch and Dr. Marc Pouliot to our Institute Advisory Board.

Stephen RobinovitchDr. Robinovitch is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, and the School of Engineering Science, at Simon Fraser University. He currently holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Injury Prevention and Mobility Biomechanics. As Director of the CIHR-funded Technology for Injury Prevention in Seniors (TIPS) program, his research focuses on the cause and prevention of falls and fall-related injuries, especially hip fractures in older adults. Robinovitch is a past recipient of a New Investigator Award from CIHR (2001), and a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (2001). He has been principal investigator on operating grants from CIHR, NSERC, NIH, and CDC, and has served as a member on various peer review panels for CIHR.

Marc PouliotDr. Marc Pouliot is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology-Infectiology & Immunology at Laval University. He also serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee at The Arthritis Society. Dr. Pouliot publishes papers in the area of arthritis, inflammation and pain. His current focus includes the development of biomarkers for chronic conditions and the delineation of pro-resolution properties of adenosine. In 2005, Pouliot became co-chair of the Training and Education Committee and a regular member of the Research and Management Committee at the Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN), one of Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence. He is a member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Leading Edge and New Initiatives Funds review committee. He has also served as a member of CIHR's Biological and Clinical Aspects of Aging (BCA) review committee (2005-09), and of Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholarship review committee (AHFMR; 2007-2010).

Other News

CIHR 2011 International Review
CIHR has recently released the report from its second international review, the Report of the 2011 International Review Panel (IRP). The review was conducted by an eleven member panel of global leaders in health research, led by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the former Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The IRP report concluded that CIHR has made significant improvements since the first review in 2006. In the view of the IRP, CIHR is fulfilling its mandate and is contributing to improving the health of Canadians.

Through Expert Review Team reports for individual Institutes the IRP judged that the Institutes are meeting their mandates, catalyzing research and forging productive partnerships. IMHA was commended for its inclusivity, transparency, and engagement with stakeholders in developing its research strategy, as well as its success in the development of collaborations between different disease focus areas and between relevant institutes of CIHR. IMHA's Strategic Training Initiatives in Health Research and Catalyst grant programs were also recognized for driving forward early research support. The IRP credited much of the success of CIHR Institutes to the outstanding leadership of the Scientific Directors. (Internal Assessment for 2011 International Review - IMHA).

Health Research in Canada and You
Whether it is participating in community-based research or attending one of CIHR's Public Outreach activities, there are numerous ways for citizens to become engaged with health research in Canada. This booklet examines those opportunities and explains why your participation is so important. Inside, you will also find an overview of CIHR and its activities, along with definitions and examples of health research. View the “Health Research in Canada and You” booklet.

Call for Cases for a New Publication: Population and Public Health Ethics Casebook
The CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), together with its partners, are pleased to announce a call for case submissions in Population and Public Health Ethics. The objectives of the casebook are to:

  1. Increase awareness and understanding of PPH ethics, and the value of ethical thinking in population and public health research, policy, and practice;
  2. Highlight cases from across population and public health research, policy, and practice that feature different ethical issues and dilemmas; and,
  3. Create a tool to support instruction, debate, and dialogue related to cases in population and public health ethics research, policy, and practice.
Structured case submissions of up to 850 words are due by Friday, September 30, 2011. For more information, please visit the IPPH News and Announcements.

Upcoming CIHR Events

Café Scientifique - Oral Health: more than bad breath
On November 1, 2011, in partnership with the University of Manitoba, IMHA will host a Café Scientifique on oral health at 7:00 pm at McNally Robinson Booksellers (1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg, MB). For more information please visit the Café Scientifique website.

Partner Corner

Arthritis Awareness Month
September is national Arthritis Awareness Month. IMHA, in partnership with the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada has been working on a number of awareness initiatives that will be promoted throughout the month. These activities include a series of researcher profiles under the theme of "Getting to know Canadian Health Researchers" and a short video. The video features CIHR-funded researcher John Esdaile as he talks about the IMPAKT-HiP study which is looking at the cause of hip pain and its link to hip osteoarthritis.

Scientist Knowledge Translation Training
A Scientist Knowledge Translation Training (SKTTTM) course will be taking place on October 3-4, 2011 in Toronto. Given the increasing attention given to research utilization and impact, this course is designed to teach researchers knowledge translation skills and practices. For more information, including how to register, please visit the Scientist Knowledge Translation Training website.

IMHA Funding Opportunities

For information on current funding opportunities, please visit IMHA's Funding Opportunities.

CIHR-CMAJ Top Achievements in Health Research (2011)
The aim of this competition is to acknowledge Canadian health research achievements that have had a significant impact on health, health care, and health research by improving our understanding of health and human diseases, tackling health challenges, and improving our health system. The deadline for this competition is September 12, 2011.

CIHR Epigenetics Funding Opportunities
The Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC) has recently released two exciting CIHR Funding Opportunities in the field of Epigenetics. CEEHRC plans to launch a number of dedicated epigenetics funding opportunities over the next several years.

  • CEEHRC Epigenomics Platform
    This Funding Opportunity is to support the development of a National Epigenomics Platform, comprised of several Epigenomic Mapping Centres (EMCs) and one Epigenomic Data Coordination Centre (EDCC). The Registration deadline is September 29, 2011, and the application deadline is November 1st, 2011.
  • CEEHRC Catalyst Grant
    This Funding Opportunity is to support the development of innovative new technologies and approaches that have the potential to transform how epigenetics research is performed. The registration deadline is September 30, 2011 and the application deadline is November 1st, 2011.

 

Operating Grant: Advancing Theoretical and Methodological Innovations
The objective of this funding opportunity it to support research that is informed by a range of disciplinary perspectives and that advances theories, conceptual frameworks, scientific methods, and/or measurement approaches towards a strengthened Canadian health care system and improved health for Canadians. The registration deadline is September 30, 2011 and the application deadline is October 28, 2011.

Knowledge Synthesis Grant
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research's new Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal (EIHR) initiative will support researchers and decision makers to work together to advance the current state of knowledge, generate novel and creative solutions, and translate evidence for uptake into policy and practice to strengthen Canada's healthcare systems. Knowledge Synthesis grants, will support innovative syntheses that advance the current state of knowledge and contribute to evidence-informed decision-making within EIHR's three priority areas. The application deadline is October 3rd, 2011.

CIHR Journalism Awards
The CIHR Journalism Awards provide up to $20,000 each and is open to journalists with at least one year of experience or a relevant degree/diploma. The application deadline is October 5, 2011.

Dissemination Events: Fall 2011 Competition
The specific objective of this funding opportunity is to support events/activities that contribute to the dissemination, exchange and uptake of research evidence. The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $ 125,000, enough to fund approximately 5 grants, the maximum amount per grant is $ 25,000 for up to one (1) year. The application deadline is October 17, 2011.

Meetings of Interest

The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting (September 16-20, 2011) San Diego, CA. For more information please visit the meeting website.

United Nations (UN) High-level Meeting on noncommunicable disease prevention and control (September 19-20, 2011) New York, USA. For more information about this conference, please visit the meeting website.

International Forum on Pediatric Pain (October 13-16, 2011) White Point Beach, NS. For more information please visit the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research website.

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Annual Conference: Exercise and Health for Everybody (October 19-22, 2011) Quebec City, QC. For more information please visit the meeting website.

Closing the Gap Between Oral Health Research and Practice workshop (October 27, 2011) Halifax, NS. For more information please visit The Oral Health of our Aging Demographics website.

Canadian Arthritis Network 2011 Annual Scientific Conference: Bridging Gaps in Arthritis Knowledge with CaNIOS, CAPRI, and CSRG (October 27-29, 2011) Quebec City, QC. For more information please visit the website.

Contact Us

CIHR - Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
Department of Molecular Genetics
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
The Banting Institute
100 College St., Room 207B
Toronto, ON, M5G 1L5
Tel: 416-978-4220
Email: IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

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