IMHA On The Move - Summer 2012

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A Message from the Interim Scientific Director

Welcome to the summer edition of IMHA – On The Move! I look forward to sharing the latest from IMHA with you. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding IMHA or the content of our newsletter please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca. We want to hear from you.

At the end of May, our Institute Advisory Board met in Kingston Ontario to continue discussions around strategic planning and future IMHA initiatives. This has been an ongoing process involving evaluation of past initiatives and consultation with the research community. We will continue to keep you up-to-date as we move forward with our next strategic plan.

While in Kingston, we hosted our 8th Café Scientifique entitled Broken, Busted and (a Bit) Worn Down – Rehab science supporting movement for improved health and aging. The expert panel explored the importance of physical activity for the maintenance of strong bones, and the role of rehabilitation in maintaining good musculoskeletal health. Sign up for the Café Scientifique blog to learn about upcoming Cafés.

At the beginning of June, IMHA hosted its first Young Investigators Forum. The meeting was an opportunity for new researchers to attend workshops, meet senior researchers and network with one another. A report on the conference proceedings will soon be made available on our website. We will publish the link in our newsletter when it becomes available. Thank you to everyone who presented and ran workshops as well as all of the young investigators who took the time to participate!

Congratulations to the recipients of the Bone Health Team Grants, led by the team leaders: Drs. Michael Glogauer, Joy MacDermid, and Robert Young! On July 19, 2012 the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Federal Minister of Health, formally introduced the winners at an announcement at McMaster University in Hamilton. The bone health research priorities for this funding opportunity were determined by the outcomes of the 2009 Bone Health Research Consensus Conference which are summarized in the Bone Health Consensus Conference Report online.

I hope that everyone has been having an enjoyable summer.

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

Funding Opportunities

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

Renewed CCV: A new version of the Canadian Common CV (CCV) is now available. Effective June 19, 2012, ResearchNet applications requiring a CCV must use the new version. Although 90% of data for existing CCV users was migrated to the new CCV, applicants are advised to plan for additional time to review their CV data and enter any additional information.

New Funding Opportunity

Health Challenges in Chronic Inflammation Initiative - Team Grants

The overall goal of the Roadmap Signature Initiative - Inflammation in Chronic Disease is to develop a unified Canadian strategy on inflammation that will support health research for the discovery and validation of common biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and inflammatory mechanisms among chronic diseases, with the ultimate goal to prevent and /or treat chronic disease by reducing inflammation and pain through novel interventions.

In order to reach this goal, and following an extensive period of consultation with the Canadian research community (read the full Inflammation in Chronic Disease Consensus Conference report), CIHR and its partners are pleased to announce the first funding opportunity of the Roadmap Signature Initiative - Inflammation in Chronic Disease: Health Challenges in Chronic Inflammation Initiative (Team Grant).

This funding opportunity set forward the following objectives:

  • to create a critical mass of technical and scientific expertise by establishing inflammation research teams that will unite researchers across relevant research disciplines and at least two health research themes (biomedical, clinical, population health, and health services);
  • to promote research approaches to create new knowledge and ensure the effective application of research to solve important problems identified in the inflammation in chronic disease field and promote the clinical translation of research outcomes into improved patient care and health, social and economic benefits nationally and internationally;
  • to provide a high-quality, multi-disciplinary training and mentoring environment.

Key aspects of this new funding opportunity include:

  • Trans-displinary approach;
  • Dedicated funds to support teams whose primary research focus is investigating health services and population health research into inflammation in chronic disease;
  • Project must study at least two distinct inflammatory chronic diseases;
  • Project must include at least two health research themes (biomedical, clinical, population health, and health services);
  • Teams must include a new investigator (under 5 years as an independent researcher);
  • Possibility to form teams with Finland through Tekes (International partner).

Partners

This funding opportunity is launched in partnership with CIHR-Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, CIHR – Institute of Infection and Immunity, CIHR – Institute of Aging, CIHR – Institute of Cancer Research, CIHR – Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, CIHR – HIV/AIDS Research Initiative, CIHR – Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, CIHR – Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, AllerGen NCE, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.

Funding Available

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $22,950,000. The maximum amount for a Team is $500,000 per year for up to five years.

Letter of intent application deadline: November 15, 2012
Funding start date: April 1st, 2014

For more information please go to: Health Challenges in Chronic Inflammation Initiative (Team Grant)

The deadline for the following funding opportunities is October 1, 2012.

The application deadline for the following funding opportunities is October 15, 2012.

Catalyst Grant: eHealth Innovations
This Funding Opportunity will catalyze e-health innovations by integrating, augmenting and evaluating novel health information technologies to empower patients as partners in their care, create a new generation of decision tools for health professionals to enable individualized care, and monitor population health. The application deadline for this competition is October 16, 2012.

Partnerships for Health Systems Improvement
Get Your Partnerships for Health System Improvement Applications Ready!
CIHR will soon be accepting applications again to its Partnerships for Health System Improvement program. Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI) aims to strengthen Canada's healthcare system through collaborative, applied and policy-relevant research. PHSI is Canada's premier health services and policy research competition — and with its strong emphasis on partnerships and knowledge translation it is also a major resource for managers and policy makers who want relevant research to inform their decision-making.

KT News at IMHA

CIHR Knowledge Translation Guidebook
Featuring the work of Dr. Linda Li and her team

Knowledge translation (KT) is about raising knowledge users' awareness of research findings and facilitating the use of those findings. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has written a guide to help strengthen projects that involve a KT approach, while also ensuring that the review of KT within grant proposals is more rigorous and transparent.

Congratulations to Dr. Linda Li and her team who are featured in the Guide to Knowledge Translation Planning at CIHR: Integrated and End-of-Grant Approaches. Dr. Li's team is developing a web-based decision aid with the support of a CIHR Knowledge-to-Action grant. Their Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool (Answer) is designed to support people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in making decisions about their treatment.

When asked about this study Dr. Li recounts some of the team’s challenges and achievements.

“One challenge we encountered during the study was to recruit patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were at the point of making a decision about using methotrexate – a drug that is used to treat RA. From the literature, we know the uptake of decision aids in clinical practice has been modest in other chronic diseases, even though the evidence suggests that they are effective in helping patients to reach a treatment decision and follow through with it. This might have contributed to the difficulties in our recruitment.”

The value of this decision aid was best summarized by one of their participants:

“…one of the most important parts, I think was helping me to understand my values around my health and my life, my lifestyle, and weighing those alternatives, weighting those different options, and that’s what helped me make my decision, was being able to understand what was most important.”

The tagline of this decision aid: “Answer. You decide.” was suggested by Nadia Prestley, IMHA KETF Research Ambassador, and Member of the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada Consumer Advisory Board.

This project was also featured in British Columbia’s Technology Strategy document (PDF 2.83 MB) as an example of how new applications of digital media can provide opportunities for unique collaboration and innovative applications of digital media. Cross-disciplinary collaborations like the Answer can lead to job growth in the technology sector and commercialization of products and services across sectors.

Answer exemplifies how a CIHR-funded KT project can provide unique opportunities for researchers and for those from other innovative disciplines to forge collaborations with knowledge users. The results of the team’s pilot study will be made available in the winter – stay tuned!

Giving Their All!!

Canada’s researchers explore the science of physical activity and health

The Summer Olympics are underway! In honour of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, we are pleased to highlight Canadian musculoskeletal researchers and images from their work.

As we cheer on Canada’s athletes this summer, we should also let out a cheer for researchers here at home who are applying their academic talents towards the improvement of the health of all Canadians.

Take a look at our series of web profiles featuring a message from our Scientific Director, IMHA researchers, and some outstanding young investigators.

Researchers are helping us to understand the body, enhance athletic performance, and improve health

Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) Patient Perspectives

JOSPT Perspectives for patients offers clinicians and patients a credible source of new information derived from a published article and explains how it affects patient care. Perspectives for Patients is written for the lay person, and consists of 3 main sections—a summary of the pathology or healthcare condition addressed in the research, new insights from the published study, and practical advice the patient can use—accompanied by 1 or more illustrations.

Designed and written through a collaboration of the Journal's editors and staff in an effort to best translate research into practical information for both clinicians and patients, Perspectives for Patients is a public service of JOSPT. This single-page feature makes clear that the information and recommendations presented are intended as a guide only and are not a substitute for seeking proper advice for health conditions.

Cochrane Corner

New Oral Health Reviews

With the assistance of the Cochrane Oral Health Group IMHA has recently published a new feature on the Cochrane Corner of our website: Oral Health Reviews.

The Cochrane Collaboration publishes reviews that explore the research evidence about the effectiveness and appropriateness of interventions for medical conditions and the delivery of health care. The oral health reviews cover a range of topics including Fluoride supplements (tablets, drops, lozenges or chewing gums) for preventing dental caries in children, Oral health advice for people with serious mental illness and Psychosocial interventions for the management of chronic orofacial pain to highlight a few.

Meetings of Interest

2nd International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium 2012
September 27-29, 2012
Vancouver, BC
The abstract submission deadline is June 7, 2012.

Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Annual General Meeting
October 10-13, 2012
Regina, SK

Canadian Skin Patient Conference
October 12-14, 2012
Toronto, ON

ASBMR 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting
October 12-15, 2012
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

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: 416-946-7243
Email: imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca

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