IHDCYH News – Vol. 1, No. 3, Spring 2013

• Message from the Scientific Director
• Funding Success Story
• Funding Opportunities
• Updates in the IHDCYH Community
• CIHR News
• Meetings and Events

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Message from the Scientific Director

The first few months of 2013 have been exciting and busy for the IHDCYH team with several meetings and workshops with our research community and stakeholders.

In April, we hosted a workshop for our newly awarded recipients of the Applied Chairs in Reproductive and Child Health Services and Policy Research. It was a fantastic opportunity to listen to each Chair’s research endeavours and the engaging discussions about collaborations with partners and working together to achieve maximum impact in their research and knowledge translation goals. I would like to thank our Chairs for taking the time to meet as a group as well as our guests from the Sickkids Foundation, Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres, Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program, CIHR’s Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH) and Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) and the CIHR-INMHA Applied Chair in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dr Jonathan Weiss.

IHDCYH also hosted a one-day forum for New Investigators in Toronto to coincide with our semi-annual Institute Advisory Board (IAB) meeting. The event was a great success with over 60 participants in attendance and presentation topics ranging from how to set up a research lab to tips on grant writing and the peer review process. I would like to sincerely thank all of the speakers for their presentations and for sharing their experiences and valuable advice to participants.

During IHDCYH’s IAB meeting, there were many excellent discussions regarding the development of initiatives including the CIHR Signature Initiatives in Integrated Health Services (IHS) and Environments & Health. As these initiatives continue to grow, additional co-leads have come on board including CIHR’s Institutes of Aging; Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes and Health Services and Policy Research to the IHS Signature Initiative and the Institutes of Infection and Immunity; Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes; and Population and Public Health to the Signature Initiative in Environments and Health. IHDCYH’s initiatives focused on preterm birth and Developmental Origins in Health and Disease (DOHaD) are also well advanced in producing reports to be used for further development. We are now in the process of organizing workshops to continue progress and engage partners on these initiatives.  I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all leads and sub-committee members involved in these initiatives for their time and valuable contributions. I am also happy to say that IHDCYH is in its last stages of finalizing the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan which will be distributed within the community shortly.

Best wishes for a wonderful summer.

Dr Shoo K. Lee
Scientific Director
CIHR-Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health

Funding Success Story

Preventing Bullying, Cyber-bullying and Victimization in Canada:
A Public Health Approach

Bullying, cyber bullying and peer victimization are serious, persistent, and widespread societal problems. They are implicated in a host of mental health concerns including depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. Several provinces have responded to the many, high-profile incidences of youth depression and suicides linked to bullying and cyber-bullying by mandating that schools adopt evidence-based prevention approaches. However, serious gaps exit between the extensive research that has built an evidence-base for primary prevention programs and their widespread implementation.  Rural and remote areas of Canada, in particular, struggle with program, training, and transportation costs that often greatly exceed the capacity of their small community schools.

At the University of Victoria, researcher Dr Bonnie Leadbeater and her students and community partners have taken an innovative primary prevention approach to addressing these gaps in elementary schools. A now 15 year old partnership with local school staff and a not-for profit group (the Rock Solid Foundation) has developed and evaluated the online WITS and WITS LEADS Programs -  called DIRE in French (Demandez l’Aide, Ignorer, Reculer, En parler). These Programs unite community leaders (police, fire fighters, ambulance drivers, elders), school staff, parents and children to work together to reduce bullying and to increase help seeking to protect children from peer victimization.

Improving the lives of Canadian children and youth requires continuing to advance the dissemination of these resources across Canada. By May of 2012, 43,386 people visited the WITS websites. More than 290 schools are now using the program. More than 2,200 teachers and 380 Community Leaders have completed the online training modules. A recent CIHR Knowledge Transfer Grant further advanced the national dissemination of the WITS® Programs by supporting a national partnership with the RCMP’s Crime Prevention Unit.  More than fifty RCMP members and Ontario provincial police were trained through collaborations with the Youth Officers Programs. The WITS made-in-Canada proactive bullying prevention program is a testimony to the importance of innovative public health approaches to large scale societal problems that threaten the mental health of our children and youth.

Funding Opportunities

Planning Grant: Integrated Health Services and Developmental Origins of Health and Disease through the Lifespan (PIH)

IHDCYH will provide funding for applications that are determined to be relevant to the following research priority areas described below:

• To support workshops addressing important research questions or problems related to the themes described below. The primary goals of the workshop should be:
• To develop research proposals for the regular CIHR open operating grant competition;
• To reach consensus on research needs, gaps, opportunities; and/or
• To translate research knowledge into changes in clinical practice, health services, health policy, or health behaviour. Click here for more information.

Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement

The Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement provides financial support to Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients to study abroad for a portion of their study program. Eligible Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients may receive up to $6,000 for travel and accommodation to any eligible foreign university or research institution in the world.

Please go to the CIHR website for details regarding the program and how to apply, or contact CGSMSFSS@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

CIFAR launches Global Call for Ideas: Letters of Intent due June 7, 2013

Do you have an idea for a research question that requires the attention of some of the world's best minds, a question whose ambitious scope and depth will spark transformative inquiry? This is your opportunity to work with CIFAR to create an interdisciplinary global research network of leading researchers to address a question of great importance to humanity and create vital links between research and society.

For the first time, CIFAR is expanding its portfolio of research programs through an open call for ideas. We invite leading researchers to submit proposals for creating a research network that will address a complex challenge of global importance.

For full details on CIFAR’s Global Call for Ideas and how to submit a letter of intent.

For more information, contact Margaret Mroziewicz (mmroziewicz@cifar.ca).

Updates in the IHDCYH Community

Preventing injury in children and youth

In April, Dr Shoo Lee had the opportunity to join Minister of Health, Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, and Parachute Canada to discuss kids’ safety and injury prevention. It was a fantastic afternoon with productive discussions while also enjoying the outdoors with children and their families for a bike safety demonstration. More information about this event is available on the CIHR website.

CIHR News

Complete the National Physician Survey – Your input matters.

All Canadian physicians are invited to complete the National Physician Survey (NPS). CIHR has joined with Canadian health care leaders in support of this important initiative. By taking the survey you are helping shape the future of your profession.

Completing and returning the survey makes you eligible to win one of the two $1,000 prizes.  You could also use completing the survey as a stimulus to complete a “Linking Learning to Practice” exercise to earn CPD credits. To learn more, take the survey or examine past survey results, visit the National Physician Survey website. 

Update: Renewed Canadian Common CV (CCV) for CIHR

As part of CIHR’s ongoing commitment to providing updates on the Canadian Common CV (CCV), we would like to inform you of the following changes that have been implemented effective May 19, 2013. More information on the Renewed Canadian Common CV (CCV) for CIHR.

Meetings and Events

2013 Canadian Cancer Research Conference

November 3-6, 2013
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
Toronto, Ontario.

Registration for the conference is open until October 14, 2013.

Abstract submission is open until June 28, 2013.

Submitted abstracts will be considered for oral presentations in symposia, oral presentations in poster discussion sessions, and poster presentations.

NEW for 2013: If your data is not available in time for the general abstract submission deadline, consider submitting a late-breaking abstract.

90th Canadian Paediatric Society Annual Conference

June 19-22, 2013
Edmonton, Alberta

Program Information

Pre-register for sessions
Pre-registration is required for all symposiums and workshops because space is limited. Sessions are seated on first-come, first-served basis.
Register here

Follow @CanPaedSociety on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news on conference events and programming. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #CPS2013 in your own tweets.