IMHA On The Move! – Summer 2013

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A Message from the Scientific Director

I am delighted to announce the publication of Celebrating the Impact of Health Research: Success Stories in Arthritis, Bone, Muscle, Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Oral Health and Skin. This new publication is produced by the CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis in partnership with the Canadian Arthritis Network and was made possible thanks to the commitment and expertise of our Impact Story Advisory Committee (Dr. John O’Keefe, Ms. Shaila Karim, Ms. Flora Dell, Ms. Christine Janus, Mr. Philip Hassen, Dr. Joy MacDermid, Dr. Terry Montague, and Dr. David Hart) and the dedication and hard work of each of the story authors. The stories in the publication highlight the significant impact health research can have in improving the health of Canadians. They underscore the value of collaboration between those who conduct research and those who use its results. It is a call to continue the partnerships that bring academia, patients, consumers, the private sector, and funders together to improve products and services which will ultimately improve the health of all Canadians. The creation of this publication is another step in our knowledge translation work, and we will spend the upcoming months disseminating the stories to our research communities, partners and stakeholders, policy-makers, and the public.

With regard to the transition of the Institute from the University of Toronto to the University of Manitoba, we are making headway. As of September, we will have new office space and one new Winnipeg-based staff. With that, I want to take the opportunity to thank the departing Toronto staff who are making this transition as smooth as it can be. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Julie de Courval who will no longer be working with the Institute as of September. Julie has been an outstanding member of the team and her skills and knowledge will be missed. Thank you, Julie, for all of your contributions to IMHA.

I am looking forward to a busy fall which will include a number of exciting meetings as well as the August Science Council retreat. During the retreat, Roadmap, CIHR’s second Strategic Plan will be discussed. This will allow us to move forward with our strategic planning in the year ahead. For an overview of our strategic planning process see page 2.

As always, I encourage you to submit any questions or comments to IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca. Our next newsletter will be published at the end of September, 2013.

Sincerely,

Hani El-Gabalawy MD FRCPC
Scientific Director
CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

CIHR Funding Opportunities

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

CIHR Reforms Update

CIHR has published the eligibility criteria for the upcoming Foundation Scheme “live pilot” competitions. You are invited to visit the Reforms section of CIHR website to find information about the parameters in which researchers will be allowed to apply to the two Foundation Scheme “live pilot” competitions.

Operating Grant: Fall 2013 Priority Announcement
The objective of the CIHR-IMHA Bridge Funding Operating Grants is to ensure the establishment or the maintenance of excellent research programs. These one (1) year operating grants afford established principal investigators an opportunity to resubmit their research proposal without the loss of momentum, staff, or trainees.
Registration deadline: August 15, 2013; Application deadline: September 16, 2013

Operating Grant – New Investigator
The objective of the CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA) Bridge Funding Operating Grants is to give new principal investigators the possibility to strengthen their proposals before resubmitting them.
Registration deadline: August 15, 2013; Application deadline: September 16, 2013

Institute Community Support Travel Awards
Application deadline: September 23, 2013.

Priority Announcements: Fall 2013

In these competitions, funds are available to encourage and support applications in specific areas that are aligned with CIHR's research priority areas and mandates.
Application deadline: October 15, 2013

Partnerships for Health System Improvement: 2013-2014
The intent of the Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI) program is 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.
Application deadline: November 1, 2013

Network Catalyst Grant – Skeletal Muscle, Skin, Aboriginal Knowledge and Ways of Knowing, and Adding Life to the Late Years
The CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, CIHR Institute of Aboriginal People’s Health, and the CIHR Institute of Aging are partnering to provide support for the creation and/or further development of networks. The Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis will provide funding for Networks determined to be relevant to each of the following two priority areas:

  • Skeletal Muscle Research
  • Skin Research

The overall goal of the IMHA networks will be to advance research uptake, training, and knowledge translation in skeletal muscle or skin across multiple disciplines with a focus on expediting knowledge uptake to mobilize and build the research community.

Applicants must demonstrate plans to foster and advance a collaborative network of researchers, trainees, research-support staff, and knowledge users across multiple disciplines in skeletal muscle or skin for the purpose of:

  • Sharing research resources, best practices, research challenges, communicating successes, and other relevant information to advance research and KT collaborations, create economies of scale and enhance research efficiency;
  • Enhancing research capacity by offering opportunities for students, fellows and new investigators to advance their science and KT training within different research environments and through interactions across the network;
  • Advancing KT through active engagement of knowledge brokers and knowledge users in a network.

The aim of this network will be to facilitate the pooling of resources to support innovative research and practices, to build capacity and to provide a forum for discussing ideas, sharing best practices and consulting on challenges. This opportunity will provide funding for a network that demonstrates a capacity to advance work in priority research areas.

Application deadline: November 1, 2013.

New Strategic Plan for IMHA

IMHA will be initiating a strategic planning exercise this fall 2013. The first phase is a Listening for Directions phase. In addition to CIHR Science Council meetings where planning is ongoing, IMHA’s Scientific Director, Dr. Hani El-Gabalawy, will attend scientific conferences such as the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the American College of Rheumatology, and the Cochrane Colloquium. At these meetings, IMHA will have a booth and at some, IMHA will host Canadians in attendance to hear about emerging research priorities. Contact will be made with sister institutes at the National Institutes of Health as well as partner organizations in each of the six IMHA focus areas. IMHA surveyed both our researcher and partner communities several months ago regarding priority areas, and these inputs will be used to guide the discussions in phase one.

In the second phase of IMHA’s strategic planning process we will have focus group meetings with researchers and partners across the country to discuss IMHA plans and priorities for the next five years. Using focus groups will help IMHA articulate the most important strategic areas to pursue as we gather information on future research areas of importance. The strategic directions in CIHR’s Roadmap will serve as important inputs at this stage.

In the third and final phase of planning, IMHA will host a multi-stakeholder conference in the spring of 2014. Participants will contribute to the planning exercise and drafting of a strategic plan for 2014-2019.

IMHA will continue to keep the community updated on progress in the area of strategic planning through regular communications in this newsletter.

New Publication!

Celebrating the Impact of Health Research

We are pleased to announce the launch of Celebrating the Impact of Health Research: Success Stories in Arthritis, Bone, Muscle, Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Oral Health and Skin. Musculoskeletal health disorders, arthritis, skin diseases and oral health conditions cost the Canadian economy billions each year and exact a physical, mental and emotional toll both on those who suffer from them and on their families. Canada’s research community is reducing these burdens through problem solving, innovation and knowledge sharing.

As mentioned in the letter from the SD, the purpose of this publication is to increase awareness and understanding of the value and impact of research in these areas; highlight the effectiveness of different research methodologies from different CIHR research themes (biomedical, clinical, health services, population health) in achieving impact; and document and celebrate the legacy of both CAN and CIHR-IMHA as Canadian research funding agencies.

This collection of stories highlights the significant impacts health research can achieve. Although each is different, as a group, they exemplify the commitment of Canadian researchers to improving the health of Canadians. Research findings that are not widely known or applied, however, remain academic. This publication is a step toward wider knowledge and application of research results in the area of musculoskeletal health and arthritis. By effectively communicating these and future research stories, CIHR-IMHA and CAN are helping to ensure that investments in health research ultimately benefit Canadians and strengthen Canada’s health-care system.

We are delighted to share these stories with you and encourage you to share them with your colleagues.

Partner Corner

Cochrane Corner

New Cochrane Reviews from the Musculoskeletal Group

New Cochrane Reviews from the Cochrane Back Review Group

New Cochrane Reviews from the Oral Health Group

Check out the IMHA Cochrane Corner where you will find reviews from the following Cochrane groups:

Citizen Engagement in Health

A short video clip of a few of the citizen engagement strategy workshop participants weighing in on why citizen and patient engagement are important in health research.

Stay up to date on what partner organizations are up to:

Arthritis Research Centre of Canada

Arthritis Research Centre of Canada summer newsletter – written by patients/consumers

Successful workshop on "Careers in academic dentistry"

A successful workshop on "Careers in academic dentistry" was held in London June 10-11, with active participation of trainees and faculty from 9 of 10 Canadian Faculties of Dentistry and livestream video broadcast. Sponsored by IMHA-funded "Network for Canadian Oral Health Research".

Share your news with the IMHA community

Do you have a story that has helped sustain health and enhance quality of life by eradicating the pain, suffering and disability caused by arthritis, musculoskeletal, oral and skin conditions? Are you planning an event that might be of interest to the IMHA community? Is your organization launching a funding opportunity? IMHA would like to celebrate our partners' and stakeholders' success stories, events, and funding opportunities in our monthly newsletter. Please make your submissions to IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca. We look forward to sharing you information with the IMHA community!

Meetings of Interest

21st Cochrane Colloquium
September 19-23, 2013
Quebec, QC

11th World Congress on inflammation
September 21-25, 2013
Natal RN, Brazil

Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation Symposium
September 27-28, 2013
Toronto, ON

2013 Arthritis Alliance of Canada Conference (save the date)
November 21-23, 2013
Ottawa, ON

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