ALBERTA HERITAGE FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH

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ALBERTA HERITAGE FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH
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AHFMR Investigator awards Information Session

• June 2009

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Agenda

• Context for the Fall 2009 competitions
• Business as usual
• Alberta Research and Innovation framework Bill
  27 and beyond
• AHFMR Investigators current situation
• Perspective on past competitions
• Looking forward Fall 2009 expectations
• Application and review processes

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AHFMR Mandate

• to establish and support a balanced long-term
  program of medical research based in Alberta
  directed to the discovery of new knowledge and
  the application of that knowledge to improve
  health and the quality of health services in
  Alberta.
• AHFMR Act

Dr. Ray Rajottes pioneering work in islet
transplantation 20 years ago led to todays
Edmonton Protocol Diabetes therapy
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AHFMR Portfolio 2009
Teams
DISCOVERY
HYRS
Communications
AHRP (REI RTI)
APPLICATION
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AHFMR Investigator Awards

• AHFMRs strategy of funding people (investigators
  and trainees) is its key current approach to
  investing in health research
• Desire to enrich AHFMR investigator awards led to
  new structural changes introduced in 2007 (cohort
  4 of transition process)
• Key policy change fixed amount of AHFMR
  contribution for Investigator Awards by category
  for duration of award
• Responsible financial management remains as key
  underlying principle of accountability, planning
  and decision making.

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AHFMR Grants Awards Funding Allocation 2008/2009
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AB Research and Innovation Act

• What does it mean for AHFMR?
• Regulations in place and proclamation of RI Act
  by Fall 2009
• Name change?
• Redesigned Board composition and governance model
• Opportunity for new strategic and business
  planning
• Potential impact on existing programs and
  activities

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Investigator awards program overview

• Overall objectives
• Broad capacity building in Alberta based on world
  class excellence in health research
• Continued support for demonstrated excellence and
  leadership in research
• 3 universities (now 4!)
• Over fifteen faculties
• Entry at different levels of experience, but
  always at beginning of Alberta appointment
• Key benefit
• AHFMR provides significant direct support to
  offset salary and benefit cost to ensure
  protection of time for research

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AHFMR Investigators current demographics

• 249 investigators (8 Programs)
• Average age 45 yrs old
• Average length of AHFMR support 7 years
• Ratio of 31 Male to Female
• Ratio of 31 PhD to MD
• Distributed through 15 Faculties in 4
  Universities, plus a provincial board (ACB)
• Support 4 broad areas of Biomedical, Clinical,
  Population Health and Health Services Research

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AHFMR Investigator Awards Success rates for New
Applicants
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AHFMR Investigator Awards Success rates for
Renewing Applicants
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AHFMR INVESTIGATOR AWARDS2009 ESTIMATES

• 129 applications received last year represented
  high-level mark. Expect more this year (130, 140,
  150.???)
• Key functions of the Committee
• to evaluate the proposals and provide AHFMR an
  assessment of the intrinsic quality of each
  proposal,
• to provide AHFMR with appropriate ranking order
  of the proposals in the competition
• CI, PHI and Scholar still remain key recruitment
  award categories (high proportion of the new
  awards).
• Plan moving forward is to continue to support
  excellence (number of Investigators will likely
  not increase)
• Anticipated overall maximum success rates for
• for new applications 20 to 25 ,
• for renewal applications 40 to 50.

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AHFMR Programs
Senior Investigator
800 PEOPLE SUPPORTED
Scientist
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR
Senior Scholar
Scholar
Population Health Investigator
Clinical Investigator
TRANSITION
Fellowship
TRAINING
Studentship
Summer Studentship
HYRS
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AHFMR Investigator Support Programs (2007)
7 YEARS

• MENTORED
• 75 TIME

• MENTORED
• 75 TIME

7 YEARS

• 75 TIME
• ASSOCIATE PROF.
• AB FIT/BENEFIT

7 YEARS

• 50 TIME
• FULL PROF.
• LEADERSHIP
• RENEWABLE

7 YEARS
2 YEARS

• gt10 yrs AHFMR INVESTIGATOR

SENIOR INVESTIGATOR
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Features of AHFMR Investigator Awards

• 7 year award
• Provides time protection for research
• Contribution towards direct investigator support
• 110,000/year for CI, PHI and Scholar
• 135,000/year for Senior Scholar
• 160,000/year for Scientist
• Research Prize
• Research Allowance
• Establishment Grant for investigators new to
  Alberta

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Investigator Awards Research Prize

• Research Prize is a direct compensation
  contribution
• CI, PHI, Scholar - 10,000
• Scholar (Renewal), Senior Scholar, Scientist -
  20,000
• Senior Investigator - 40,000.
• Intended to maintain and improve AHFMR
  Investigator Awards as a potent vehicle for the
  recruitment and retention of highly qualified,
  internationally competitive investigators.

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Investigator Awards Research Prize

• Paid by the institute to the investigator in the
  form of salary
• Automatically provided each year
• Can only be used for salary
• Cannot be used for direct research costs
• Its taxable

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Investigator Awards Research Allowance

• Research Allowance provided as a lump-sum grant
  at the commencement of the investigator award.
• Value of Research Allowance determined by the
  level of the AHFMR Investigator award
• CI, PHI (Renewal) - 15,000
• CI, PHI (New), Scholar - 35,000
• Senior Scholar, Scientist - 50,000
• Senior Investigator - 20,000.
• Research allowance may be applied against
  research-related expenses

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Investigator Awards Research Allowance

• May be used for the following (not inclusive)
• Equipment
• Materials and supplies
• Computer time, data acquisition, library
  resources
• Publication costs (including open access)
• Vivarium costs
• Salaries of trainees, research assistants and
  technicians
• Books, journals and society memberships
• Research-related travel.

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Investigator Awards Research Allowance

• Research allowance to be used over the term of
  the award
• Spend-rate is at the discretion of the
  investigator
• General approaches
• Emergency fund
• Obtain trainees early in career
• Pool with other AHFMR investigators to purchase
  major equipment or support core facilities
• Develop preliminary data for grant applications

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Investigator Awards Establishment Grant

• Establishment Grant provided to investigators new
  to Alberta
• Amount provided based on committee discussion,
  level of award, other funding
• Some reallocation allowed
• Two main components
• Operating Grant
• To be used over 3 years (CI and PHI or 2 years
  (all other award categories)
• Major Equipment
• To be used over one year

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Investigator Awards Establishment Grant
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Investigator Incentive Award

• Why?
• To encourage AHFMR investigators and their
  sponsoring institutions to apply for other
  sources of investigator support

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Investigator Incentive Award

• AHFMR investigators can hold other investigator
  awards such CIHR New Investigator, CRC
• Holding other awards allows you to hold the AHFMR
  Incentive Award
• Can be held at start of AHFMR award or can
  commence part-way through period of support
• Must provide AHFMR notification within 60 days
• Limited to competitive peer reviewed investigator
  awards
• If you are not sure, ask AHFMR

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Investigator Incentive Award

• If you receive another investigator award and are
  deemed eligible to receive the AHFMR Incentive
  award the following occurs
• AHFMR reduces the amount it provides for the
  investigator support by an equivalent amount
• Entire amount (up to value of the AHFMR
  contribution) returned to institution according
  to following
• 25 to institution (Office of the VP Academic and
  Provost)
• 35 to investigators dean
• 40 to investigator

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AHFMR Investigator Incentive Award

• AHFMR INVESTIGATOR
• AWARD PLUS EXTERNAL
• AWARD
• 110,000, MINUS value of
• 135,000, external award
• 160,000

• AHFMR INVESTIGATOR AWARD ONLY
• 110,000,
• 135,000, or
• 160,000

VALUE OF EXTERNAL AWARD
25
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Institutional Pool
Deans Incentive Pool
Investigator Allowance

• Offset salary and benefits

• Research support
• Operating
• Equipment/infrastructure
• Trainees
• Renovations
• Recruitment/relocation

• Research support
• Operating
• Equipment/infrastructure
• Trainees
• Knowledge translation

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AHFMR Senior Investigator

• Investigators who hold an AHFMR Investigator
  Award and have been supported for a minimum of 10
  years may request consideration for a Senior
  Investigator Award.
• Non-competitive review requires the candidate
  remains active in research and holds
  peer-reviewed competitive research funds.
• If this option is exercised, the candidate will
  no longer be eligible to apply for further AHFMR
  Independent Investigator support.
• Senior Investigator award consists of
• Direct contribution to the Institutional Pool,
• Research Prize valued at 40,000 per annum,
• Research Allowance of 20,000.
• Provided for a two year period.

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AHFMR Investigator Reporting

• Annual report
• On-going progress
• Administrative review
• Progress report (year 4)
• Launch or research development trajectory
• Peer-reviewed
• Decision point
• Final report
• Capturing value

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General Eligibility Issues

• Applications may be submitted to AHFMR
• before the appointment starts, or within 24
  months following the first academic appointment
  in Alberta
• Candidates must hold academic appointments not
  later than July 1 following the September
  competition in which the application was
  submitted.
• When does the clock start?
• Maximum of two applications at one award level

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General Eligibility Issues

• Academic positions
• Awards recipients must have attained the required
  faculty rank before an approved award will be
  implemented
• Peer reviewed grant funding
• having a CIHR grant (or equivalent) does not
  guarantee success
• must be in place for more experienced
  investigators AHFMR Scholars (former CI and
  PHIs), Senior Scholars and Scientists

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Investigator Award Peer-Review Process
July 3
Registration
September 15
Application Submission
Internal Review / External Review
Oct to Dec
Review Committee Meetings/SAC
January/February
Approval by AHFMR Board of Trustees
Early March
Competition Results Released
Mid March
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AHFMR Investigator Award Registration
Registration is MANDATORY by July 3, 2009
NO APPLICATION WITHOUT REGISTRATION
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Investigator Awards Advisory Committees
Clinician Investigator Advisory
Committee Population Health Investigator Advisory
Committee Scholarship Advisory Committee Senior
Scholarship Advisory Committee Health
Investigator Advisory Committee Scientific
Advisory Council (split?) Website
http//www.ahfmr.ab.ca/grants/committees.php
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Submitting an AHFMR Investigator Application

• Consult internally first
• make sure your Faculty/Department is willing to
  support you
• Ensure you are eligible for award of interest
• Try to assess how competitive you might be
  (consult with AHFMR and others)
• Be as competitive as possible
• publications, letters of reference, quality of
  project, etc.
• Meet with AHFMR staff if desired

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Strategic Considerations Application

• High demand for AHFMR Investigator Awards
• A strategic approach is required
• Strategies will depend on the level of
  recruitment
• Maximize the Start-up Support
• AHFMR will provide a significant establishment
  grant
• Expectation is that the university will also
  provide substantial support
• Ensure deans/department chair letter of support
  is detailed and supportive

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Strategic Considerations Application

• Quality control
• Leave yourself enough time to prepare a quality
  submission
• Do not submit your application without having
  subjected it to an internal and/or external
  review process
• Internal departmental/group
• Non-expert
• Expert external

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Integrity within the proposal

• Integrity refers to Accuracy, consistency and
  reliability of the information content.
• AHFMR wishes to alert applicants to the
  consequences of misrepresentation in this
  application, including misrepresentations of
  authorship, credentials or research support. In
  the event of material deviations of the
  information in this application from reference
  sources, including citation sources (in the case
  of authorship), issuing organization(s) (in the
  case of credentials), or granting agencies (in
  the case of research support), AHFMR reserves the
  right to disqualify the applicant from the
  competition in question.
• Quality Assurance of Grant Application
  Confirmation of Publication Records. L. Chan, K.
  Graham, P. Valentine and J. Magnan. (2009).
  International Congress on Peer Review and
  Biomedical Publication. Vancouver.

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Strategic Considerations Mentorship

• Mentors are required for CI, PHI and Scholars.
• Role of mentor(s) to actively foster early career
  development of investigator including research
  and institutional activities.
• Up to three mentors may be identified.
• Consider the mentorship plan

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Strategic Considerations Mentorship

• Mentors do not have to be from the candidates
  institute
• Should be chosen carefully
• Expectation mentor will play a meaningful role in
  the preparation of the application and general
  career issues
• Consider multiple mentors
• Academic mentor career and institutional
  advice
• Science mentor research advice

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The Reality of Peer Review?
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The Application Package

• Candidate
• Proposal
• Presentation
• .

Candidate
Presentation
Proposal
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AHFMR CI and PHI Awards

• Factors taken into account during review -
• Track record quality-
• Relevant research training, research/work
  experience, publications, grants.
• Potential -
• Not only to develop and sustain a competitive
  research program, but also to become a leader in
  the field.
• Quality of the Science -
• Originality and vision of their research
  proposal, feasibility and relevance.
• Resources -
• Individual and institutional commitment, adequacy
  and strength of mentoring.

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AHFMR Scholar Awards

• Factors taken into account during review -
• Track record quality-
• Relevant research training, research/work
  experience, publications, grants.
• Potential -
• Not only to develop and sustain a competitive
  research program, but also to become a leader in
  the field.
• Training
• Quality and number of trainees (if applicable).
• Quality of the Science -
• Originality and vision of their research
  proposal, feasibility and relevance.
• Resources -
• Individual and institutional commitment, adequacy
  and strength of mentoring.

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AHFMR Senior Scholar Awards

• Factors taken into account during review
• Track record quality- publications, grants,
  impact on the field.
• Training - quality and number of their trainees,
  developing career success of their trainees.
• Developing Leadership - recognition locally,
  nationally, internationally invited speaker,
  consultant and consulted, reviewer for
  prestigious journals, review articles.
• Quality of the Science - originality and vision
  of their research proposal relevance and
  importance of the research questions.

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AHFMR Scientist Awards

• Factors taken into account during review -
• Quality Track record publications (top
  journals, high rate, role), grants
  (peer-reviewed, ), patents, impact on the
  field, trajectory
• Contribution to Training - quality and number of
  their trainees, career success of their trainees
• Established leadership - recognition locally,
  nationally, internationally invited speaker,
  consultant and consulted, reviewer for
  prestigious journals, review articles
• Quality of the Science - originality and vision
  of their research proposal relevance and
  importance of the research questions.

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The Candidate

• Letter of Support Institution and References
• Common CV
• SECTION APP8 RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• The statement should highlight such items as
• Major research contributions
• Research priorities and directions of your
  research group, department or faculty
• Development of collaborative research and the
  promotion of health, applied or clinical
  research
• Achievements in technology commercialization and
• Achievements and career opportunities of your
  graduate students and postdoctoral fellows

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The Research Proposal
A balancing act for applicants
Expert reviewer
Non-expert reviewer
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The Research Proposal

• Not enough detail re methodology
• Too diffuse
• Too ambitious
• Projects are not related to one another in a
  logical fashion
• Did not discuss possible pitfalls
• Did not provide alternative approaches
• Not within primary area of expertise of applicant

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The Presentation

• Difficult to read /locate information
• Sloppy
• Difficult for non-expert to understand
• The abstract/summary page is very important. It
  is often the only part of the application read by
  all committee members.
• FOLLOW THE APPLICATION GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS

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AHFMR Rating Scale

• 4.5 to 4.9 Outstanding
• 4.0 to 4.4 Excellent
• 3.5 to 3.9 Very Good
• 3.0 to 3.4 Solid/Significant
• 2.5 to 2.9 Needs revision
• 2.0 to 2.4 Needs major revision
• 1.0 to 1.9 Seriously flawed
• 0 Unacceptable

TRIAGE!
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For additional information

• AHFMR website www.ahfmr.ab.ca
• E-mail
• pamela.valentine_at_ahfmr.ab.ca
• michelle.bailleux_at_ahfmr.ab.ca
• Telephone [phone]
• AHFMR Notifier

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We can't change the direction of the wind, but
can adjust our sails to reach our destination.