A Health Research Roadmap for creating innovative research and applied knowledge

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A Health Research Roadmapfor creating innovative
research and applied knowledge
CIHRs Five Year Strategic Plan 2009-2014
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CIHR - Mission

• To excel, according to internationally
  accepted standards of scientific excellence in
  the creation of new knowledge
• and
• its translation into improved health for
  Canadians, more effective health services and
  products and a strengthened Canadian health care
  system

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CIHRs Proposed Strategic Directions and
alignment with ST Strategy

• Four strategic directions to address health
  challenges
• 1. Invest in World-Class Excellence
• 2. Set Health and Health System Research
  Priorities
• 3. Accelerate the Capture of Health and Economic
  Benefits of Health Research
• 4. Achieve Organizational Excellence, Foster a
  Culture of Ethics and Demonstrate Impact

• ST Strategy Principles

Promoting world-class excellence
Focusing on priorities Encouraging partnerships

• Enhancing accountability

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Strategic Direction 1 Invest in World-Class
Excellence

• Training, retaining and sustaining a healthy
  research foundation
• Selecting and sustaining research excellence
• Promoting interdisciplinary and international
  innovation

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Strategic Direction 1 Selecting and Sustaining
Research Excellence

• In the coming years, CIHR will continue to
  ensure that the expert peer review system is able
  to meet the knowledge requirements of health
  researchers across all four pillarsand to ensure
  that proposals from each pillar are evaluated
  with the same degree of rigor and fairness.
• The International Review of CIHR in 2005-06
  commented on the importance of expert peer review
  and expressed concern regarding the fatigue of
  peer reviewers and the need to evaluate the
  current system.
• Some committee members faced challenges with
  respect to time and expertise, especially when
  considering the high volume of applications and
  the increasing number of multi-disciplinary
  proposals.
• These concerns will be addressed through CIHRs
  modernization of programs and the expert peer
  review system.

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Facts and figures

• The Research Portfolio currently
• Handles over 6,500 grant applications per year
  for review
• Relies on the work of 123 review panels and over
  2,000 reviewers
• Reports unevenness in number of grants reviewed
  by each committee (between 3 and 60!)
• Carries out over 200 competitions a year

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Restructuring of Peer Review

• OBJECTIVE
• To design the best review process to capture the
  excellence in health research across its full
  spectrum
• First task is to ensure that we have the best
  peers
• NODAL POINT OF RESTRUCTURATION
• Creation of the CIHR College of Reviewers that
  would assemble peers with expertise across the
  full spectrum of health research.
• Chairs to play a central role in ensuring that
  peers with the expertise to cover the full
  mandate of their respective committee are
  recruited to the College

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Restructuring of Peer Review (contd)

• Required participation of seasoned researchers to
  the College
• Higher representation of peers from outside
  Canada
• Building a sense that to be part of the College
  is a recognition of status (privilege)
• Building a culture of if call upon you need to
  serve (duty)

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Restructuring of Peer Review (contd)

• Comprehensive program of training for new peers
• Systematic evaluation of peers performance
• Chairs would be asked to identify from the
  College the peers needed for their committee for
  a given competition taken into account the
  applications to be reviewed

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Re-engineering of strategic initiatives and
individual RFAs

• CIHR will ensure that future Strategic
  initiatives are
• Aligned (must have clear and measurable
  objectives that are aligned with strategic
  direction)
• Align with CIHRs and concerned Institutes
  strategic plans
• Address specific goals
• Achievable (must be capable of achieving
  identified impact)
• Have clear timelines, deliverables and built in
  performance indicators
• Have sufficient budget to ensure reasonable
  chance of success
• Be sustainable for as long it takes to reach
  stated objectives
• Be preceded by due diligence to ensure adequate
  application pressure
• Accountable (must be fair and transparent
  adhering to established legislation, policies and
  guidelines)

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Strategic Direction 2 Set health and health
system research priorities

• Promote patient-oriented research target
  science and technology innovations to improve
  health outcomes and health systems
• Support a high quality, accessible sustainable
  health care system
• Decrease health inequities in Aboriginal Peoples
  other vulnerable populations
• Promote health reduce the burden of chronic
  disease mental illness
• Prepare respond to existing emerging global
  threats to health

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Strategy on Patient-oriented Research

• Research involving human subjects from
  translational programs introducing new diagnostic
  methods, therapies and practices at the one end
  to evaluation of programs and policies through
  large interventional studies within health
  systems at the other end of the spectrum.

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Barriers to Clinical Translational Research
(Valleys of Death)
Valley 1
Valley 2
Clinical Practice Health Decision Making
Basic Biomedical Research
Clinical Science Knowledge
Translational Continuum
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Key premises

• Capitalize on Canadas existing strengths in
  patient and system-based research
• Take advantage of our universal health care
  system, administrative databases and electronic
  information systems to test ideas in
  observational studies
• Leverage partnerships to capitalize on expertise
  in systematic reviews
• Implement strategies that facilitate coordination
  between governments, funders and charities
• Maintain the highest operational and ethical
  standards

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What the Strategy is set to achieve

• Involve all stakeholders (federal and provincial
  governments, public and private sectors, etc.) in
  a common enterprise
• Develop infrastructure and processes for better
  integration of research and care
• Set up mechanisms to better train and mentor
  health professionals engaged in research through
  the creation of sustainable career paths
• Develop and disseminate nation-wide standard
  operating clinical research procedures,
  standardized contracting practices and
  streamlined ethical review processes
• Create patient-oriented research networks to
  develop and conduct multicentre research studies.
  
• Increase financial support for publicly funded
  clinical trials