Strategic Training Initiatives in Health Research (STIHR)

Alberta Provincial CIHR Training Program in Bone and Joint Health

Director: Dr. Ron Zernicke, Faculties of Kinesiology, Medicine and Engineering.
University of Calgary
Co-Director: Dr. Michele Crites Battié, Faculties of Rehabilitation Medicine, Medicine and Dentistry, and Engineering, University of Alberta
Website: boneandjoint-training.ca

The aim of the Alberta Provincial CIHR Training Program in Bone and Joint Health is to develop a new generation of health professional (clinician) scientists in transdisciplinary bone and joint health, emphasizing osteoarthritis, common spinal disorders and joint injuries, which will be facilitated by the coordinated strengths of the University of Calgary, University of Alberta, and Calgary and Capital (Edmonton) Health Regions.

The Major Objectives of the Training Program are as follows:

1. Establish and build a University of Calgary/University of Alberta transdisciplinary health professional (clinician) scientist graduate training program in bone and joint health.
2. Expand in-depth research training for health professional (clinician) scientists across the range of research disciplines and methodological approaches to bone and joint health - spanning basic biomedical science to population research.
3. Increase the number of highly qualified health professional (clinician) scientists in bone and joint health.
4. Develop an integrated transdisciplinary curriculum in bone and joint health that may serve as a model to benefit programs across Canada.
5. Expose Canadian or international trainees to unique inter-university experiences and strengths.
6. Cultivate professional and personal skills of trainees - including written and oral communication to scientific peers as well as the general public, working in research teams and leadership development.

Throughout Canada and North America is there a dire shortage of highly qualified clinician and non-clinician scientists in bone and joint health. With expanding bone and joint health research programs, impending retirements of the baby-boom cohort of university of faculty, and the emphasis on transdisciplinary research, it is imperative to train the next generation of bone and joint health professionals.

The Faculties of Medicine, Kinesiology and Engineering at the University of Calgary, and the Faculties of Rehabilitation Medicine, Medicine and Dentistry, and Engineering at the University of Alberta have complementary and transdisciplinary expertise that spans the four pillars of CIHR, which will build on and benefit from past experiences of the coordinated MSc and PhD biomedical engineering program. The Bone and Joint Health training program offers a curriculum and joint courses with the UC/UA via the Internet and videoconferencing.

The Alberta Provincial CIHR Training Program in Bone and Joint Health has partnerships with The Institute for Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, The Arthritis Society, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Calgary and Capital (Edmonton) Health Regions, McCaig Professorship for Joint Injury and Arthritis Research, Woods Professorship in Joint Injury and Réseau Provincial de Recherche en Adaptation-Réadaptation (REPAR). In addition, the two universities have combined 35 to 40 faculty members who are an outstanding resource for mentoring the bone and joint program's trainees.