Research Priorities
ICRH Research Priorities 2006-2010ICRH Research Priorities 2001-2006
The mission of the ICRH is to support research into the causes, mechanisms, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions associated with the heart, lung, brain (stroke), blood vessels, blood, critical and intensive care, and sleep.
The vision of the ICRH is to achieve international leadership by fostering an environment of openness, excitement, energy, commitment and excellence in highly ethical partnered initiatives focused on research, research training, and research translation in the circulatory and respiratory sciences, for the betterment of the health of Canadians.
In addition, ICRH embraces a range of research from fundamental bio-medical and clinical research, to research on health systems, health services, the health of populations, societal and cultural dimensions of health and environmental influences on health.
The Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory health along with its Advisory Board members has identified a number of research priorities to improve circulatory and respiratory health of Canadians:
- Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Complications
- Technology for diagnostic and therapeutic advances, including imaging technologies for early detection of disease
- Psychological, social, behavioral and environmental determinants of at risk behaviour for chronic disease, and means of effective interventions
- Sleep: circadian impact on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, metabolism and obesity, and means of diagnosis, treatment and prevention
- Biomarkers for chronic disease, including genetic, proteomic and phenotypic markers for prevention, diagnosis and guidance for therapy
- Aging and the cardiorespiratory system: changing epidemiology, physiology and means to healthy aging and disease prevention
- Injury repair and inflammation: mechanisms leading to the development of chronic diseases and their potential prevention
- Transplantation-regeneration-cell based therapies to effect cure rather than palliation, including relevant bioethics aspect
Priority Announcements July 2007: (Bridge Funding)
Research Related to CIHR Institute Mission:
Upon completion of peer review, representatives of each CIHR Institute will receive a randomized list of applications for which the Institute was selected as primary (and where indicated, secondary) Institute under "Suggested Institutes" on the "Project Descriptors" page of the ResearchNet application. The randomized list will include anonymized titles, project summaries and peer review committee recommendations on funding levels. These applications will be funded from the top down in order of ranking as far as budgets will allow. Applications that receive a rating below 3.5 will not be funded.
Peer review committees will not be informed of applications submitted for funding through this announcement.
ICRH Training Initiatives
Young Investigators (YI) Forum is held on an annual basis with the purpose of supporting young researchers from the circulatory-respiratory community (including researchers studying blood, sleep, stroke, critical and intensive care) by offering them the opportunity to deliver scientific presentations, to learn about current circulatory and respiratory research activity, and to interact and share ideas with many colleagues and mentors.
National Frameworks
The National Lung Health Framework - The vision is to advance lung health for Canadians through policy leadership, innovation, research and education.
The Canadian Heart Health Strategy and Action Plan (CHHS-AP)
The purpose of the CHHS-AP is to develop a pan-Canadian implementable strategy to reduce the growing burden and loss due to cardiovascular disease in Canada.
Knowledge Translation and Community Engagement
CIHR defines knowledge translation as the exchange, synthesis and ethically-sound application of knowledge - within a complex system of interactions among researchers and users - to accelerate the capture of the benefits of research for Canadians through improved health, more effective services and products, and a strengthened health care system.
ICRH is committed to integrating KT across all of its programs and activities. We have also developed tools to create a common understanding and establish networks for knowledge exchange amongst and between researchers and relevant stakeholders such as policymakers, clinicians, and patients. Within this overall vision, our community engagement efforts will involve hosting events, such as Town Hall meetings and Café Scientifiques, which will bring together our research communities with the general public.
CIHR Clinical Research Initiative
The CIHR Clinical Research Initiative (CRI) is designated as one of CIHR's top strategic priorities. Through CRI, CIHR is strengthening Clinical Research in Canada in order to accelerate the translation of clinical research discoveries into improved and cost-effective approaches to maintaining health and treating illness, and to provide evidence for sound health policies and an efficient health care system. CRI promotes investments in clinician-researchers, clinical research resources, clinical research networks that can rapidly conduct high-quality clinical and translational research studies, and the operating costs of clinical research. CRI is also reviewing its existing investments to ensure they are most effectively and strategically deployed.