Pre-advertisement for International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership (ICIHRP) on Chronic Diseases - Request For Application (RFA)

National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Health Research Council of New Zealand

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) in 2002 established a tripartite partnership to jointly invest in research that would contribute to improved health outcomes and a reduction in health inequalities for Indigenous people in each of the partner countries.

Advance notification is being given to allow potential applicants the opportunity to consult properly with potential research partners and participants about proposals they may wish to submit. The RFA will invite applications that have engaged community participation for research which aims to contribute to a reduction in chronic disease in Indigenous populations.

Chronic disease was selected as the theme for the research to be funded because of the significant impact of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes on morbidity and mortality in Indigenous populations. The burden of chronic disease makes a significant contribution to the observed inequalities in health between Indigenous people and the general population.

The Request for Application will seek proposals from multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and multi-sectoral research teams working in collaboration and involving all three of the partner countries (Australia, Canada and New Zealand).

Each country has committed indicative funding of a total of $5 million over 5 years to the RFA.

The RFA for proposals will be a three-stage process with a Registration followed by an Expression of Interest (Letter of Intent) stage preceding a full Application stage. In the case of proposals with leads in Canada or New Zealand, proposal development funds will be available to develop successful EOIs into full applications.

The ICIHRP documentation, including the RFA document, expression of interest form, full application form and guidelines for applicants will be posted on the CIHR, HRC and NHMRC's websites in February 2009. Individuals or organizations interested in making an application in response to the RFA can register their details by emailing ahaggie@hrc.govt.nz.