ICRH Knowledge Translation

Knowledge Translation (KT) is an integral component of the work of the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH).

ICRH is committed to supporting the members of its research community in adopting best practices in KT, as well as promoting innovative approaches in this field. Work is underway to ensure that KT planning and implementation can be integrated into every aspect of ICRH’s strategic and operational planning, policies and processes.

The KT activities at ICRH are guided by an Institute Advisory Board (IAB) KT Working Group, whose members include:

  • Dr. Yves Berthiaume, Department of Medicine, Respiratory Division, Université de Montréal;
  • Dr. James Dosman, Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture (CCHSA), University of Saskatchewan;
  • Dr. Ray Saginur, Ottawa Health Research Institute; and
  • Dr. Sylvie Stancheko, Public Health Agency of Canada.

The group is chaired by Kimberly M. Walker, Assistant Director of KT and Public Affairs at ICRH.

With the support of its research community, partners and key stakeholders, ICRH is establishing mechanisms for minimizing the gap between research evidence, clinical practice, and population actions, by promoting increased communication and interaction amongst these groups.

Additional KT activities that have been planned for ICRH include:

  • Developing initiatives which incorporate KT as a key element of the research process (e.g. KT workshops, KT relevance to research projects);
  • Supporting activities which facilitate KT and encourage evidence-based policy development (e.g. knowledge synthesis and action recommendations by expert groups, stakeholder interface workshops);
  • Strengthening communications with the Canadian public and influencing health care decision making within this context;
  • Creating mechanisms and tools to facilitate knowledge exchange and uptake of knowledge in the KT continuum; and
  • Working closely with Rx&D/Biotech Canada and their individual member companies on strategies in knowledge generation, translation and commercialization.

ICRH has created a strategic plan for the development and implementation of the KT related activities of the Institute. This plan links KT with communication activities and evaluation indicators.

The first year of KT at ICRH involved building a common understanding amongst its research community; this was facilitated by a pilot KT Workshop, which took place in October, 2007. Plans are underway for this initiative to be launched as a Summer Institute in future years.

KT tools are currently being developed centrally at CIHR and will include a KT Handbook and a KT Assessor peer review guide. Access to these resources will be made available to ICRH community members via the ICRH website and other communication vehicles.

Additionally, ICRH will be focusing increasingly on strengthening its community engagement initiatives, as well as developing networks to link researchers with other researchers, community, policymakers and other end users.

To date, ICRH has funded and partnered on a number of programs integrating KT activities into research, including the KT Strategies for Health Research (02/03) and (04/05) initiatives, the New Emerging Team (NET) grants, Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement (ICE) teams, as well as the Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training (KRESCENT) program.

ICRH-funded research and researchers have been recognized through the CIHR KT Awards, including Dr. Jack Tu and the Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team.

Please refer to the following link to review additional ICRH products relating to KT:

  • Knowledge Translation at CIHR’s Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health [ HTML | PPT (441 KB) | Help ]

ICRH-Funded KT Programs: