IMHA On The Move - February 2011

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Table of Contents

A Message from the Scientific Director

Jane Aubin, Scientific Director

Although the shortest month of the year, February has been packed with important events for the IMHA community, such as a Café Scientifique on Vitamin D, the review of Institutes as part of CIHR's International Review, and ongoing evaluations of the outcomes and impacts of IMHA-funded programs. In another issue of the newsletter, we'll write more about IMHA's evaluation work and resulting reports.

We began the month with a Café Scientifique co-hosted by IMHA and the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD), entitled "Vitamin D: Hope or Hype?" In spite of the snowy weather in Toronto on February 2nd, 2011, we had a packed room of participants at the Café, which featured presentations from the three panelists pictured below, all of whom are experts in the field of Vitamin D. Following their presentations, there was a lively, interactive and very thought-provoking discussion of Vitamin D, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report "Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D" released in November 2010, the effects of Vitamin D on bone health as well as other areas of health, what we do and don't know about optimal levels of Vitamin D, and where additional research is needed. Everyone came away from the Café with new knowledge and insight into this important but controversial topic.

A week after the Café,IMHA and IMHA stakeholders met with an Expert Review Team as part of the second International Review of CIHR. We look forward to the comments from this team, and anticipate that the review will be tremendously helpful in providing suggestions for how IMHA can advance its mandate by enhancing its research and knowledge translation successes. Still to come is the International Review Panel meeting in March, 2011, during whichCIHR as a whole will be evaluated on its effectiveness in fulfilling its mandate; Expert Review Team reports will feed into this latter process.

Many of the diseases and conditions under IMHA's mandate affect a very large proportion of the Canadian population, but we cannot lose sight of the pain and suffering caused by the large number of rare diseases under our mandate. These include such conditions as fibrous dysplasia, osteogenesis imperfecta, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, oral-facial cleft, epidermolysis bullosa, subtypes of muscular dystrophy and many others. Rare Diseases Day 2011 will take place on February 28, 2011. Coordinated by EURORDIS, this day involves awareness-raising activities in more than 40 countries worldwide, including Canada. It is also important to note that understanding particular rare diseases often contributes to better understanding of common diseases, but diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases remain challenges, which has contributed to CIHR's Rare Diseases Funding Opportunity on which IMHA is a partner.

I wish all the best to the entireIMHA community, and I look forward to connecting again in March.

Jane E. Aubin, PhD, Scientific Director
Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Panelists Dr. Angela Cheung, Dr. Stephanie Atkinson, and Dr. Glenville Jones discussing Vitamin D at a Café Scientifique on February 2, 2011 in Toronto

Panelists Dr. Angela Cheung, Dr. Stephanie Atkinson,
and Dr. Glenville Jones discussing Vitamin D at
a Café Scientifique on February 2, 2011 in Toronto

Ask the Scientific Director

We invite you to send questions that you have about IMHA, to imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca. Each month, this section of the newsletter will feature the answer to one of these questions. This month, Dr. Jane Aubin will answer a question she is asked frequently by trainees and young investigators: How do you juggle your academic work with your role as a Scientific Director (SD)?

Why do both research and an administrative role?

  • I, like most academics, do research, mentoring and teaching because I am excited by discovery and its translation and want to see the next generation flourish
  • an administrative job such as my role as SD allows me to give back in other ways to the system that has supported me
  • my administrative jobs have allowed me to implement a vision about what I want to see happen, and ideas for how to make it happen in my academic and CIHR environments

How to juggle the two jobs

  • to juggle two roles successfully, you have to be committed to and enthusiastic about doing both and doing both well
  • you need to compartmentalize the activities
    • consciously protect time for each job, and be strict with time commitments
    • having separate offices devoted to each role can help compartmentalize the activities, especially when first starting out (I did this early on in my first administrative role)
    • don't obsess if deadlines for one of the roles consume more than half of your available time at particular times; accept this, prioritize what is urgent, and then "catch-up" on what has had to be delayed
  • accept that you will usually not be working 8 hour days
  • protect time for yourself and family; not only is this important for maintaining balance, but it also refreshes you to tackle the work
  • lastly, if one role or the other stops being fun or giving you a sense that you are making a difference, stop doing what you are not enjoying or doing well

Did You Know?

The IMHA Research Ambassadors (RAs) are a panel of non-scientist consumers identified by health charities relevant to IMHA. The RAs are members of the Knowledge Exchange Task Force, which is chaired by Dr. Erna Snelgrove-Clarke, chair of the IMHA Partnership and Knowledge Translation Committee and member of the IMHA Advisory Board. Please visit the CIHR website for the list of both current and past RAs.

Good News Stories

Rheumatology teaching team wins 2010 Award for Excellence in Interprofessional Education Teaching
The College of Health Disciplines at the University of British Columbia (UBC) chose the Interprofessional Rheumatology Teaching Team as the winner of the 2010 Award for Excellence in Interprofessional Education Teaching. This award recognizes an outstanding individual or team that demonstrates effective teaching of interprofessional competencies to students from different health care professions to support excellence in the delivery of patient-centred care. The winning – and truly multidisciplinary - team includes Drs. Catherine Backman (OT, UBC and Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC)) and Linda Li (PT, UBC and ARC; IMHA Partnerships and Knowledge Translation Committee member), as well as Gerry Oleman (representative from the Indian Residential School Survivors Society), Logan Graham (a young person with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Children's Arthritis Foundation), Pam Sherwin (Logan's mother, Children's Arthritis Foundation, and IMHA Partnerships and Knowledge Translation Committee member), Iris Davidson (PT, Mary Pack Arthritis Program & BC Children's Hospital), Heather Best (OT, MPAP & BCCH), Jenny Tekano (Nurse, BCCH), Danielle Eccles (Social Worker, BCCH), and Dr. Lori Tucker (Rheumatologist, BCCH). Beginning in 2006, this team has been involved in teaching a 3-day, case-based interprofessional module to occupational therapy and physical therapy students in their final year of study. The module integrates a variety of perspectives, and is intended to enhance students' exposure to interprofessional practice and family-centred care.IMHA would like to extend our congratulations to the Interprofessional Rheumatology Teaching Team, and best wishes for future successes!

Other News

CIHR Partnership Award

The CIHR Partnership Award recognizes partnerships between organizations that bring together communities to create innovative research approaches, develop research agendas that respond to Canadians' health needs, and/or enhance knowledge translation. Presented at a special event of the winning organization, the Partnership Award includes a $25,000 one-year research grant to be used to advance research or knowledge translation activities of the partnership. The IMHA community has shown great success with this award in the past, such as in 2003 when The Arthritis Society was the winner, in 2008 when the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute was the winner, and in 2009 when the recipients were The Scleroderma Society of Canada and The Canadian Scleroderma Research Group. The deadline for nominations for this year's award is April 1, 2011. For more information, please visit the description of this award on the CIHR website.

CIHR Café Scientifique Blog

Information regarding CIHR Café Scientifique can now be found on a blog, Science on tap: Quench your interest. This is a great resource for finding out about upcoming Cafés, viewing reports and photos from past Cafés, and voicing your opinion through the comments section of each blog post. You can also join the CIHR Café Scientifique group on Facebook.

Upcoming CIHR Events

For information on upcoming Cafés, please visit the CIHR Café Scientifique website.

Meetings of Interest

GTA Rehab Network's Annual Best Practices Day (March 7, 2011). Toronto, ON. For more information about this conference, please visit the GTA Rehab Network website.

89th General Session & Exhibition of the IADR, 40th Annual Meeting of the AADR, and 35th Annual Meeting of the CADR (March 16-19, 2011). San Diego, California. For more details about this meeting, please visit the IADR website.

Canadian Pain Society Annual Conference (April 13-16, 2011). Niagra Falls, ON. For more details about this conference, please visit the Canadian Pain Society website.

3rd Joint Meeting of the European Calcified Tissue Society & the International Bone and Mineral Society (May 7-11, 2011). Athens, Greece. For more details about this meeting, please visit the conference website.

17th Annual Canadian Connective Tissue Conference (May 27-29, 2011). Montreal, QC. For more details about this conference, please visit the CCTC website.

Partner Corner

Justice Emmett Hall Memorial Foundation Student Essay Competition 2011

Students are invited to submit essays that address any topic in health services or health policy to the Justice Emmett Hall Memorial Foundation Student Essay Competition. The application deadline is March 25, 2011, and three prizes for students with exceptional essays are awarded annually. Details about this competition can be found on the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) website.

New Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines

On January 24, 2011, The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) released the new Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines. Based upon four years of research analysis, the guidelines state that children and youth require a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity per day, and adults and older adults require at least 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per week. The guidelines also encourage Canadians to increase their variety, intensity and duration of physical activity in order to achieve greater health benefits. For more information, please visit the CSEP webpage.

The Report on Pain

The Report on Pain, commissioned by the Canadian Pain Coalition, with support from Pfizer Canada Inc., was released on January 10, 2011. The report reveals that twenty-one percent of those living with chronic pain wait two years or more for diagnosis. Furthermore, only 54 percent of those who have a diagnosis have a treatment plan. For more information, please visit the Report Media Release.

The Arthritis Society/CAN Training Program

On February 8, 2011, The Arthritis Society announced that they will award $1 million to The Arthritis Society/CAN Training program over the next two years, thus continuing this program beyond the end of CAN government funding in 2012. The training program provides funds to graduate students, research fellows and research scholars to acquire experience in basic science, clinical research, product services and development, and industrial partnering.

The Arthritis Society Walk to Fight Arthritis

The 2011 Walk to Fight Arthritis will be held on May 15. In its inaugural year, The Walk drew thousands of enthusiastic participants to 17 locations across Canada and raised nearly $1 million for arthritis research and care. The next edition of The Walk promises to be even more successful, as it expands to 25 communities. "Everyone who takes part has a connection to arthritis. They're walking for a friend, a family member or themselves," says Tanya Henry, The Arthritis Society's Senior Manager of National Events. "It's especially gratifying to see the elation of people with arthritis when they cross that finish line." For more information and to register, please visit The Arthritis Society's website.

Canadian Space Agency Announcement of Opportunity

The Canadian Space Agency recently posted an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) under theCSA Grants & Contribution Program called "Flights for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST). This AO is a funding opportunity for research and training projects that require access to space for nanosatellites or sub-orbital flights, ground-based facilities or field sites on Earth to train highly qualified personnel. The application deadline is April 15, 2011 at 17:00 EDT. For more information, please visit the description of the AO on the Canadian Space Agency website.

Call for Success Stories

Do you have a story that has helped sustain health and enhance quality of life by eradicating the pain, suffering and disability caused by arthritis, musculoskeletal, oral and skin conditions? IMHA would like to celebrate our partners' success stories in our monthly newsletter. To nominate a success story, please submit a short essay (maximum 2,000 words) that describes the achievement and the rationale for its significance to IMHA at IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

IMHA Funding Opportunities

For information on current funding opportunities, please visit IMHA's Funding Opportunities

Team Grant: Bone Health

The funding opportunity Team Grant: Bone Health was launched on December 15, 2010 by IMHA in partnership with the Institute of Gender and Health (IGH). This grant is intended to encourage teams of researchers to undertake new, high priority research challenges in bone health. The Letter of Intent deadline is April 1, 2011. For more information, please visit the description of this funding opportunity on the CIHR website.

Fellowship: CANADA-HOPE Scholarship Program

The CANADA-HOPE Scholarship Program Fellowship Award (2011-2012) was launched on December 15, 2010. The intent of this program is to enhance international collaboration between researchers, with the long term objective of enabling promising scientists and clinicians from Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) to be exposed to excellent science, laboratories and training environments in Canada. The 2011-2012 Fellowship Award will focus on sub-continental South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and the application deadline is March 31, 2011. For more information, please visit the description of this funding opportunity on the CIHR website.

IMHA has a Priority Announcement on CIHR Knowledge Synthesis Grant: 2010-2011

Knowledge Synthesis Grants support teams of researchers and knowledge users to produce knowledge syntheses and scoping reviews that can then be used as evidence for decision-making and practice. IMHA's Priority Announcement will provide funding for applications that are relevant to the following priority areas: skin, muscle, oral health, rehabilitation, bone health, and arthritis. For more information, please visit the Knowledge Synthesis Grant: 2010-2011 funding opportunity and Musculoskeletal Health, Skin and Oral health (KMH) Priority Announcement.

Contact IMHA

CIHR - Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
Department of Molecular Genetics
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
The Banting Institute
100 College St., Room 207B
Toronto, ON, M5G 1L5
Tel: 416-978-4220
Email: IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Contact IMHA

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