IAB Minute Highlights - October 2010 - Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
[ PDF (142 KB) ]INMD Institute Advisory Board Meeting Highlights
St. John's Newfoundland, October 5-6, 2010
The Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes (INMD) held their 30th Institute Advisory Board (IAB) Meeting in St. John's Newfoundland.
Guest observers at the IAB meeting
Cathleen Morrison – Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- Aida Fernandes - Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- Linda Piazza – Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Speakers
IAB Board member Aleck Ostry delivered a compelling lecture: Climate Change and Food Security in British Columbia
- Incoming IAB member Guang Sun delivered a fascinating lecture entitled: The genetic, nutritional, and molecular basis of human obesity: findings from Newfoundland studies.
Activity Report
P. Sherman reviewed activities that INMD have planned or participated in, including:
- An INMD Café Scientifique scheduled for the evening after the IAB meeting to be held on October 7, 2010 at the Fluvarium in St. John's, "Vitamin D: Hope or Hype?" Speakers include: Stephanie Atkinson (McMaster University), Stephanie Kaiser (Dalhousie University), and Christopher Kovacs (Memorial University), with P. Sherman moderating the discussion. This is a Knowledge Translation event that will be filmed by Rogers Television in St. John's.
- Activities related to the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada:
- A joint CIHR INMD-ICRH (Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health) Workshop was held in January 2010, Developing a Research Agenda to Support Sodium Reduction in Canada.
- The Report of the Sodium Working Group was released in July, 2010 Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada. The CIHR Workshop provided a basis for the Research Recommendations in the Strategy, and several of the research recommendations identify CIHR as playing a leading role in terms of implementation.
- INMD contributed to a CIHR Journalist Workshop on Sodium and Health in Toronto in May 2010.
- INMD has launched a Priority Announcement to stimulate research to support sodium reduction and talks are ongoing with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to discuss potential joint NSERC-CIHR research funding opportunities, to support research that addresses food science and technology related to health.
- INMD is co-leading, with the Institute of Genetics, a Rare Diseases initiative (approx. $14M initiative). The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a partner on this CIHR initiative.
- A 2-day meeting was convened in Surrey, B.C. between researchers in Canada and India related to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). There are high rates of coronary heart disease in young Indian males. There are also high rates of diabetes and CVD, and dietary issues play a key role. Inter-cultural research possibilities were highlighted.
Strategic Investment process
Updated slides on the CIHR Strategic Investment Process and the revised and approved definitions for the three levels of strategic initiatives were discussed.
Food and Health Research Priorities Workshop
The draft agenda for the upcoming INMD workshop, Advancing Food and Health Research Priorities, was discussed. INMD has received support and contributions from other partners, including Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Advanced Food and Materials Network, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Grand Challenges Canada, and other CIHR institutes (including: Genetics; Human Development, Child and Youth Health, and; Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addictions). The rationale for the partnership with Grand Challenges Canada for this workshop was outlined. The plenary session on Global Health at this Workshop will focus on nutrition and early cognitive development.
Bariatric Care Workshop
A draft agenda for the Bariatric Care Workshop scheduled for December, 2010 was presented. It was noted that the Canadian Obesity Network is a partner in organizing and presenting this Workshop, and that it is linked to the INMD Strategic Priority on Obesity and Healthy Body Weight: Seeking Solutions. This Workshop will be held in Montreal and approximately 40 people will be invited.
Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada
CIHR played in Chairing the Research Sub-Committee of the Sodium Working Group, and in convening a research workshop in January, 2010, Developing a Research Agenda to Support Sodium Reduction in Canada. This workshop that was co-led by INMD and the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH), and provided the basis of the research recommendations contained in the Report of the Sodium Working Group, Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada, which was released in July, 2010.
INMD has responded to this priority by supporting research on Sodium and Health through a priority announcement, focused on basic science (physiology and mechanisms), and has also supported an initiative launched by the Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), Programmatic Research in Population Health. In addition, INMD is working with NSERC to determine ways to support research that is related to health and food science.
The Global Alliance for Chronic Disease is developing a hypertension initiative that INMD would be involved in supporting. In addition, the World Health Organization and the Government of Canada are convening a workshop on sodium surveillance that will be held in Calgary, Alberta later in October. INMD has participated on the National Advisory Committee and P. Sherman will co-Chair a session at the Technical Meeting to be held in Calgary.
At the Annual Conference of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers of Health in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, September 14, 2010, sodium and childhood obesity were discussed. Ministers adopted the interim goal of reducing the sodium intake of Canadians to a population average of 2,300 mg per day by 2016. Ministers supported the implementation of voluntary targets, "including a monitoring mechanism and engaging in exploratory discussions on the role that regulatory instruments could play and under what conditions they could be used".
Peer Review
The IAB was advised about proposed changes in the CIHR Peer Review system, as outlined in CIHR's Strategic Plan, Health Research Roadmap: Creating innovative research for better health and health care. CIHR is working to strengthen peer review quality in each of the four health research pillars, and improve the breadth and quality of its review panels.
RFA Results
INMD-relevant funding announcements were presented. It was noted that INMD will be adding a link to the web site to more actively promote and disseminate INMD-relevant funding results.
Meeting, Planning and Dissemination Grants
Data from Meeting, Planning, and Dissemination Grants (MPD) awarded by INMD was presented, and trends over time were discussed. Such grants are driven by the research community from across the INMD mandate, and the success rate is high.
Institute Community Support (ICS) Program
The Institute Community Support Grant Program (ICS) program was discussed with the IAB. Some IAB members stated that they were not aware of this program. P. Sherman explained the program and encouraged IAB members to promote it, so that application pressure will increase.
IAB Reviewers Requested
The Rare Diseases initiative will be announced soon. INMD IAB members are needed to participate in the Letters of Intent review stage, together with members of the Institute of Genetics IAB. Several IAB members volunteered to review the Letters of Intent.
The Institute of Immunity and Infection (III) will be hosting a workshop on Transplantation that will include a strong inflammation component. This workshop topic will include cell transplantation. An IAB member will be requested to participate in the workshop.
Bridge Funding
The Spring 2010 Bridge Funding results were shared, as well as survey results. It was suggested that INMD use direct metrics to track bridge funding resulting in an Open Operating Grant (OOG). It was also suggested that similar data be gathered for all of the institutes. The majority of grants funded in the OOG are biomedical (pillar 1) and, as a result, Bridge Funding also largely supports pillar 1-related research. It was noted that the language used is important, since health services policy researchers do not have a culture of "keeping a laboratory going". Their research is more often project-based, although with team grants some people refer to them as a "lab". It was noted that a broader lens is required to articulate the concept of providing stability, either by supporting a laboratory or a team.
International Strategy Consultation
Background and context for CIHR's International Strategy Consultation were presented and discussed.
Overview of INMD Strategic Investments
An overview of INMD Strategic Investments was presented to the board.
Strategic Initiative Partnership Opportunities and the "The Buck Stops Here"- Which priorities can INMD meet through partnerships?
The seven Concept Papers that are moving forward to Business Cases within CIHR were presented for discussion by the IAB. The IAB then prioritized the business cases. Partnership opportunities related to the business cases were discussed.
The IAB members participated in an activity to consider each of the initiatives presented as concept papers. They were asked to allocate resources to indicate the level of support they would provide to the various initiatives. A matrix was then used to map INMD partnership opportunities (concept papers and other initiatives) against the new INMD Strategic Priorities with corresponding Strategic Objectives. The exercise was undertaken to provide guidance going forward.
International Review
The process for the International Review was discussed. P. Sherman and S. Atkinson will meet with the review panel on Feb 10th 2011, INMD-related researchers then will meet with the panel, and, finally, representatives from Voluntary Health Organizations. The International Review report will be presented to Governing Council (GC) in June, 2011.
Prizes and Awards
An example of prizes allocated through the ICS program of another Institute was shared with the IAB. Several IAB members expressed enthusiasm for awards. Some IAB members feel these awards provide incentive for trainees for a nominal amount of money. There was support for using ICS funds in this way, especially for trainees and junior faculty. The topic will be discussed at the next IAB meeting.
End of Grant Reporting
End-of-grant reporting soon will be a requirement of CIHR and an on-line tool has been developed. CIHR staff are working to make reporting simpler, and to make use of easily transferable data that are already required in the common CV.
Forward Planning
INMD IAB meetings scheduled for the future are:
February 2011: University of British Columbia, Vancouver
September 2011, University of Guelph, Ontario