Fellowship to provide researchers with health policy experience

Health researchers will have the opportunity to gain real world experience in health policy making, thanks to the new Science Policy Fellowships program created by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The fourth launch of the Science Policy Fellowships program offers a new series of policy assignments.

"Research is one component of the policy making process," says Dr. Ian Graham, former Vice-President of Knowledge Translation at CIHR. "By working together, researchers and policy makers can make sure that the right research is done and that the evidence is produced in a form that policy makers can use to make informed decisions."

This new program enables researchers from all areas of health to spend six months in a policy setting where they will work as part of a policy team. Researchers have the opportunity to work in a wide range of areas related to health, including food and drug regulation, health promotion and health system improvement. In addition to a number of policy assignments being offered at Health Canada, fellows can also to apply to work within the Public Health Agency of Canada.

"The CIHR Science Policy Fellowship was a unique opportunity to really step out of my academic setting and get a sense of what matters most in policy development” says Jason Millar, a Science Policy Fellow who recently completed his fellowship at Health Canada. “Working alongside the policy experts at Health Canada allowed me to translate my research into a meaningful health policy discussion. Because of the links existing between Health Canada and the Canadian healthcare industry, the Fellowship also gave me a better understanding of how to bridge the gap between research and innovation"...

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