Expedited Knowledge Synthesis Funding Opportunities

Past Funding Opportunities

2011-12 (201202EKT)

This funding opportunity supports Qualified Evidence on Tap Research Teams to conduct expedited knowledge syntheses related to Suicide Prevention research. It is expected that this targeted investment will support the use of synthesized evidence in decision-making by Health Policy makers, research funders, and other stakeholders, increasing linkages between researchers and knowledge-users.

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Applications were sought for knowledge syntheses grants that will underpin the future development of interventions related to suicide prevention. These syntheses should summarize the empirical evidence related to the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions. The specific synthesis questions were:
What is known about the effectiveness of:

  • School-based approaches to suicide prevention;
  • Community-based approaches to suicide prevention;
  • The active role that media (e.g., print, television, Internet) can play in preventing suicide;
  • Interventions that target populations at especially high risk for suicide (e.g., sexual minority youth, those with mental health and substance use disorders, Aboriginal peoples, the elderly, incarcerated people, military, police and emergency responders);
  • Gender appropriate ways to recognize emotional distress and to intervene early in the lives of boys and men.

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2011-2012 (201201ETR)

This funding opportunity supports teams of researchers to conduct expedited knowledge syntheses related to the priority areas of the Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal signature initiative. This targeted investment supports the use of synthesized evidence in decision-making by ministries of health as well as CIHR's Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal Working Group. This program also aims to increase linkages between researchers and knowledge-users.

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The EIHR initiative funded Expedited Knowledge Syntheses that advance the current state of knowledge and contribute to evidence-informed decision-making on the financing, sustainability and governance of Canada's healthcare systems.
The specific synthesis questions funded were:

  • Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement in the Context of Primary Health Care Reform: A Systematic Review and Expedited Knowledge Synthesis
  • Appropriateness of Imaging Use in Canada: A Systematic Review
  • Physician leadership and engagement for health system improvement and accountability
  • Improving Obesity Outcomes Using Demand Side Interventions in Canada
  • Adapter l'organisation des services de santé à la réalité du vieillissement de la population : enjeux et stratégies de mise en oeuvre dans un contexte de transformation des services de première ligne
  • Governing the Use of Genetic Tests and Technologies
  • Supporting Integrated Chronic Disease Management

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2010-2011 (201101ETP)

This funding opportunity supports a Qualified Evidence on Tap Research Team to conduct an expedited knowledge synthesis related to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research. The Research Team had four months to complete their synthesis and presented the results of their synthesis to the Scientific Expert Working Group and assisted the group in the interpretation and contextualization of the findings.

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The review to support the work of the Scientific Expert Working Group focused on both diagnostic and therapeutic issues related to the proposed CCSVI condition in MS patients.
The systematic review questions for this funding opportunity were:

  • What is the prevalence of extracranial venous malformation in individuals with MS compared to individuals without MS?
  • What is the prevalence of abnormal cerebral venous drainage in individuals with MS compared to individuals without MS?
  • What is the evidence that abnormal variation in extracranial venous anatomy is linked to abnormal cerebral venous drainage?
  • What is the association between extracranial venous malformations and abnormal cerebral venous drainage with clinical outcomes of MS?
  •  What is the evidence regarding the reliability and validity of non-invasive testing to identify extracranial venous malformations and abnormal cerebral venous drainage (e.g. ultrasound, MR venography)?
  • What is the evidence of the safety and efficacy of venoplasty of extracranial venous malformations to improve cerebral venous outflow?
  • What is the evidence of the safety and efficacy of re-intervention for vein thrombosis (or restenosis) following venoplasty with or without concomitant stent placement (with respect to MS clinical outcomes, patency outcomes (for MS and general population), and other harms)?

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2008-2009 (200907ETP/200911ETP)

This funding opportunity was launched during the pilot phase of the program and supported teams of researchers to conduct expedited knowledge syntheses on topics identified by decision makers in the health ministries of three participating pilot provinces: New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan. All eligible CIHR researchers could apply (not just those from the three pilot provinces). It was expected that this targeted investment would support the use of synthesized evidence in decision-making in each of the three provinces and increased linkages between researchers and decision makers.

More information and final reports

CIHR worked together with decision makers from each of the three pilot provinces to identify priority synthesis topics and the following were funded: (final reports posted where available)

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