IMHA On The Move - April 2012

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Message from the Interim Scientific Director

Dr. Philip Gardiner

Welcome to the April edition of IMHA - On The Move!

April is Oral Health Month. Within Oral Health Month is Dental Hygienist Week (April 8-14) which is an annual event dedicated to heightened awareness about preventive oral health care, and to help Canadians understand the role and importance of the dental hygiene profession. Oral health is an important part of overall health, and is one of the 6 IMHA research focus areas.

At our March Board Meeting, the Chief Dental Officer Dr. Peter Cooney gave a very informative presentation on the state of oral health in Canada. Although the Canadian population has fairly good oral health he clearly highlighted significant gaps and research priorities. There is still a need for continued work on access for vulnerable groups, health promotion / disease prevention, and on oral health disparities research.

IMHA recently published a report - Outcomes of the Seed Grant: Disparities in Oral Health (DOH). IMHA created this Seed Grant program based on the recommendations of two IMHA-supported consultation workshops. Those recommendations included building capacity for research and knowledge translation to help reduce disparities in oral health care within Canadian vulnerable populations. CIHR/IMHA's processes were successful in meeting program objectives, i.e., identifying and strategically funding four highly relevant disparities in oral health research projects directed to health services/systems or social-cultural-environmental/population health research. Together, the four research projects targeted disparities in oral health care in several vulnerable Canadian populations including seniors, aboriginal populations, low-income families/ individuals and the working poor. Overall, an investment of only $463,275 in the four DOH teams leveraged multi-million dollar additional investments and successfully seeded new projects directed to research, training, and knowledge translation activities aimed at reducing disparities in oral health care in Canada.

In funding news, a number of new funding opportunities have recently been launched; among them, the Community Outreach Program for Non-Governmental Organizations. This initiative aims to develop health research-oriented communications with Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit, and community-based organizations. The application deadline for this competition is April 30, 2012.

As always, IMHA welcomes your comments and questions. Please feel free to contact us at imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca.

Phillip Gardiner PhD, Interim Scientific Director
Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Oral Health Month

April is Oral Health Month! Oral Health Month is a time to learn more about the importance of oral health care, especially in relation to its importance to overall health.

What is National Dental Hygienists Week™?

National Dental Hygienists Week™ is an annual event dedicated to heightened awareness about preventive oral health care, and to help Canadians understand the role and importance of the dental hygiene profession.

Every year in the month of April, dental hygienists in every province and territory will be marking National Dental Hygienists Week™ in diverse and creative ways. National Dental Hygienists Week™ activities are most often community outreach events, and often include contests, classroom presentations, mall displays, tours of dental offices, and much more!

National Dental Hygienists Week™ is a perfect time to remember that a healthy mouth is much more than a great smile. Regular brushing and flossing, a healthy diet, and visits to your dental hygienist contribute to a lifetime of talking, eating and smiling.

Did You Know?

Did you know that according to the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey, only 38.6% of people between the ages of 60-79 have private dental insurance compared to 67.5% of people 6-59? Older adults (60-79) are a vulnerable population, as they have higher rates of oral health issues and are less likely to have dental insurance. In the overall population, 1 out of 3 Canadians has a need for oral health care and 1 out of 6 say they cannot address this need because of financial reasons.

Partner Corner

The Arthritis Society's Walk to Fight Arthritis

Join us on June 10, 2012 across Canada* for The Arthritis Society's Walk to Fight Arthritis presented by the makers of TYLENOL® and help create a future without arthritis.

Each year, thousands of people across Canada come together to participate. Walk participants take steps to fight against the disease that affects the lives of nearly 4.5 million Canadians every day. An event filled with inspiration, the Walk brings help and hope to those living with arthritis.

When you participate in the Walk to Fight Arthritis, you become part of a community looking to achieve better health and change lives at the same time. We hope to see you there!

* May 27, 2012 in Montreal; June 3, 2012 in Saskatoon

Canadian Skin Patient Alliance

Last month, IMHA highlighted the newly released report from the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance (CSPA) Skin Deep: Report Card on Access to Dermatological Care and Treatment in Canada 2012 which has recently been receiving a great deal of media attention. The report was written to inform Canadians and to provide policy-makers and influencers with the facts they need to help improve access to effective care for skin patients. Watch the TV interview with Allan Stordy, President of the CSPA and consumer representative on the IMHA advisory board.

18th Annual Canadian Connective Tissue Conference

The 18th Annual Canadian Connective Tissue Conference (CCTC) is being held June 8-10, 2012 at the University of Toronto. It will consist of three days of keynotes, oral presentations and poster sessions. This year's programme contains the following scientific sessions:

  • Connective Tissue in Disease ‐ Clinical and Fundamental Aspects
  • Stem Cells in Tissue Regeneration and Engineering
  • Biomechanics, Mechanobiology, and Biomaterials
  • Connective Tissue Remodelling
  • The Extracellular Matrix in Connective Tissues
  • Bone, Cartilage and Tooth Development
  • Cellular Interactions Between Connective Tissue and Other Tissues

Early registration at reduced fees will end on April, 15, 2012.

Other News

Public Education gets much-needed emphasis

In February, The Arthritis Research Foundation invited IMHA to develop a story for their annual arthritis awareness spread in the National Post. Below is the article written by the National Post based on interviews with Dr. Phil Gardiner (Interim Scientific Director IMHA) and Nadia Prestley (IMHA Research Ambassador) about knowledge translation and arthritis.

The Internet has fast become the go-to source for everything from pricing your next vacation to planning tonight's meal. It is also increasingly among the first places people turn for medical information.

"It's never been easier to find information," says Dr. Phillip Gardiner, scientific director of the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) from his office at the University of Manitoba. "There are a lot of websites patients of arthritis or any disease can turn to, but many of them are not scientifically sound. That's the irony. Recognizing that knowledge is power and that millions of Canadians affected by arthritis want and need good information to help them live healthier lives, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the federal agency that funds health research, has made knowledge translation part of its mandate. In fact, additional funding to enable widespread dissemination and implementation of research findings is often available to researchers who apply for it.

"This focus has been ramping up since 2004," Dr. Gardiner says. "At IMHA we created a group of research ambassadors who are non-scientist consumers (patients, advocates, for example) and they expedite the dissemination of research findings by sharing them with their respective organizations and communities. They also ensure that IMHA and the research community are aware of consumer concerns and the importance of being involved in the research process.

In 2009, IMHA introduced the Research Ambassadors Knowledge Translation Award, which is a monetary prize given to the Institute relevant researcher who writes the best lay abstract explaining their research as judged by IMHA's research ambassadors.

Nadia Prestley of Langley, B.C., is one of those research ambassadors and she serves on the Knowledge Exchange Task Force. Although Nadia struggled for years with pain and exhaustion she did not recognize the connection to rheumatoid arthritis. Gradually her condition worsened and daily activities that most people take for granted; getting dressed, bathing, driving a vehicle, making meals, and writing became major obstacles.

Eventually she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and one of the first things she did when she got that diagnosis was go on the Internet.

"I found so much conflicting information, and spent so much time sifting through websites and trying to decipher scientific articles that were often too difficult to understand. As a former educator, I believe that people will be empowered if they have access to research findings they can understand. I was honored to join the Knowledge Exchange Task Force as a research ambassador to help reduce the gap between research evidence and utilization of this evidence. Educated patients are able to collaborate with their doctors in making well-informed decisions about their care."

"General practitioners are sometimes unaware of the latest research findings, so empowering the patient can have a trickle-down effect."

Share your news with the IMHA community

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? Are you planning an event that might be of interest to the IMHA community? Is your organization launching a funding opportunity? IMHA would like to celebrate our partners' and stakeholders' success stories, events, and funding opportunities in our monthly newsletter. Please make your submissions to imha.iala.cihr.irsc@utoronto.ca. We look forward to sharing you information with the IMHA community!

Funding Opportunities

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

Community Outreach Program for Non-Governmental Organizations
This initiative aims to develop health research-oriented communications with Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit, and community-based organizations. Led by IMHA, this initiative will award grants of up to $10,000 each (including GST) for successful proposals in areas relevant to IMHA's mandate. Particularly welcome are proposals that respond to one or all of our three strategic research priorities: 1) Physical Activity, Mobility and Health; 2) Tissue Injury, Repair and Replacement; and; 3) Pain Disability and Chronic Diseases.
Specifically, this program intends:

  • To foster partnership and strengthen IMHA's stakeholder community;
  • To identify innovative approaches to communicating the importance of health research related to IMHA's mandate;
  • To target specific audiences/communities that will benefit from being better informed about CIHR and IMHA initiatives.

The application deadline for this competition is April 30, 2012.

Team Grant: Community-Based Primary Healthcare (CBPH) (The Transformative Community-based Primary Healthcare Initiative)
CBPHC covers the broad range of primary prevention (including public health) and primary care services within the community, including health promotion and disease prevention; the diagnosis, treatment, and management of chronic and episodic illness; rehabilitation support; and end of life care. Within Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in CBPHC and Access to Appropriate CBPHC for Vulnerable Populations, CIHR and its partners will provide funding for teams examining the optimization of outcomes in CBPHC in specific subpopulations including persons with musculoskeletal, skin and/or oral conditions. The application deadline for this competition is May 1, 2012.

China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative
The program, established in 2005, is jointly managed and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Its aim is to promote the development of Canadian-Chinese scientific co-operation between universities, hospitals, research institutes or affiliated research organizations in Canada and China through the support of collaborative research grants. Funds are available for applications that are determined to be relevant to a number of focus areas including Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. The application deadline for this competition is May 15, 2012.

Priority Announcements

Priority Announcements offer additional sources of funding for highly rated applications that are relevant to specific CIHR research priority areas or mandates. In these competitions, CIHR-IMHA will provide funding for applications that are determined to be relevant to: Physical Activity, Mobility and Health; Tissue Injury, Repair and Replacement; Pain, Disability and Chronic Disease. The maximum amount awarded for a single grant is $25,000 per annum for up to one year. The application deadline for this competition is June 15, 2012.

Meetings of Interest

Osteoporosis Canada Spring Forum: "Building Strong Bones"
April 21, 2012
MN

Canadian Pain Summit
April 24, 2012
Ottawa, ON

Canadian Pain Society Annual Conference
May 23-26, 2012
Whistler, BC

Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Annual Conference
June 6-9, 2012
Québec City, QC

Canadian Connective Tissue Conference
June 8-10, 2012
Toronto, ON

2012 Canadian Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting
June 8-10, 2012
Ottawa, ON

IMHA Young Investigator Forum
June 10-12, 2012
King City, ON

Canadian Biomedical Engineering Conference
June 19-22, 2012
Halifax, NS

5th International Workshop on Advances in the Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics of Bone Disease
June 27-30
Oxford, UK

Canadian Dermatology Association 87th Annual Conference
June 28 - July 1, 2012
Ottawa, ON

The ASBMR 2 012 Topical Meeting, Bone and Skeletal Muscle Interactions
July 17-18, 2012
Kansas City, MO

2nd International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium 2012
September 27-29, 2012
Vancouver, BC
The abstract submission deadline is June 7, 2012.

Contact Us

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: 416-946-7243
Email: IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

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