Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network: A Joint Partnership of CIHR and the CH.I.L.D. Foundation

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD) and the Children with Intestinal and Liver Disorders (CH.I.L.D) Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of a funding opportunity in support of the creation of a National Pediatric IBD Network and Data Platform.  The Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network: A Joint Partnership of CIHR and the CH.I.L.D. Foundation will contribute to the overall objective of increasing the probability of finding a cure and to improve quality care and health outcomes for this patient population.

Please visit the Funding Opportunities section of the CIHR website to access the full funding opportunity.

Funds available

The total amount currently available for this funding opportunity is $5 million over five years. A Development Grant of $15,000 is also available.

Important dates

Application stage	Date
Launch	April 12, 2012
Webinars	May 3, 2012
Application deadline (Letter of Intent)	June 4, 2012
Notice of decision (LOI Stage)	August 31, 2012
Application deadline (Full application)	December 3, 2012
Anticipated Notice of Decision	March 29, 2013
Funding Start Date	April 1, 2013

Frequently asked questions

A series of frequently asked questions concerning the Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network was developed for this funding opportunity. Please contact Kim Banks Hart (see below) to obtain a copy.

Webinars

INMD and the CH.I.L.D Foundation hosted information sessions for the research community to learn more about this funding opportunity. The following presentation was made during the webinars: CH.I.L.D.-CIHR Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network.

Background

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic, debilitating conditions that affect the gastrointestinal tract. While they are distinctly different illnesses, they can produce similar signs and symptoms and share many clinical, epidemiological, and immunological characteristics and, as a result, are commonly grouped together as idiopathic chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

Approximately one-quarter of all patients with these disorders are children (Verhave et al.). Preliminary data suggest an increase in the incidence of pediatric IBD, including a rise in incidence among children in certain ethnic communities (Benchimol et al.).

The burden on patients and their families with these disorders is high. For children with IBD, especially Crohn’s disease, linear growth and skeletal development are often impaired. Moreover, children and adolescents with IBD have relatively high rates of depression and anxiety, in part, because of the waxing and waning course of the chronic illness (Bousvaros et al.).  Pediatric-onset disease may alter the capacity of the child to become a successful and productive adult.

Pediatric IBD has many characteristics that distinguish it from adult- onset IBD, yet management of pediatric IBD has largely been based on studies in adults. Important clinical questions remain unanswered. Moreover, factors that trigger these diseases remain, to a large extent, unclear. Genome wide association scan (GWAS) studies and exomics technology both have provided insight into genetic definitions of host susceptibility (Khor et al.). There are opportunities to build on such studies and move the research enterprise to the next level.

For these reasons, the CH.I.L.D. Foundation and CIHR-INMD are partnering to support the creation of a Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network: a Joint Partnership of CIHR and the CH.I.L.D. Foundation to define clinically relevant parameters to better understand Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in children and teenagers and to improve the quality of patient care for patients and their families who suffer from these debilitating diseases.