IHDCYH News – Vol. 1, No. 2, Winter 2013

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Message from the Scientific Director

First and foremost, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year! This year will be an exciting one for IHDCYH. With the introduction of a new Strategic Plan and exciting Signature Initiatives, our community will become stronger with focused priorities that bring researchers from all pillars together.

I would like to congratulate the six recently awarded CIHR Research Chairs in Reproductive and Child Health Services and Policy Research. In addition to performing research, the Chairs will work closely with health system managers, healthcare workers and decision makers to train and mentor current and future health services researchers, and to develop and strengthen education programs in Canadian universities. IHDCYH is proud to support these Chairs and their contributions are a big step forward in improving healthcare for children, youth and families across Canada. Please take a moment to visit the CIHR website for more information about the six recipients.

I am pleased to announce the release of the Best Practices for Health Research Involving Children and Adolescents, in partnership with the McGill Centre of Genomics and Policy and MICYRN. The previous IHDCYH staff participated extensively on this report and I am proud that our Institute had the opportunity to take part in such an important document. Best Practices aims to suggest approaches and provide guidance for health research involving children and adolescents to ensure the best possible practices are in place to proceed safely and ethically. Please refer to the CIHR News section of this newsletter for more information about this valuable report.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for sharing IHDCYH’s newsletter and e-bulletins within your community. Every month we receive new requests to be added to the Institute’s mailing list, ultimately widening the viewership of our Institute’s materials. With that said, I encourage you to continue sharing your success stories with us to be highlighted in this newsletter and other CIHR communications materials. We want to hear about your research!

Best wishes for continued success in 2013.

Dr. Shoo K. Lee
Scientific Director
CIHR-Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health

Funding Success Story

Research at McGill University looks at the effects of prenatal maternal stress on mother and child

Dr. Suzanne King’s research on the impact of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) on mother and child led to a one of a kind study that looks at the effects of high stress levels on pregnancy during the devastating ice storm in 1998 in Quebec and Ontario. “When the ice storm struck, and my family was without electricity for 7 days, I saw this as an opportunity to conduct a natural experiment that would allow me to tease apart the different aspects of the stress experience and observe the short and long terms effects of the stress on the pregnancy, the birth, and on child development,” Dr. King explains.

By studying the women who were pregnant at the time of the storm and their children, who have been in the study since birth, the results of ‘Project Ice Storm’ indicate that the unborn child is extremely sensitive to the mother’s environment and her emotional reaction to it. “Project Ice Storm is informing PNMS researchers about the nature of the effects that this kind of an event can have on the unborn child. Some of our analyses might point indirectly to the smoking gun and help other researchers generate testable hypotheses about biological mechanisms. If these were supported, then appropriate interventions might be developed to assist pregnant women exposed to severe stress.” Watch this video to learn more about Dr. King and her research. For more information about Dr. King and ‘Project Ice Storm’ please visit the McGill University website.

Funding Opportunities

Summer Institute in Maternal-Fetal and Pediatric Pharmacology – July 2013

Application Deadline: April 17, 2013
This unique training opportunity features a distinguished international faculty to discuss important topics around therapeutics during pregnancy, the perinatal period, and in children. Presently, the pregnant mother and her unborn or newborn infant are rarely included in therapeutic studies, leading to "orphaning" from the benefits of drug therapy. The main objective of the Summer Institute is to foster the development of a critical mass of researchers in this neglected area. The course format will combine expert lectures with small-group interactions and hands-on learning to encourage problem-based learning. The course includes preparatory work and assignments, which will be sent to participants one month ahead of time.

IHDCYH Skills Update Travel Awards for Postdoctoral Fellows and Investigators

Application Deadline: May 27, 2013
IHDCYH is launching a competition for postdoctoral fellows and investigators to provide funding for visits to other research centres to enable the acquisition of specialized skills or research experience related to the Institute's mandate. The maximum amount for a single award varies from $5,000 to $10,000 (depending on seniority) to cover travel costs and accommodation expenses.

Travel Awards - Institute Community Support
(Spring 2013 Competition)

Through the Institute Community Support (ICS) Program, the CIHR Institutes are launching the ICS Travel Awards competition for students, postdoctoral fellows, new investigators and knowledge users to present their own research at national and international meetings and/or conferences. IHDCYH will fund up to 20 travel awards of $1,000 each for students (Masters and PhD) and postdoctoral fellows who are giving presentations on topics related to the Institutes’ research priority areas.

Stay tuned for more information on the CIHR Funding Database under “Other: Travel Awards – Institute Community Support”.

Updates in the IHDCYH Community

Best Practices for Health Research Involving Children and Adolescents

CIHR is pleased to announce the release of the Best Practices for Health Research Involving Children and Adolescents, as a result of a partnership with the McGill Centre of Genomics and Policy and MICYRN.

The Best Practices are meant to guide health researchers and Research Ethics Boards in the context of paediatric research.

The Best Practices are a complement to the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.

CIHR News

Update to the CIHR Open Access Policy (Reminder)

CIHR-funded researchers are required to make their peer-reviewed publications freely accessible within 12 months of publication – at the latest. January 2013 amendments to the CIHR Open Access Policy, formerly known as the Policy on Access to Research Outputs, modify previous requirements to provide the public with freely accessible research articles while aligning with other major funding agencies, such as the US National Institutes of Health. Researchers can comply with the green open access policy by depositing the articles in an archive, such as PubMed Central Canada or an institutional repository, and/or by publishing results in an open access journal.

While the CIHR Open Access Policy provides researchers with clear guidance on CIHR’s minimum expectation, in the spirit of public benefits of research, CIHR continues to encourage researchers to make their publications accessible for free as soon as possible after publication. Compliance with the policy will continue to be monitored through end of grant reporting.

The revised Open Access Policy is available on the CIHR website.

For further information, please contact access@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

SPOR Networks: Call for Expressions of Interest

Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) National Steering Committee is inviting the health research community to provide input on research network capacity in Canada.

This call for expressions of interest is being held from January 11 to February 28, 2013. It is an opportunity for Canada's researchers to provide information on the current network landscape. The goal is to identify existing and emerging research network capacity in patient-oriented research in Canada that could align with the SPOR network objectives.

Call for Nominations: CIHR Partnership Award

The CIHR Partnership Award,recognizes partnerships between organizations that exemplify excellence by bringing health research communities together to create innovative approaches to research, develop research agendas that are responsive to the health needs of Canadians and/or accelerate the translation of knowledge for the benefit of Canadians.

The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2013.

Meetings and Events

Save the date!
IHDCYH New Investigator Workshop
Wednesday, April 17, 2013, Hart House (University of Toronto)

IHDCYH will be hosting a one-day workshop and reception in conjunction with its Institute Advisory Board meeting in Toronto, Ontario. This Workshop is for new investigators (within 5 years of completing their research training) and postdoctoral fellows from Canadian universities, hospitals, and research institutes.

The focus of the workshop is career development. It will feature sessions on grant writing, publishing, running a lab or a research team and developing a research program, with mentoring provided by senior researchers.

Please stay tuned for more details on the IHDCYH calendar of events webpage.

Communicating IHDCYH News & Success Stories

IHDCYH also welcomes researchers, partners and other stakeholders to share news stories that relate to areas of our mandate. If you have interesting research results or developments, are organizing a conference or workshop, or wish to report on a past event, we would like to feature them in our newsletter or other communication materials.

Please send this information to: IHDCYH-IDSEA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.