Message from Norman Rosenblum, INMD Scientific Director
April 2022

I was extremely pleased to read the Government of Canada news release on March 31st, 2022, in which the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, announced the results of the Health Research Training Platform (HRTP) Pilot Program. It is exciting that 13 new training platforms are being funded for a total of $31.1M over six years, with funding from 9 CIHR Institutes, including INMD, and external partners.

Many of you will know that I am a proponent of program-based approaches to training and career development. You may also know that the CIHR INMD Strategic Plan 2021-2026 includes supporting development of Canadian research capacity towards improved nutritional and metabolic health outcomes as a priority.  This priority was strongly supported by the majority of INMD partners and health charities working in INMD mandate areas.

The HRTP Pilot is intended to support the development of interdisciplinary, inter-jurisdictional, and intersectoral research training platforms that will attract a diverse cadre of high-caliber trainees and Early Career Researchers, and equip them with the skills required for academic and non-academic careers. Funded platforms are expected to:

  • support comprehensive training by engaging academic, non-academic and knowledge user mentors from across a variety of disciplines, sectors, and jurisdictions;
  • promote a greater understanding of emerging research and knowledge exchange approaches;
  • increase training and professional development in support of sustainable career trajectories; and
  • consider best practices in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the platform team and environment.

INMD is pleased to be supporting 3 new training platforms for $2.4M each over six years.  In addition to the characteristics described above, the curricula of the INMD-supported HRTPs must include training on patient-oriented, team-based, and translational research, and the spectrum of research extending across all four CIHR themes (biomedical, clinical, health services and policy, and population health research). INMD encouraged applicants to work with relevant partners, including health charities and professional societies, with shared interests. Together, these various HRTP elements are intended to facilitate the ongoing development of the next generation of researchers in INMD-related communities.

Congratulations to the Nominated Principal Investigators and all of the applicants involved in the following training platforms that will be receiving support from INMD:

Dr. Nicola L. Jones – Hospital for Sick Children

Training Researchers in the Next Generation in Gastroenterology and Liver (TRIANGLE)

Dr. Todd Alexander – University of Alberta

Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and Training (KRESCENT) Program 2.0

André Tchernof – Centre de recherche, Université Laval

Maximize your Research on Obesity and Diabetes (myROaD): Canada-wide training and mentoring platform from molecules to communities

Norman Rosenblum, MD, FRCPC, FCAHS
Scientific Director
CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes

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