Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (CRPPHE): Interim Investment Plan 2023–2025

Introduction

The Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (CRPPHE) was announced in January 2022 by the Government of Canada. Housed within the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the CRPPHE has a mandate to protect the health of all people in Canada by helping to support, coordinate, and mobilize an emergency-ready health research system that contributes to timely, equitable and effective decision making related to pandemics and other health emergencies (e.g., natural disasters such as wildfires, emerging viruses such as H5N1, and other health crises). The CRPPHE has been given ongoing funding by the Government of Canada, including a budget of $15M for grants and awards (G&A). An investment strategy is therefore needed to guide decision making on G&A expenditures.

Working towards a long-term emergency health research agenda and investment plan

The CRPPHE is undertaking a number of activities to develop a long-term Investment Plan, including:

• Engaging with partners across the Federal, Provincial and Territorial, academic, non-governmental sectors domestically and internationally including Institutes and their IABs; and
• Undertaking a health research ecosystem analysis.

A number of other lessons learned activities are underway, or have been undertaken, across Canada and internationally focused on identifying priorities for strengthening pandemic preparedness and response, including critical research capacities and functions (e.g., Review of the Federal Approach to Pandemic Science Advice and Research Coordination). The CRPPHE long-term investment plan will be informed by the results of all these activities, with guidance from the CRPPHE Steering Committee, and in consultation with CIHR’s Science Council.

In the meantime, an interim investment plan is needed to guide decisions related to the annual CRPPHE budget and strategic contributions to ongoing research and evidence needs resulting from COVID-19 and other health threats.

Interim CRPPHE Investment Plan

The interim investment plan was informed by consultations with more than 30 government and non-government organizations, literature identifying research gaps and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, and inputs from the CRPPHE Steering Committee.

This interim investment plan includes:

1. A set of cross-cutting principles that will be applied across all CRPPHE investments, topic; and
2. Interim investment strategies that will guide CRPPHE’s investment decisions.

CRPPHE investments have been, and will continue to be, based on this interim plan until the long-term health emergency investment plan is approved. Since this plan is interim, it avoids long-term financial commitments that will place restrictions on future long-term, strategic spending balanced with the need to build and sustain research response capacity in the ecosystem now.

Cross-Cutting Principles

The CRPPHE will work to advance the following core, cross-cutting principles across all of its investments irrespective of thematic area. Examples of approaches the CRPPHE will take to apply these principles are also provided below.

Interim Investment Strategies

Decisions related to CRPPHE’s investments will be guided by the three main strategies described below. Note that given the significant federal investments made through the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy (BLSS), including CIHR’s Clinical Trials Fund, the interim investment plan will not include funding for biomanufacturing, commercialization, or drug discovery research, nor will it prioritize strategic funding for clinical trials.

Investment strategies:

1. Maintain readiness by supporting major investments
   • Continue to support major research investments, such as platforms, networks, cohorts and large projects in key areas that are contributing to the ongoing COVID-19 response in Canada. The potential of the platform, network or cohort to pivot to respond to future emergencies should be a key consideration, as investments that could be part of a future long-term plan will be prioritized.
   • Explore the membership, value and feasibility of creating a pan-Canadian network of pandemic research centres.
2. Continue to respond to current or emerging threats
   • Support timely research on imminent or realized threats to the health of Canadians, as determined by the CRPPHE Steering Committee, and that align with the mandate of the CRPPHE.
   • Support activities and platforms that inform the appropriate research response to health emergencies, including evidence syntheses, research prioritization and knowledge mobilization.
3. Strengthen research capacity in the pandemic preparedness and health emergencies (PPHE) ecosystem in priority areas
   • Make use of current CIHR mechanisms to facilitate building and sustaining a cadre of PPHE researchers in priority areas across career stages (e.g., contributing funds to graduate and postdoctoral awards programs, to support early to mid-career researchers, and to support training and mentorship platforms funding opportunities).
   • Target funding to embedded research and training programs.

Within this strategy, we have identified key priority areas for capacity-building through consultations and literature reviews. These research areas are prioritized for CRPPHE 2023–2025 investments to support ongoing work related to COVID-19 and other health emergencies and to address key vulnerabilities in Canada’s emergency research response capacity.

Next Steps

The CRPPHE will refine its investment strategies and priorities over fiscal year 2024–25, as the results of lessons learned activities become available. It is anticipated that a long-term CRPPHE investment plan will be finalized in 2025.

Date modified:

2024-07-03