Research showcase

Investments in health research are investments in a stronger and healthier Canada. With CIHR funding, researchers across the country can study a problem, test an idea, and find a solution that will, in time, lead to new and improved health treatments, practices, products, and policies that keep Canadians safe and healthy.

CIHR invests $1.34 million to strengthen Canada’s public health emergency readiness and response
At a glance

2023 Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) Report Catalyst Grants

11 catalyst grants funded

Total investment: $1.34 million

Canada is increasingly facing environmental threats, such as record heat waves and devastating floods, and other potential health emergencies that have a direct impact on the health of all those living in Canada. Crucially, there are many populations within our country that are disproportionately affected by these emergencies, including people experiencing homelessness, racialized populations, people living with mental health conditions, and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.

This was the focus of the 2023 report by Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada (CPHO), Creating the Conditions for Resilient Communities: A Public Health Approach to Emergencies. The report explores how public health can work with communities and partners to build resiliency and better equip communities to prevent, withstand and recover from emergencies.

CIHR launched the CPHO Report (2023) Catalyst Grants funding opportunity to support researched aligned with the priorities outlined in the report and its companion document, Generating Knowledge for a Health Promotion Approach to Emergencies.

Eleven successful research teams from across the country have received a total investment of $1.34 million to support research that will bring forward evidence to help address the public health issues identified by Dr. Tam.

These teams are exploring a wide range of topics including:

The work of these research teams will strengthen Canada’s public health emergency readiness and response by informing policies and actions that will strengthen communities, better preparing them for future emergencies.

Learn more about the grantees and their research.

CIHR invests in a collaborative myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) research network
At a glance

An interdisciplinary myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) research network

One network grant of $2M to ICanCME over five years

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), formerly called chronic fatigue syndrome, is a debilitating chronic, multi-system illness affecting millions of people worldwide. Symptoms of ME include profound fatigue exacerbated by effort or exercise, unrefreshing sleep, pain, cognitive impairment, orthostatic intolerance (when standing upright causes the onset of symptoms), and many others. There is not yet a cure or any approved treatments for ME.

Many people with Long COVID also meet the criteria to receive an ME diagnosis, further underscoring the need for research to better understand ME.

To boost ME research in Canada, CIHR has invested $2 million to continue supporting an ME research network over the next five years. Since 2019, the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ICanCME) research network has brought together researchers, clinicians, and patient partners to advance ME research. The network is co-led by Dr. Alain Moreau at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montréal alongside a team of scientific and lived-experience leaders from across Canada and around the world.

Since its inception, the network has been connecting the ME research community, supporting promising research projects, and sharing ME resources for patients, researchers, and clinicians. With this new funding, ICanCME aims to:

Learn more about ICanCME

CIHR invests $16.25 M in training platforms to develop the next generation of health researchers
At a glance

2024/2025 Health Research Training Platform

5 health research training platforms funded

Total investment: $16.25 million

Funded in partnership with Genome Canada

Trainees and early career researchers are the future of health science discovery and innovation in Canada. CIHR is committed to providing new training and development opportunities to build their capacity and skills and ensure Canada’s health researchers are equipped to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the future as new research directions, practices and technologies continue to emerge.

That is why CIHR has invested $16.25 million to support the development of five research training platforms that bring together mentors from across a variety of disciplines, sectors and jurisdictions to equip trainees and early career researchers with the foundational skills and knowledge required for a range of careers within or outside of academia while working in some of Canada’s most innovative areas of health research.

These research training platforms are focused on building capacity in the following areas:

First launched in 2021, this initiative, known as the Health Research Training Platform (HRTP), goes beyond the standard research training program. In addition to gaining foundational research skills and knowledge, participants receive comprehensive research training in areas such as grant writing, project management, science communications, interdisciplinary research, open science and knowledge mobilization and have the chance to work closely with mentors to develop a greater understanding of emerging research and knowledge mobilization approaches. Foundational to the initiative, participants are trained in the science of conducting diverse and inclusive research, such as respecting Indigenous Ways of Knowing, incorporating sex- and gender-based considerations in research and recognizing unconscious bias.

Learn more about the training platforms and recipients.

CIHR invests in a Pan-Canadian clinical trials research network for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections
At a glance

A Pan-Canadian HIV/AIDS & STBBI Clinical Trials Research Network.

One network grant of $25 million over five years.

For more than three decades, the Government of Canada has provided funding for a HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Network to establish infrastructure that advances clinical trials for HIV and AIDS. While significant progress has been made towards developing successful therapeutics to combat HIV, both a cure and a vaccine remain elusive. Globally and in Canada, recent trends have shown alarming increases in new cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI).

In 2022, globally:

In Canada, the challenges in treatment and prevention of STBBI vary by region and clinical trial infrastructure is concentrated in the biggest cities, creating barriers to participation for rural, remote and isolated communities and resulting in poorer health outcomes for populations disproportionately affected by STBBI.

CIHR’s recently launched HIV/AIDS & STBBI Clinical Trials Research Network funding opportunity aims to build on the important contributions and efforts of the previously funded clinical trial network team and establish research infrastructure that advances innovative, community-centred clinical trials. These trials will have an expanded scope for research on STBBI beyond HIV with a focus on other existing health conditions, co-infections, and disparities in the health and well-being of key populations disproportionately affected by STBBI in Canada.

The successful team, led by Dr. Marina Klein from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, is being awarded $25 million over five years. Dr. Klein will lead a diverse network with five regional teams, four specialized think tanks and a community-centred knowledge mobilization hub. This nationally coordinated, interdisciplinary and connected clinical trials network will strengthen Canada’s capacity to address HIV and STBBI from prevention to cure.

Learn more about the network

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