Notice of Upcoming Funding Opportunity: Team Grant – GACD 2026: Implementation science to tackle Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Maximizing collaboration and coordination with and beyond the healthcare system

Introduction

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the “Team Grant – GACD 2026: Implementation Science to tackle Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Maximizing collaboration and coordination with and beyond the healthcare system”. This funding opportunity is led by the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD), in partnership with CIHR’s Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH) and the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH).

Overview

Global recognition of the social and structural determinants of NCDs points to additional opportunities to prevent and manage NCDs by leveraging opportunities provided by settings and sectors both with and beyond the formal healthcare system.

Implementing innovative measures to tackle NCDs will require partnerships with communities and non-government sectors (including NGOs, civil society, foundations, community enterprises, and faith-based organisations) to offer flexible and supportive delivery of resources and environments. These partnerships and efforts may help foster stronger engagement of underserved individuals, communities and populations due to inequities/differences in access, education, health beliefs, attitudes, geography, language or other factors.

The aim of this call is to fund implementation research focused on strategies leveraging opportunities provided by settings and sectors beyond the healthcare system in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC: as defined by the world bank) and/or underserved populations, including Indigenous populations, in high-income countries (HICs). While the focus is on settings beyond the healthcare system, collaboration with the relevant healthcare system(s) as part of the project is expected to facilitate effective design and knowledge mobilization.

Objectives

The projects funded under this call will collectively:

• contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030;
• address implementation of strategies across sectors that will:
  • provide evidence and recommendations to national programmes and policies; aiming to inform policy and practice to address the growing burden of chronic NCDs.
  • expand accessibility of programmes addressing NCDs.
  • promote the early prevention, risk reduction, and timely diagnosis of non-communicable diseases.
  • ensure continuity of care for NCDs, from prevention and screening to management in the community.
  • promote improved health outcomes in underserved populations, and low-and middle-income countries.
  • improve quality of life across the life course and extend healthy life expectancy.
  • improve local capacity for implementation research, data collection and harmonisation, and stakeholder engagement for strategies leveraging sectors beyond the health system to tackle NCDs.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity will support projects relevant to the following research areas:

• IPPH Pool: NCD Prevention and Health Promotion

  Projects in this pool must be relevant to the IPPH mandate and mission, must meaningfully address health equity, and focus on health promotion or primary prevention of NCDs outside the formal healthcare system.

• ICRH Pool: Circulatory and Respiratory Health- Reimagining NCD Care

  Projects in this pool must be relevant to the ICRH mandate and strategic vision and address the pre-acute and/or post-acute phases of NCDs in an integrated approach in collaboration with and beyond the healthcare system.

Partner Linkage Tool

GACD has developed a collaborator forum to assist applicants in identifying project partners.

Funds Available

• The total amount available for this funding opportunity is anticipated to be $3,000,000, enough to fund approximately three (3) grants. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate. The maximum amount per grant is anticipated to be $200,000 per year for up to five (5) years, for a total of $1,000,000 per grant.

Anticipated Timelines

Launch: March 2026
Letter of Intent Deadline: June 2026
Application Deadline: Late October/Early November 2026
Funding Start Date: January 2027

The official CIHR funding opportunity will be posted on ResearchNet in the coming weeks.

For a full list of CIHR funding opportunities, please visit ResearchNet.

The 11th GACD funding call preannouncement can be found on the GACD web site.

Contact Information

For general inquiries please contact:

CIHR Contact Centre
Telephone: 613-954-1968
Email: support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Date modified:

2025-12-09