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Operating Grant: Reducing Wait Times and Enhancing Service

(Development and Commercialization of Medical and Assistive Technologies by Ontario Researchers: Reducing Waiting Times or Enhancing Service Throughputs)

htx.ca- The Health Technology Exchange
In partnership with
CIHR/SME Research Program
Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation

Request for Applications

Important Dates
Opportunity Launched	September 2006
Content Last Updated	September 15, 2006 (Conditions of Funding)
October 20, 2006	Letter of Intent Deadline - Letter of Intent must be courier stamped by this date.
November 24, 2006	Letter of Intent Decision
January 8, 2007	Full applications must be courier stamped by this date.
March 31, 2007	Anticipated notification of decision.
April 1, 2007	Anticipated start date.
Funds Available:
CIHR's contribution to the amount available for this initiative is subject to availability of funds voted annually to CIHR by parliamentary appropriations, and the conditions that may be attached to them. HTX's contribution to the amount available is subject to funds provided by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI). The total amount available for this initiative is $510,000 over one fiscal year. With the addition of $255,000 (1/3) from industry/technology development partner contributions, total commitments will be $765,000 over one fiscal year. Up to 25% of the industry/technology development partner contribution may be in-kind. The remaining 75% must be in cash. This amount may increase if additional funding partners decide to participate. The maximum amount awarded for a single grant is $120,000 for one year. HTX, CIHR and the industry/technology development partner will each contribute a maximum of $40,000 per grant.
Summary
The purpose of this initiative is to promote research and its translation into more effective products to improve the health of Canadians. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to further strengthen collaboration between researchers, technology developers and industry relating to Medical and Assistive Technologies in the development of innovative commercializable technologies to expedite processes of diagnosis and/or treatment with potential for reducing waiting times for services including treatments or enhancing the throughput of patients and/or biological materials for diagnostic testing while providing high quality care. The applicant must secure the sponsorship of an eligible company before a registration can be submitted.

Background
Partners
Objectives
Eligibility
Allowable Costs
Review Process and Evaluation Criteria
General CIHR Guidelines
Conditions of Funding
Communications Requirements
Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation
How to Apply
Contact Information
Description of Partners

Background

The mandate of HTX is to strengthen Ontario's medical and assistive technologies sector by supporting commercialization of medical and assistive devices emerging out of Ontario's public research institutions, development of start-up companies, growth of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and expansion of export markets for Ontario's medical and assistive device products. The emphasis of the HTX R&D Program is on transforming innovations to products for commercialization. The approach for this competition is consistent with the Ontario Government's plan to ensure that patients are treated sooner and with the Federal Government's plans to encourage the adoption of methods and tools to better manage wait times.

CIHR is partnering on this initiative through its CIHR/SME Research Program, designed to help the academic community interact with Canadian SMEs with an interest in health research and development. The program promotes a wide variety of peer-reviewed research and training projects jointly funded by Canadian SMEs and CIHR. The research planned should be beneficial to both parties, while improving the quality of health of Canadians.

Proposals are invited from appropriately qualified researchers or teams in Ontario relating to the development and commercialization of innovative medical and assistive technologies and the development of innovative commercializable technologies demonstrating more expeditious diagnoses and/or treatments with potential for reducing waiting times for services including treatments or enhancing the throughput of patients and/or biological materials for diagnostic testing while providing high quality care. The focus of proposals should relate predominantly to the devices involved.

Partners

CIHR's Research Translation Programs Branch is dedicated to identifying and developing collaborations with other CIHR institute(s), branch(es) or office(s), funding organizations and stakeholders to enhance the availability of funding for this strategic initiative, and to create, where appropriate, opportunities for knowledge exchange and translation related to the scope of this particular initiative. Applicants are invited to visit the Descriptions of Partners to find a list of partners and their respective mandates and/or strategic interests. This list will continue to evolve as new partners join in this initiative.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this initiative are:

to promote the development and commercialization of innovative medical and assistive technologies leading to more expeditious processes of diagnosis or treatments;
to strengthen collaborations between researchers, technology developers and industry relating to Medical and assistive technologies and the tools that enable these technologies;
to reduce wait times without compromising quality of the treatment;
to expedite the commercial and social impact of research in medical and assistive technologies; and
to improve upon existing medical and assistive devices processes or systems.

Relevant research areas include:

Medical Technologies
Assistive Technologies

For further information, please refer to the Medical and Assistive Technology definitions on The Health Technology Exchange Website [PPT (74 KB) | Help ].

CIHR and HTX will only consider funding applications that are in alignment with the objectives and research priority areas of this Request for Applications. Examples of research that might be conducted under this Request for Applications are provided below. These examples are not intended to be exhaustive and there is no intent to imply that applications in these research areas would be more successful than those in other research areas.

Advancing point of care capabilities through innovative "lab-on-a-chip" hand-held devices.
Development and exploitation of microarray and microfluidic technologies for diagnostics.
Minimization of treatment times for cancer patients without compromise in relation to existing treatments.
Enhancing connectivity of diagnostic and monitoring equipment with institutional information systems.
Advancing and exploiting new materials or processes to expedite the fitting of prosthetic or orthotic devices.
Utilization of virtual reality devices to expedite physical rehabilitation.
Usability tests for human factors considerations towards eliminating operator errors in the use of monitoring and drug delivery devices.

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding programs apply. The business office of the institution of an eligible Nominated Principal Applicant generally administers CIHR funds. Please refer to the Eligibility Requirements for CIHR Grants and Awards regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) will not be considered under this RFA.

Specific Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility requirements specific to this Request for Applications include the following:

The Nominated Principal Applicant must be a faculty member of an Ontario university or hold an appropriate appointment in a publicly funded organization. HTX funding alone is possible for applicants from publicly funded institutions that do not meet CIHR criteria.
The applicant's R&D background/capabilities must be in the area of medical and/or assistive technology.
The Nominated Principal Applicant must demonstrate leadership in his/her field of endeavour.
The Nominated Principal Applicant/team must have pertinent partnership relationships and plans for commercialization. The industry/technology development partner must contribute financially to the proposed project in cash and/or kind. The industry/technology development partner is expected to contribute 1/3 of the total project cost. Up to 25% of the partner contribution may be in-kind. The remaining 75% must be in cash. The types of in-kind contributions that are recognized and therefore considered eligible to lever CIHR funding are listed in the "In-kind Eligibility Table".
The Nominated Principal Applicant/team must have a history of meaningful collaboration with industry/technology development partners, with demonstrable outcomes such as patents, license transfers or spin-off enterprises.
Demonstrated relevant networking capability.
Technology transfer to Ontario is particularly encouraged.

Allowable Costs

Applicants should review the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) financial administration guidelines Use of Grant Funds for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

The full application must provide a detailed justification of all costs.

Note: Overhead and costs relating to Intellectual Property protection are ineligible.

Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

Letters of Intent:

Letters of Intent will be used to screen for relevance to the Objectives and Relevant Research Areas of this Request for Applications and to set up the appropriate expertise on the peer-review panel. The partnering organizations will identify representatives to perform the relevancy review of LOIs submitted in response to the RFA. Proposals deemed relevant will be invited to submit a full application to this program. This relevancy review will have no impact on the peer review process and funding decisions will be based on the scientific merit of the proposed research.

Full Application:

A CIHR peer review committee will evaluate the full applications. The committee may be drawn from one of CIHR's pre-existing committees or may be created specifically for this Request for Applications.
Committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the institute(s) / portfolio(s) and partner(s), following CIHR's Policy on Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest and Privacy Issues in Peer and Relevance Review (CCIP). For information on CIHR's peer review process in general, see Peer Review.

Peer review will be conducted in accordance with The CIHR Peer Review Process: Policies and Responsibilities of Grants Committee Members, including the standard evaluation criteria described under "Factors for Assessment" (section 6.2). The quality of the peer review will be the joint responsibility of the Parties.

The evaluation of the full applications will be based on the criteria listed below. CIHR and HTX recognize that applications will emphasize different approaches to research and to knowledge translation, therefore reviewers and committees are expected to weight criteria such as these differently from one application to another.

Appropriateness of the expertise of the applicant(s) and skills to accomplish the work proposed.
Strength of the Nominated Principal Applicant's and co-applicants past and current collaborative industrial relationships.
Scientific merit of the research proposal.
Feasibility of the research proposal, appropriateness of the methodologies and likelihood of successful completion of the proposed research.
Demonstrated familiarity with literature in the field, and current competitive, or emerging technologies.
Importance and originality of the technology - What are the benefits of the new technology vs. the current technology within the intended markets?
Assessment of the market for the technology to be developed. For instance, have the applicants anticipated difficulties in their approach and considered alternatives?
Translational potential and appropriateness of proposed commercialization strategy.
Impact of the proposed technology on the health of Ontarians and Canadians.

General CIHR Guidelines

This Request for Applications will follow the General Guidelines for Industry-Partnered Programs. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the use of Gender and Sex-Based Analysis in applications.

Please note that CIHR can only contribute to applications that are consistent with the mandate of CIHR described above under "Partners".

Conditions of Funding

All conditions specified in CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this Request for Applications. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official language policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial conditions prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding (AFF) document.

In addition to CIHR and HTX standard guidelines and requirements, the following special conditions shall apply:

The Nominated Principal Applicant is required to submit financial reports to HTX at the end of each quarter and Milestone reports with Performance indicators at six month intervals. Reporting on CIHR financial contributions must be in accordance to the CIHR Guidelines for Grant Programs. (Updated: 2006-09-15)
A final report, summarizing the results, particularly relating to commercialization; and, describing how the grant funds were used will be requested approximately 6 months after the completion of funding. A standard form will be provided.

Recipients of funds will be expected to sign a Research Participation Agreement with HTX containing provisions concerning foreground and background Intellectual Property (IP) including ownership, licence rights, and IP protection and commercialization. Key principles relate to ensuring benefits to the health of people in Ontario. Essentially, it is to be understood that:

IP arising from research conducted under the program is owned by its inventor(s), and is subject to any existing obligations under relevant policies of the recipient institution.
The recipient institution retains the right to use the IP for research and educational purposes.
The inventor(s) may publish and disclose the IP and research results, subject to providing reasonable notice and opportunity to protect the IP if desired.
HTX is available to work in partnership with the inventor and the academic institution to facilitate commercialization of any resulting IP if appropriate.
Funded researchers should be willing to act as an "HTX advocate," serving as a vital point of contact within their department and institution.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to recruit reviewers, to administer and monitor grants and awards, to compile statistics, and to promote and support health research in Canada. Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may be shared as described in Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review.

CIHR as a federal entity is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, therefore the requirements of these two statutes will apply to all information located in CIHR's premises including, without limitation, cost-sharing agreements related to this Request for Applications and all matters pertaining thereto.

While respecting the application of the Privacy Act to federal entities, all signing parties involved in a collaborative agreement will also be bound by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). All personal information (as identified by the PIPEDA) collected, used or disclosed in the course of any commercial activity under collaborative agreements related to the Request for Applications will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.

Communications Requirements

Grant recipients are required to acknowledge HTX, CIHR and industry/technology development partners in any communication or publication related to the project. See CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies, Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support for details on CIHR's communication requirements. The contributing institutes / partners will be identified on the Authorization for Funding and decision letter.

Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation

HTX and CIHR are committed to demonstrating results to Canadians for the money invested in health research. Therefore, processes for monitoring progress and appropriate use of funds, as well as for performance measurement and program evaluation are in place. As a result, funding recipients must:

contribute to the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR and HTX programs, policies and processes by participating in evaluation studies, surveys, workshops, audits and providing data or reports as required for the purpose of collecting information to assess progress and results;
encourage their associates, trainees and administration to participate in the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR and HTX programs, policies and processes as required.

How to Apply

The application process is comprised of two steps: 1. Letter of Intent (LOI) and 2. Full Application. Failure to follow the following instructions may result in the administrative withdrawal of the Letter of Intent or Application.

1) Letter of Intent (LOI)

The Letter of Intent is comprised of:

the first two pages of the CIHR Research Module for the CIHR Operating Grants Program (Research Module, Page 1, and Page 2a);
a three page letter; and
attachments.

i) CIHR Research Module:

The Research Module must be completed using the Webforms:

Note: page numbers will not be identified while you are entering the data. While you must complete all of the sections of this form for the full application, for the purposes of the Letter of Intent, it is sufficient to complete only the following sections: "Research Funding Program," "Nominated Principal Applicant/Candidate," and "Project".
Indicate HTX/MRI/CIHR Operating Grants in the section: "Name of Strategic Initiative (RFA)"
Once you have completed these sections, Save and Exit, then chose the print option for "Registration Pages Only." You will then be able to choose to print only the first two pages of the form.
On the Research Module, Page 1, signatures are required from the appropriate authorities at the Nominated Principal Applicant's employing institution.
On the Research Module, Page 2a, only the signature of the Nominated Principal Applicant is required.

ii) Letter

A two-page summary of the research proposal, including the relevance to the population(s) of concern, innovative aspects and likely commercialization and social impacts and how the proposed research addresses the objectives and relevant research areas of the program as described above.
One page describing how the applicant(s) meet the eligibility criteria of the program.

iii) Attachments

An abbreviated CV (maximum two pages) for the Principal Applicant and each co-applicant, using the Common CV as a guideline for content. This must include information on current grants held, relevant publications from the last five years, and expertise keywords.* Full CVs will not be accepted.
A short bibliography (one page) of any references cited in the letter of intent
A list of the areas of expertise of the team members

Any additional material will be discarded and not sent to the review committee; this includes letters of support, updates on publications, updates on other support received, letters confirming academic appointment, reprints, etc.

Submit one original and four copies of the Letter of Intent to the address below, by the deadline date indicated at the beginning of this funding opportunity.

Applicants that successfully pass the relevancy review will receive an invitation to submit a full application.

2) Full Application

Review the application instructions provided in How to Apply for Funding.

Select "Operating Grants" (Registration and Application) from the Grant Programs Application Packages.

Please submit your application on the following CIHR forms:
1) Research Module, including research proposal as outlined below.
2) Operating Budget Module.
3) Industrial Partnership Module.
4) Validated Common CV for all applicants.

1) Research Module:

Specific Guidelines for completion:

Once logged into the webforms, create a new application and choose "Operating" under "Research Funding Programs".
Complete all sections as required for Operating Grants.
In the Research Funding Program section of the Research Module (page 7 of the web form printed report), select "Strategic Initiative/RFA" and enter the title of this RFA.

Text to be attached:

Only page 12, Research Proposal, must be completed. Applicants are encouraged to address the following criteria while referring to the items listed under "Peer Review Process and Evaluation Criteria" above as these will be used in the evaluation of the proposal. Please note that a maximum of 10 pages may be submitted (numbered 12a-j). Figures and references are not included in page limitations.

Background of the technology;
Research and Methodologies - present hypotheses and experimental plan to test them;
Expertise of the applicant(s) in relation to the research proposed and history of collaboration with industry/technology development partners;
Summary of the relevant literature;
Impact of the proposed innovation on the target population;
Assessment of the market for the technology to be developed, including the advantages and limitations of the IP, identification of current and emerging competitive technologies;
Strategy to commercialize the technology, including IP protection;
Potential hurdles and how they will be addressed;
Time lines - milestones and deliverables for the research and commercialization strategy during the term of the project;
If the technology is proposed to be commercialized through an industry/technology development partner outside of Ontario, explain the rationale for this decision.

Send the completed LOI (original and 4 copies) and Application (original and 9 copies) Packages by courier to:

RE: " Operating Grant: HTX/MRI/CIHR Operating Grants"

ATTN: Research Translation Programs Branch
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Room 97, 160 Elgin Street
Address locator: 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0W9

Contact Information

For questions on CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the peer review process contact:

Melody Sajedi
Program Delivery Officer
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: (613) 957-1188
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: msajedi@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

For questions about HTX funding guidelines, this initiative and research objectives contact:

Jennifer Woods
Co-ordinator
htx.ca - The Health Technology Exchange
Telephone: (905) 248-2732
Fax: (905) 479-2055
E-mail: jwoods@htx.ca

Description of Partners: CIHR Institutes and Partner Organizations

Note: Additional partners, including partners from industry and the private sector are expected to join this funding initiative over the coming year.

Partners

htx.ca -The Health Technology Exchange
htx.ca - The Health Technology Exchange (HTX), established in 2003, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support the growth of a dynamic, prosperous medical and assistive technologies sector in the province of Ontario and nationally to advance health care. HTX has a mandate to support research, development and commercialization of medical and assistive technologies emerging out of Ontario's public research institutions (hereinafter referred to as the "HTX Program". In addition, HTX's mandate includes development of start-ups, growth of small to medium-sized enterprises, and expansion of export markets for Ontario's medical and assistive technology products.

Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
The Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) Research and Commercialization Division provides leadership in promoting Ontario's economic growth and competitiveness by: supporting commercialization efforts to bring innovative ideas to market; supporting sector competitiveness and clusters; pursuing increased investment in Ontario; facilitating opportunities to boost Ontario Exports; encouraging science and technology research and innovation activities; providing advice and support services to small and medium sized businesses in Ontario.

Ministry of Research and Innovation was established to ensure that Ontario has a focused approach to competing and winning in the marketplace of ideas. The Ministry's goal is to make Ontario a place where innovation is inevitable. The Ministry's mandate is to better focus cross-provincial government resources and build and sustain a culture of innovation. To strengthen and promote Ontario as an innovation economy, the Ministry of Research and Innovation is investing nearly $1.7 billion over five years to 2009-10 through research, commercialization and outreach programs. Working with partners, the Ministry will:

Attract, retain, and foster research talent
Build and sustain research excellence
Strengthen support for technology transfer and commercialization
Build innovation networks and strengthen links and working relationships between the research community and business and industrial innovation

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
CIHR is Canada's major federal funding agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system.

CIHR/SME Research Program (CIHR/SME)
The CIHR/SME Research Program, implemented in 2000, is designed to help the academic community interact with Canadian SMEs with an interest in health research and development. The program promotes a wide variety of peer-reviewed research and training projects jointly funded by Canadian SMEs and CIHR. The research planned should be beneficial to both parties, while improving the quality of health of Canadians.

Created: 2006-08-29
Modified: 2006-09-15
Reviewed: 2006-08-29
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