CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health,
Public Health Agency of Canada's Office of Public Health Practice and
Centre de recherche en prévention de l'obésité
| Important Dates | |
| Opportunity Launched | June 2006 |
| Content Last Updated | September 11, 2006 (Summary, Background, Objectives, Description of Partners) |
| October 15, 2006 | Letter of Intent Deadline - Letter of Intent must be courier stamped |
| February 1, 2007 | Letter of Intent Decision |
| May 1, 2007 | Full applications must be courier stamped |
| October 1, 2007 | Anticipated notification of decision. |
| November 1, 2007 | Earliest start date. |
| Funds Available | |
The total amount available for this initiative is up to 4.25 million dollars over 5 years. 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.
| |
| Summary | |
| (Updated: 2006-09-11) Jointly issued by the CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), the PHAC-Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP) and the Centre de recherche en prévention de l'obésité (CRPO), the purpose of this Applied Public Health Chairs Program is to strengthen population-level and community-level policy and program intervention research, mentoring and education capacity by supporting public health faculty in Canada. It is expected that this targeted investment will lead to increased national capacity for effective research, mentoring, education, knowledge translation and application of research evidence of relevance to the public health system. | |
Threats to the public's health continue to be highlighted in Canada's media. These threats include the contaminated water in Walkerton, SARS and influenza, increases in chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes and shifts in their underlying socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental determinants. These trends have underscored the critical importance of public health but also highlighted the vulnerability of our public health infrastructure. A number of federal, provincial, and territorial commissions and committees have produced reports with several recommendations to address the public health system's weaknesses. These reports recommend infrastructure renewal to more effectively execute the five essential functions of public health - population health assessment, health promotion, disease and injury, health protection and health surveillance.
One of the key recommendations is to ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals with the right knowledge, skills and relevant education and mentorship opportunities to actively contribute to a revitalization of Canada's public health infrastructure1. With the expansion of Masters of Public Health programs and emerging Schools of Public Health across the country, universities are clearly responding to this challenge but must ensure the appropriate public health faculty complement to fulfill the required mentoring, education, and research responsibilities.
Jurisdictions across Canada are now faced with critical shortages in their respective public health workforces and are struggling to maintain capacity to respond to growing public health concerns.
Public health human resources challenges include2:
Furthermore, these demands require mentorship opportunities to better support the current and next generations of public health researchers, policy makers and practitioners across the continuum of career stages. In light of these challenges, strategic leadership, partnerships and alignment of efforts at national, provincial/territorial and regional levels is required to systematically address gaps in public health human resources. This proposed Public Health Chairs Program is one of many national initiatives, being offered by the PHAC-OPHP and CIHR-IPPH to address these and other public health challenges. Others include: doctorate and post-doctoral awards in public health, as well as a professional masters awards program in public health.
Why emphasize intervention research?
Population-level and community-level interventions are intended to shift the risk of entire populations or communities by focusing on community/societal-level factors (individual, social, cultural, economic and/or environmental and their interactions) which account for the distribution of risk and illness in a society3. Rather than clinically targeting just individuals most at risk, public health interventions include both policies and programs intended to protect, promote and/or improve the health of society as a whole and prevent disease. Canada needs to invest in effective interventions that address the major risk factors for disease and disability, and their underlying determinants. To date, there has been a paucity of research that moves beyond individualized behavioural interventions to address the population-level and community-level factors (e.g. policies that modify the built environment; interventions that reduce health inequalities) that influence the policies and programs that impact on our health. Research programs focused on the development of methods, theories, measures relevant to the study of such interventions are required.
Despite Canada's legacy in advancing this thinking globally and some past attempts to nationally act on this advice, we haven't realized our own potential through comprehensive and sustained policy and program implementation. In addition, syntheses of evidence conclude that there is a lack of relevant intervention research in the Canadian context to help generate this knowledge4 5,6 A robust and skilled Canadian public health infrastructure is an essential element to ensuring the systematic planning and implementation of effective preventive interventions that work in different community contexts. Recent public attention to public health provides an opportunity for imminent action. Proper funding and training of our public health infrastructure and workforce is important in order to prevent and control communicable diseases. It is also critical in preventing chronic diseases such as heart disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity through effective interventions. These interventions must be planned and conducted in partnership with a range of sectors (e.g. education, recreation) and community organizations in order to achieve better health for Canadians.
(Updated: 2006-09-11)
Jointly issued by the CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), the PHAC-Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP) and the Centre de recherche en prévention de l'obésité (CRPO), the purpose of this Applied Public Health Chairs Program is to support universities to build programming capacity and build links with local public health organizations. By supporting public health faculty in Canada, PHAC and CIHR aim to strengthen population-level and community-level program and policy intervention research, mentoring and education capacity by supporting public health faculty in Canada. The CRPO's mission is to develop knowledge in order to reduce and prevent childhood obesity by focusing on intervention needs. It is expected that this targeted investment will lead to increased national capacity for effective research, education, mentoring, knowledge translation and application of research evidence of relevance to the public health system/community policies, programs and services. To this end, a nationally-focused research program is a critical platform for supporting mentorship, education and knowledge translation activities. Second, established collaborations to the public health system at local, regional, provincial/territorial and/or national levels are desirable. Third, strong links to those implementing graduate and post-graduate programs in the field and emphasis on building capacity in home institutions and other institutions are encouraged. It is also hoped that linkages between these Chairs and existing Chairs and Centres, with a focus on population and public health research and its application, can be forged across the country, where possible.
The CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health 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. The specific research foci and requirements for each partner are outlined in the section "Objectives."
The specific objectives of this initiative are:
Note: Chairs candidates are expected to address the objectives noted above in a balanced and integrated manner, and demonstrate how their research, mentoring, education and knowledge translation program aligns with their respective university's strategic priorities in public health.
Relevant Research Areas
Public Health
Public health has been described as the science and art of promoting health, preventing disease, prolonging life and improving quality of life through the organized efforts of society7. It is essentially an action-oriented function of modern societies. It primarily distinguishes itself from publicly funded health care at the clinical (one-on-one) level by focusing on the health of the population as a whole and by seeking to understand and address the root causes of disease and disability - i.e. their determinants. In Canada, essential public health functions are defined as: population health assessment, health promotion, disease and injury prevention, health protection and health surveillance.
Population-level/Community-level intervention research
Research focused on population-level and community-level interventions that are intended to shift the risk of entire populations or communities by focusing on community/societal-level factors (individual, social, cultural, economic and/or environmental and their interactions) which account for the distribution of risk in a society. Rather than only targeting individuals most at risk, interventions include both policies and programs intended to protect, promote and/or improve the health of people at the national, provincial/territorial regional and/or local level.
(Updated: 2006-09-11)
Intervention research in obesity prevention
At a minimum, associate professors or public health researchers with 8 to 12 years experience past their last qualifying degree, involved in intervention research of relevance to public health as described above, are strongly encouraged to apply.
The CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health and PHAC's Office of Public Health Practice will ONLY provide funding for applications that are relevant to (in alignment with) the objectives and research priority areas described above. Only applications corresponding to the mission and to the guidelines below (see Partners page for further details) will be considered relevant by the Centre de recherche en prévention de l'obésité (CRPO).
Prior to merit review, the CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health, the PHAC's Office of Public Health Practice and the Centre de recherche en prévention de l'obésité (CRPO) will have access to anonymized project titles and summaries to conduct relevance review.
Upon completion of merit review, the CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health, the PHAC's Office of Public Health Practice and the Centre de recherche en prevention de l'obésité (CRPO) will receive the ranking list, merit scores (ratings) and recommendations of the peer review committee with regards to funding level and award term, for the submitted applications that fall in the fundable range and have been determined to be relevant to the specific research areas and objectives of the initiative. The list will be used for funding decision-making purposes and will remain anonymous.
The review of applications for relevance to the strategic initiative will have no impact on the peer review process.
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.
Specific to CIHR salary awards, please refer to the General Guidelines for Salary Programs.
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:
Note: The balance of time, effort and resources should be devoted to the implementation of an integrated research, mentoring, education and knowledge translation Chairs Program. Significant ongoing administrative duties (i.e. more than 25%) are not allowable within this time allocation.
The awards consist of a salary contribution (including fringe benefits) and a research, mentoring, education and knowledge translation allowance.
For the research, mentoring, education and knowledge translation allowance, awardees should review the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) financial administration guidelines, Use of Grant Funds section for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.
In addition, the following expenditures will be considered eligible for funding received through this Request for Applications.
Merit review will be conducted in accordance with the CIHR Peer Review Process: Policies and Responsibilities of Salary and Clinician Scientist Awards Committee Members. The following general criteria for evaluating salary award applications will be used:
Scientific Merit
Potential Impact
Integrated Research, Mentoring, Education and Knowledge Translation Program
Research, Mentoring and Education
Knowledge translation.
Knowledge translation component of the plan clearly
For additional information, please refer to the Guidelines for the Assessment of Applications for Salary Support.
Merit Review of LOI
Letters of intent deemed eligible will then be evaluated by a CIHR Merit Review Panel. The panel will be created specifically for this program. Committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the Institute(s), partner(s) and the research community. Names of panel members are published on the CIHR website. The committee will use the CIHR Merit Review Scale.
| Potential Impact | Scientific Merit | ||
| Fundable: | Enormous extremely significant very significant |
4.5-4.9 4.0-4.4 3.5-3.9 |
Outstanding excellent very good |
| Seldom funded: | Significant | 3.0-3.4 | acceptable, but low priority |
| Not fundable: | Acceptable limited negligible |
2.5-2.9 2.0-2.4 0-1.9 |
needs revision needs major revision seriously flawed |
All letters of intent will be reviewed by at least one decision-maker and one researcher, who will assess potential impact and scientific merit. Potential impact and scientific merit will be given equal weight in the assessment of the LOI by the merit review panel. The entire merit review panel will then determine the final ranking of each letter of intent. Only those letters of intent that exceed the threshold score on both potential impact and scientific merit will be considered for invitation to the full-scale application stage.
Merit Review of the Full Application
Invited full applications will be evaluated by a CIHR Merit Review Panel. The panel will assess potential impact and scientific merit. Only those full applications that exceed the threshold score on both potential impact and scientific merit will be considered for funding.
This Request for Applications will follow the CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies.
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 standard guidelines and requirements, the following special conditions shall apply:
Within six months after the end of the grant's term, the award recipient is required to submit:
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.
Award recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR, its institutes and 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.
CIHR is 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:
The application process is comprised of two steps: 1) Letter of Intent (LOI), and 2) Full Application.
1) Letter of Intent (LOI)
In the first step of the application process the Nominated Principal Applicant is required to submit a Letter of Intent.
Applicants are advised to follow the instructions on the Acceptable Application Module Formats page which outlines formatting requirements for the letter and attachments.
The Letter of Intent must include:
a) The Registration pages of the CIHR Research Module:
To generate the Registration pages, you must access the CIHR Web Forms. When creating a new application, select "Operating" under "Grant Programs" and complete the following six sections of the Research Module web form. Print the Registration Pages Only.
b) A cover page of maximum one page (free form; a standard form is not available for the cover page) indicating:
c) Proposal.
In a maximum of five pages (not including references), the proposal must outline clearly each of the elements below:
d) A brief curriculum vitae (maximum two pages). This must include information on grants held (source, type, title, amount/year, duration), relevant publications for the last five years, and 5-10 expertise keywords. Full CVs will not be considered.
e) Reference: a short bibliography (maximum one page) of any references cited in the proposal.
Any additional materials will not be sent to the review committee; this includes letters of support, figures not included in the proposal, updates on publications, updates on other support received, letters confirming academic appointment, reprints, etc.
The results of the Letter of Intent review will be posted on the CIHR web site.
Send the original Letter of Intent and six copies by courier to:.
RE: Applied Public Health Chairs
Research Capacity Development Branch
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Room 97, 160 Elgin Street
Address locator: 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W9
2) Full Application
Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application by the deadline date. Details of the application procedure will be provided to those invited to apply.
For questions on CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the peer review process contact:
Andrew Horne
Program Delivery Coordinator
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin St., 9th Floor
Address locator 4809A
Ottawa, ON K1A 0W9
Telephone: (613) 954-1960
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: ahorne@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
For questions about this initiative and research objectives contact:
Kim Gaudreau
Associate, Strategic Initiatives
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin St., 9th Floor
Address locator 4809A
Ottawa, ON K1A 0W9
Telephone: (613) 957-6128
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: kgaudreau@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Note: Additional partners, including partners from industry and the private sector are expected to join this funding initiative over the coming year.
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 - Institute of Population and Public Health
CIHR - IPPH supports research into the complex interactions, which determine health, and its application to improve the health of individuals, communities and global populations. This initiative directly responds to one of the Institute's strategic priorities, which is to strengthen public health policy and practice capacity across the country and encourage linkages with research.
Partners
PHAC-Office of Public Health Practice
The creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada in September 2004 marks the beginning of a new approach to federal leadership and collaboration with provinces and territories on efforts to renew the public health system in Canada and support a sustainable health care. Thus the mission of PHAC is to promote and protect the health of Canadians through leadership, partnership, innovation and action in public health.
Focused on more effective efforts to prevent chronic diseases, like cancer and heart disease, prevent injuries and respond to public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks, the PHAC works closely with provinces and territories to keep Canadians healthy and help reduce pressures on the health care system.
(Updated: 2006-09-11)
Centre de recherche en prevention de l'obésité
The CRPO's mission is to develop knowledge in order to reduce and prevent childhood obesity by focusing on intervention needs. The Centre's guidelines include:
1 Public Health Agency of Canada, "A report of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health", October 2003, Chapter 7, accessed on April 5th, 2006 and available at: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/sars-sras/naylor/index.html Advisory Committee on Health Delivery & Human
2 Resources, "Building the Public Health Workforce for the 21st Century" (April 22, 2005); accessed on April 5th, 2006.
3 Rose, G.A., 1992. The Strategy of Preventive Medicine. Oxford University Press: New York.
4 Kiefer L, Frank J, Di Ruggiero E, Dobbins M, Manuel D, Gully PR, Mowat D. Fostering Evidence-Based Decision-Making in Canada: Examination of the Need for a Canadian Evidence Centre and Research
Network. CJPH 2005 (May-June); I-1 to I-40
5 Canadian Population Health Initiative & Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Institute of Population and Public Health. Charting the Course: A pan-5 Canadian consultation on population and public health priorities. Ottawa: Canadian Institute for Health Information; May 2002. Accessed on April 5th, 2006 and Available at: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/pdf_14039.htm
6 Raine KD. Overweight and Obesity in Canada: A Population Health Perspective. Prepared for the Canadian Institute for Health Information, August 2004. Accessed on April 5th, 2006 and Available for download at: http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=GR_1130_E
7 Last J, editor. A dictionary of epidemiology: 4th edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2001.
