CIHR's Major Strategic Initiatives
Nearly all of CIHR's Major Strategic Initiatives involve collaboration between two or more of CIHR's Institutes. In the case of four key strategic priorities, CIHR's Governing Council has specifically endorsed a joint, cross-cutting effort involving all thirteen Institutes.
CIHR's Major Strategic Initiatives
- Clinical Research Initiative
The Clinical Research Initiative is CIHR's response to a clear need and opportunity to strengthen clinical research in Canada. Since 2001, CIHR has led a process of national consultation, needs identification, and partnership building. There is a widespread consensus that clinical research has not kept pace with the advances in biomedical research and that there is an increasing gap between basic discoveries and their application to the understanding, treatment and prevention of human disease.
- Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine Initiative
The Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine Initiative is a major long-term CIHR initiative, co-led by the Institute of Neurosciences , Mental Health and Addiction and the Institute of Genetics. The current strategic initiative announcement provides support for research in nanomedicine, gene therapy, stem cells, tissue engineering, and rehabilitation sciences. The fundamental goal of this initiative is the development of meaningful multi-disciplinary research approaches to regenerative medicine and nanomedicine. This necessitates the integration of the physical, engineering, computational and chemical sciences, among others, with the health sciences. These approaches need to balance consideration of the social, cultural and ethical impacts of these novel technologies with key rehabilitation and accessibility issues, as well as the potential economic costs of such treatments. Research into the maintenance of health or prevention of disease and degeneration is also encompassed by this initiative.
- CIHR and Global Health Research (GHR)
Global health research is a term used to refer to health issues related to the low income countries of the world and, more broadly, the health, health-system and health policy challenges of disadvantaged populations around the world. In the areas of health and health research, this group of countries faces significant challenges, many of which are different than those faced by high income and even middle income nations. In 2002, CIHR recognized this by identifying global health research as a major cross-Institute initiative. In keeping with Canada's commitment to contribute to health-related Millennium Development Goals established by the United Nations, CIHR is engaged in a broad range of global health research activities such as the Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI) and more.
- Canadian Lifelong Health Initiative
The Canadian Lifelong Health Initiative (CLHI) is intended to facilitate the establishment of a research program to conduct large multi-centered longitudinal cohort studies of Canadians. These studies will analyze the role and interaction of different genetic and environmental exposures involved in the human development and aging processes over the life course, the multi-factorial causes and evolution of common diseases, and the utilisation of health care services.
Other Joint Initiatives of CIHR's Institutes
(This is not a complete lisiting of CIHR's initiatives. For complete details relating to Institute activity, please refer to
CIHR Institutes.)
