2003 is unfolding with a dynamic blend of opportunities, challenges and excitement for the Institute. The ubiquitous cloud of fiscal restraint that befalls most organizations from time to time has visited CIHR and its Institutes and given pause to some of IHSPR's plans for strategic growth. Nevertheless, we have been able to forge ahead with several exciting and important new funding initiatives, some of which you'll read about in this newsletter.
We're particularly excited about the Institute's inaugural national symposium in Montreal in November. While the program continues to evolve, we are already well along in this process; we hope you'll agree that with this line-up of speakers and activities, this is an event not to be missed. You can find registration details in this newsletter.
As always, we welcome your comments and questions on any matter relevant to the Institute - our door is always open. We wish everyone an enjoyable summer.
IHSPR is pleased to announce its inaugural national symposium in Montreal from November 22-24, 2003. This event will bring together leading Canadian researchers, young investigators, and health care system policy-makers and managers to discuss the important roles of health services and policy research in finding solutions to Canada's most pressing health care system and service delivery issues. There is no registration fee, but space is limited, so please register early. For program information and to register, visit www.ellisriley.on.ca/IHSPR.
CIHR has announced important program changes that affect the Fall 2003 competition cycle, and beyond. These changes reflect the commitment of CIHR's President, Scientific Directors, and Governing Council to mitigate the anticipated reduction in uncommitted funds available for new grants and awards confronting CIHR in fiscal year 2004-2005.
Uncommitted funds come from two sources: funding that is released when a grant or award ends; and any increase in the CIHR budget. Most grants and awards that are terminating next year were awarded three or four years ago by the MRC, when the base budget was much smaller; thus the value of the funds to be released will be low relative to current demands and expectations. Although CIHR received budget increases in each of the past three years, there is no assurance that there will be a further increase for fiscal 2004-05.
In the year to come, CIHR will be speaking with government officials regarding the need for a multi-year funding commitment and the ability to carry-over a small percentage of its budget (5-10%) from year to year. As of current forecasts, however, CIHR could have uncommitted funds of only about $69M in Fiscal Year 2004-05, compared to this year's amount of $170M. To increase the uncommitted funds to the maximum possible, CIHR will introduce two cash management strategies:
In addition, CIHR will be implementing a number of program changes, reflecting the fact that it cannot continue to "do everything" in the current financial circumstances. Among the changes most relevant to our community, the program that supported senior research fellows is being suspended; no new awards will be granted through the investigator, senior investigator or distinguished investigator programs (the programs for post-doctoral fellows and new investigators will be continuing); and with respect to operating grants, each PI will be limited to one new grant application per competition.
CIHR will move rapidly to reverse the program reductions and suspensions in the event of a budget increase.
For further information about these strategies and their implications, please visit the website. This website also provides tables that outline all the July 2003 program changes.
As pre-announced in our last newsletter, the Institute in partnership with CIHR's Ethics Office has developed a request for applications entitled Compelling Values: Privacy, Access to Data and Health Research. The purpose of this initiative is to promote research on important, emerging issues facing health research in Canada in light of compelling values Canadians place on their right to privacy on the one hand, and on the quality of their health and health care system, on the other. For more information please visit the website.
IHSPR is undertaking further work in this area through a workshop series titled Harmonizing Research and Privacy: Standards for a Collaborative Future. The workshops are being funded in partnership with the Canadian Institute for Health Information's Canadian Population Health Initiative, and most CIHR Institutes. They are being developed and presented by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Studies. The goal is to consolidate Canadian health services and policy researchers' needs and knowledge to develop recommendations for harmonized privacy standards, policies and best practices for the protection of personal health information collected, used and disclosed in the course of health policy and health services research. These invitational workshops are scheduled to take place in Toronto in October 2003 and February 2004. Updates and outcomes will be provided on our website and in upcoming newsletters.
IHSPR recently funded 12 Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement (ICE) Teams, some in partnership with the Institute of Genetics and the Institute of Muskuloskeletal Health and Arthritis. The ICE Teams Grant Program aims to address a growing number of important health research questions in the face of critical deficits in research capacity. Funding is intended to enhance the capacity of groups to address key strategic research themes through the creation of strong inter- and intra-institution mentoring arrangements to add expertise to their core capabilities, and to develop team-embodied strategies for knowledge translation. For more information on the program and the funded teams please visit the website.
IHSPR, in collaboration with partners, recently announced an RFA for research projects involving the examination and analysis of the recent public health, and health care system responses to the SARS outbreak in Canada, in the context of the global epidemic. Special emphasis is placed on ways to ensure that evidence-based practice and cost-effective health care system and public health outbreak management strategies are utilized to the maximum extent possible in any future outbreaks of this kind. For more information please visit the website.
IHSPR, in partnership with the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health, the Quebec Population Health Research Network and the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec hosted the second annual Summer Institute from June 3-8th in Val David, Quebec. The goal of the Summer Institutes is to increase future researchers' capacity in interdisciplinary and applied research. The events are designed to:
Fifty doctoral and postdoctoral students in the fields of population and public health and health services and policy research participated in this year's Summer Institute. By all accounts, the event was a success.
Plans are underway for a similar event in the summer of 2004. Watch for more information on our website and in future newsletters.
One of CIHR's core objectives is to provide leadership in building capacity within Canada's health research community through the training and development of researchers, and by fostering the development and ongoing support of careers in health research. One of the tools that CIHR has developed to achieve this objective, is the Strategic Training Program Grant funding initiative.
Within this initiative, IHSPR and its funding partners recently awarded three new Training Program Grants. For more information about the program and the funded teams please visit the website.
In collaboration with the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF), the Institute has offered support to the Canadian Health Economics Research Association (CHERA) as it embarked on a process to guage interest in, and to assess the feasibility of, its evolution to a more broadly-based membership association for health services and policy researchers and research users in Canada. After completion of a feasibility report by the CHERA President, Peter C. Coyte, that was unanimously ratified by the CHERA board, and a recent vote by more than 90% of CHERA respondents that favoured this transformation, the CHSRF and the Institute have made a commitment to provide $50,000 in first-year infrastructure support to assist the newly emerging Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) as it develops the necessary legal, management and operational apparatus to effect this transition. We expect the formal launch of the new Association to take place at our fall symposium.
IHSPR and the Institute of Population and Public Health and their funding partners are pleased to announce that a team of investigators led by Dr. Cathy Fooks at the Canadian Policy Research Networks, Inc. has been funded to describe the current status of population-based health and health services databases in Canada that are being used and show the potential for use in innovative and important health research.
Due to greater-than-expected demand on IHSPR's Workshop Support Program and other Institute development programs, a program review is underway. In the near term, new workshop applications are not being accepted. Please watch our website for a revised Institute Development Funding Program and application guidelines.
In addition to being Assistant Director at IHSPR, Diane is a research associate with the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and has a researcher appointment with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Her research interests are in physician resource policy, health services financing, and policy options for improving the health of vulnerable populations. Diane has written four books on occupational therapy.
But it's not all work for Diane. At home, her husband Greg describes her as "a wonderfully devoted mother and wife". Diane, Greg and their beautiful children Austin and Moraya can often be seen strolling along the boardwalk near their home in B.C.'s historic Steveston. Gardening is one of Diane's great loves. Given the chance, she'll sneak out into the yard. Hours later says Greg, she'll reappear, covered from head to toe in soil and weeds. Her green thumb is evident, given the verdant display of fruit trees and other edible plantings that Diane has masterfully cultivated into a lush vision of beauty.
While Diane remains primarily on dry land nowadays, those closest to her know she has a passion for the sea. She has scuba dived in exotic locals such as Australia, Mexico and the Caribbean. Even when living in Canada's colder climes, Diane was known to don her wetsuit and air tank from time to time and dip beneath thick ice for deep-water lake diving.
Apparently, the energy and enthusiasm Diane brings to the Institute are nothing new. In her high school years she was well known as one of the school's most accomplished gymnasts. So driven was she, that she was known by the nickname "diesel".
Diane holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation - University of Toronto; an M.B.A. - University of Western Ontario and Stockholm School of Economics; and a B.Sc.O.T. - University of Alberta.
| Morris Barer Scientific Director Tel: (604) 222- 6872 Fax: (604) 224-8635 morrisbarer@ihspr.ubc.ca Diane Watson Craig Larsen, Frederick Garrow, |
CIHR - OttawaMichelle Gagnon,Senior Associate Partnerships and Knowledge Translation Tel: (613) 952-4538 Fax: (613) 941-1040 mgagnon@cihr-irsc.gc.ca Michèle O'Rourke, Kim Gaudreau |
CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
University Market Place, Unit 209
2150 Western Parkway
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1V6
Tel: 604.222.6870 | Fax: 604.224.8635
Email: fgarrow@ihspr.ubc.ca
