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An Opportunity for New Researchers in Aboriginal Health (Archived)

Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health

Summary

The purpose of this initiative is to increase aboriginal health research capacity in Canada through the funding of aboriginal health researchers in any discipline, so long as their research fits into the domain of one or more of the four pillars of health research (biomedical, clinical science, health systems and services, and the social, cultural, environmental and other aspects that effect the health of populations), and they have no prior operating grants from the national health research funding agencies such as: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), or the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Canadian Institutes of Health Research- Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health (CIHR-IAPH) will accept proposals that address one of the following priority areas: child and youth health, diabetes, fetal alcohol syndrome/fetal alcohol effect, HIV/AIDS, prevention of accidents and injuries, innovative projects (i.e. traditional medicine, spiritual health, etc.), health services utilization and health reform policy, or mental health including addictions and suicide.

April 1, 2004	Registration Deadline - Registration packages must be courier stamped by this date. (Please refer to "How to Apply" section of this document.)
June 1, 2004	Full proposals must be courier stamped by this date. (Please refer to "How to Apply" section of this document.)
January 2005	Anticipated notification of decision.
February 15, 2005	Anticipated start date.
Duration of projects	Up to 3 years.
Funds Available	Up to $600,000 per year. The maximum amount per grant is $75,000 per year.

Introduction
Background
Partners
Specific Objectives and Eligible Research Areas
Eligibility Criteria
Specific Eligibility Requirements
Mechanism of Support
Funds Available
Allowable Costs
How to Apply
Evaluation Process and Criteria for Peer Review
General CIHR Guidelines and Conditions of Funding
Performance Measurement and Evaluation
Address for Submitting Application and Contact Information

Introduction

The goal the Canadian Institutes of Health Research -Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health (CIHR-IAPH) is to lead a national advanced research agenda in the area of aboriginal health, and to promote innovative research in this field that improves the health of aboriginal peoples living in Canada. The CIHR-IAPH aspires to balance indigenous knowledge, values and community priorities, with international scientific excellence. The purpose of this strategic initiative is to develop capacity among aboriginal health researchers. New aboriginal health researchers are those who have not previously received operating grants from any national health research funding agency. This request for proposals does not, however exclude applicants who have received salary awards.

Background

One of the four strategic priorities outlined in the CIHR-IAPH five year strategic plan: 2002-2007, is capacity building. Although there are demonstrated pockets of research excellence in the area of aboriginal health, there is a great need to build aboriginal health research capacity, especially among university graduate students studying aboriginal health. The CIHR-IAPH has made strides towards capacity building through the establishment of Aboriginal Capacity and Developmental Research Environments (ACADREs) across Canada. Additionally the CIHR-IAPH has hosted two national gatherings of graduate students pursuing aboriginal health research, in order to hear the research concerns of graduate students. One concern highlighted at these meetings deals with the difficulty to obtain funding, and to be competitive in the CIHR open competitions. The objective of this initiative is to provide funding for new investigators, thereby introducing them to the grant application and funding processes.

Partners

The partners supporting this initiative include:

Other CIHR Institutes may fund proposals according to research areas

Specific Objectives and Eligible Research Areas

It is the objective of the CIHR-IAPH to promote original, innovative coordinated and feasible research and to facilitate the rapid uptake of research results through appropriate communication, dissemination and transfer of knowledge strategies. The CIHR-IAPH would like to encourage scientific researchers to develop innovative research approaches and mentorship opportunities for this initiative, and therefore does not want to be prescriptive. The CIHR-IAPH will accept proposals from all four of the CIHR research pillars (biomedical, clinical science, health systems and services, and the social, cultural and other aspects that effect the health of populations). The research areas are not limited but should focus on areas that have potential to improve on the profound burden of ill health experienced by aboriginal Canadians. Suggested areas of research include: child and youth health, diabetes, fetal alcohol syndrome/fetal alcohol effect, HIV/AIDS, prevention of accidents and injuries, innovative projects (i.e. traditional medicine, spiritual health, etc.), health services utilization and health reform policy and mental health including addictions and suicide.

The specific objectives of this request are:

To fund new investigators in aboriginal health research
To fund innovative aboriginal health research
To increase and strengthen the expertise of aboriginal health researchers
To encourage mentorship

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding (grant) programs apply. The business office of the institution of an eligible Nominated Principal Applicant generally administers CIHR funds. Please refer to the General Guidelines for All CIHR Programs under CIHR's Grants and Awards Guides on the CIHR website, regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

Randomized Controlled Trials will not be considered under this RFA. RCTs are defined as any study involving humans where at least two interventions are compared using random allocation, statistical methodologies and blinding techniques for the purpose of determining whether an innovative intervention leads to improved health.

Specific Eligibility Requirements

The aim of this competition is to provide first grant funds to a new cohort of young investigators engaged in aboriginal health research. Thus, the Nominated Principal Applicant must NOT have any prior operating grants from any of the national health research funding agencies, such as CIHR, NIH, MRC, NSERC or SSHRC. Applicants other than the NPI can hold peer-reviewed funds. Applicants who have received salary awards are eligible.

Researchers seeking to enter the field of aboriginal health research should document the change in their career paths or research focus.

The research plans must address an aboriginal health research issue associated with one or more of CIHR's health research themes:
1. biomedical
2. clinical
3. health systems and health services
4. societal, cultural, and environmental influences on health and the health of populations.

This program emphasizes the discovery of new knowledge and the translation of research findings into improvements of the health of aboriginal Canadians.

The team leader - Nominated Principal Investigator - is the person who acts as research program director and assumes administrative responsibility for the grant. No person listed as a member of the team may receive a salary from the grant.
Proposals must be based on an active partnership between a community organization(s).The partner may also contribute funding or in-kind support to the research project (such as office space or staff time), according to its ability to do so.
Community partners include tribal councils, aboriginal organizations, school boards, health-oriented service clubs, community foundations and organizations, local, provincial and national health charities, hospital and research institute foundations, municipal and regional health authorities, district health councils, and provincial government agencies. The guiding principle is that teams from the community be active and ongoing participants in research, training and dissemination activities, and that their roles have been agreed upon in a spirit of equity and mutual benefit.
Proposals must document how issues of [Informed Consent] will be addressed including free and informed consent without manipulation, undue influence or coercion, full disclosure of information relevant for meaningful exercise of free and informed consent and immediate full debriefing of subjects.¹

Mechanism of Support

This RFA is funded as a strategic initiative and is designed to solicit project grant applications with the duration of up to 3 years.

Funds Available

The maximum amount awarded for a single grant is $75,000 per annum for up to 3 years, including equipment. All the equipment must be requested in the first year.
The total amount available for this initiative is $600,000 per year for 3 years. This amount may increase if additional funding partners decide to participate.

Allowable costs

Applicants should review the "Eligibility of Expenses, Employment under Grants" section of the General Guidelines for all Research Funding Programs for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

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

Grants should NOT be used:

As bridging or emergency funding
To support ongoing studies

Funds should be aimed at methodological or intellectual content innovations as opposed to personnel or training innovations (the latter being supported by CIHR elsewhere).

How to Apply

To access CIHR application forms, including CVs, all applicants and co-applicants must acquire Personal Identification Numbers (PIN). There will be a delay of approximately one working day to receive confirmation of a PIN. More than one working day may be required in peak periods - late January and early August.
Applicants are advised to refer to the "Guidelines for Completion" specific to each application module, and the instructions on 'How to Apply,' including the applicable Grants and Awards Guides. Note that the proposals must address the criteria described under the "Evaluation Process and Criteria for Peer Review" section in the text of the RFA.
The following special instructions apply to this RFA:

To ensure that your registration and application are forwarded to the appropriate CIHR staff, the words 'Opportunity for New Resarchers in Aboriginal Health, Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health' must be inserted under the heading "Name of Industrial Partner(s) OR Partnership Program OR Special Program (if applicable)" in the General Information section of the Research Module (page 7 of the PDF form).

There are two steps to applying for this RFA. Applicants are encouraged to use the Webforms.

Register your intent to apply, using the CIHR Operating Grants registration package, which consists of pages from the CIHR Research Module, in addition to pages one and two of the Common CV for each applicant and co-applicant participating in the research project. If you are using the Webforms, after entering your PIN and password, create a new application, and then complete the "Operating" section under the Research Funding Programs heading. Once you have completed this section, Save and Exit, then choose the print option for "Registration Pages Only." Send the original plus one copy of both the registration pages and the CV pages to CIHR by courier by the registration deadline indicated in this RFA document, which may be different from the Operating Grants registration deadline.
Complete the full application using the CIHR Operating Grants application package, which consists of the CIHR Research Module, the CIHR Operating Budget Module and a Common CV for each applicant and co-applicant participating in the research project. When completing the CIHR Operating Budget Module provide a detailed justification of all project costs. Costs to be covered by CIHR's funding partners should be listed in the "Other Funding Sources" column on Page 1 of the Budget Module. Courier the original, plus eight copies of the full application by the application deadline indicated in the text of this RFA document.

Evaluation Process and Criteria for Peer Review

Each proposal must describe how the grant will address one of the important health issues described under "Specific Objectives and Eligible Research Areas" above. The appropriate Institute and/or Partner representatives may evaluate proposals for relevance/responsiveness to the RFA.

The Peer Review committee may be drawn from one of CIHR's pre-existing committees or may be created specifically for this Initiative. Committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the Institute(s) and partner(s). Names of committee members are published on the CIHR website. The committee will follow the CIHR Peer Review Process.

General criteria for assessing applications are listed below. It is understood that referees and committees will weigh questions such as these differently from one application to another.

The Research Proposed

How will the proposed research try to improve the burden of ill health of aboriginal peoples?
How does the proposed research balance the pursuit of scientific excellence with direct involvement of the aboriginal community in the research process?
How important and/or original are the research questions to be addressed, and how clearly are they formulated?
How important and/or original are the contributions expected from the research proposed? What is the potential for important new observations or knowledge?
How well do the proposed experiments address the research questions?
How appropriate are the methodologies and the proposed analyses of data?
How relevant are the new methodologies proposed. How are they introduced and/or explored? How well have the applicants anticipated difficulties in their approach and considered alternatives?
Is the relevant literature appraised and evaluated critically?
How appropriate are the mentorship opportunities?

The Applicant's Productivity, Experience and Training

How appropriate to the research proposed is the training or track record of the applicant(s)? How important and original is the recent productivity of the applicant(s)? How much confidence do you have that the applicant can do the work proposed? (The proposed time commitment to the research may influence this judgment.)

Applications will also be evaluated on the following specific criteria:

Relevance. Applicants should describe the alignment of the proposed program with the objectives of the strategic initiative Aboriginal Peoples' Health: Opportunity for New Researchers in Aboriginal Health.
Responsiveness. Applicants may emphasize the ways in which a Project constitutes a unique, original investigation and/or represents an innovative advance in the field of Aboriginal Health: Opportunities for New Researchers.
Innovation/Advancement. The project should challenge current research thinking and paradigms and/or address unexplored areas. The potential of great scientific gain should offset the risk of failure.
Approach. Conceptual framework, methods, hypotheses, design and analyses are adequately developed. It is anticipated that preliminary data may not be available in most cases.
Nominated Principal Applicant. This applicant is appropriately trained, has demonstrated research excellence and the applicant may have mentorship relationship with established researcher (s).

On completion of the review, the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health and its partners will receive the ranking lists, merit scores (ratings) and recommendation of the Committee, with regards to term and funding level, for the submitted applications. Based on the total funds available for the initiative, applications will be funded from the top ranked down as far as the budget allows. Applications receiving a score less than 3.5 will not be considered for funding.

General CIHR Guidelines and Conditions of Funding

All conditions, as specified in CIHR's General Guidelines for All CIHR Programs and the strategic initiative Aboriginal Peoples' Health: Opportunity for New Researchers, shall apply to grants funded through this initiative. 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 nominated principal applicant is required to submit a final performance report, summarizing the results and describing how the grant funds were used. Please send the Report to the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health.
Applicants who receive funding must acknowledge the CIHR-Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health and its partners in any communication or publication related to the grant.

Communication Requirement

Recipients who receive funding are required to acknowledge the CIHR Institute(s)/partner(s) in any communication or publication related to the grant as follows: CIHR- IAPH.

Performance Measurement and Evaluation

The CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health has made plans to assess performance of this initiative through ongoing monitoring and periodic evaluation. We are committed to informing Canadians about the performance of our initiatives and the results that they deliver.

The following table is intended to further clarify objectives by linking them to expected outcomes and measures. All funded applicants will be expected to participate in the evaluation strategy, contributing advice, data and reports as required for assessment purposes.

Objective	Outcome	Measure / Indicator
To fund new investigators in aboriginal health research	Increased number of aboriginal health researchers Increased success rate of new investigators in competitions	Number of CIHR funded New Investigator-aboriginal health researchers Number of mentor-new researcher relationships Data on applicants success rates in strategic initiative/open competitions
To fund innovative aboriginal health research	The generation of valid, reliable, and useful data and information	Number of data sets analyzed Evaluation of the research (process and outcome/impact) Publications
To increase and strengthen the expertise of aboriginal health researchers	Health researchers who are aware of the complex factors that affect aboriginal health status, and understand aboriginal research concerns	Data on number multi-disciplinary/multi-pillar research projects Satisfaction of Aboriginal community with quality of research
To encourage mentorship	Increased research competencies of the new researcher	Number of new Aboriginal leaders in research including graduate students and post-doctoral trainees

Address for Submitting Application and Contact Information

Send Application by Courier to:

RE: "An Opportunity for New Researchers in Aboriginal Health"
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Research Portfolio
410 Laurier Avenue W., 9th Floor
Address Locator 4209A
Ottawa, ON K1A 0W9

Contacts for Further Information:

For questions on CIHR funding guidelines or how to apply contact:

Alex Lamontagne
Program Coordinator
Knowledge Creation Programs Branch
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
410 Laurier Avenue West, 9th floor, Address Locator 4209A,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0W9
Telephone: (613) 954-6054
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: alamontagne@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

For questions about this initiative and research objectives contact:

Institute Representative

Earl Nowgesic, BScN, RN, MHSc
Assistant Director
Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health
University of Toronto
100 College Street
Toronto Ontario M5G 1L5
Telephone: (416) 946-8056
Fax: (416) 946-8055
Email: earl.nowgesic@utoronto.ca

¹Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans 1998

Created: 2003-12-03
Modified: 2004-01-12
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