The Institute of Infection and Immunity (III), one of the 13 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), has recently been at the forefront of CIHR's mission to be responsive to the health needs of Canadians. Over the past two years the Institute has had the honour and responsibility of coordinating the Canadian research response to SARS, West Nile virus, and BSE (Mad Cow Disease).
The Institute's mandate, however, is much broader in scope. Within the priority areas of Infectious Disease and Host Response, III research themes include:
The Institute supports basic and clinical research, as well as research into health services and policy and the health of populations. For ongoing issues such as HIV/AIDS, the focus is on prevention and treatment. For emerging infectious diseases, the emphasis is on clinical research and developing strategies to prevent the spread of the disease.
The Institute is working to fulfill its commitments in its priority areas. It supports a strategic initiative in Microbial Contamination of Food and Water and Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain involving five federal departments. It has been closely involved in developing new research programs in HIV and hepatitis C, including socio-behavioural research. It has maintained its commitment to build and support infection and immunity research communities through strategic funding for operating grants and pilot projects.
III strives for organizational excellence through the identification, development and evaluation of strategic research initiatives, the creation and maintenance of links with the research community and the identification and maintenance of partnerships. It is these links with other organizations that enable it to respond rapidly in the case of a crisis such as the SARS outbreak.
III continues to position itself to react quickly and anticipate future issues, challenges, technology changes and population, law and societal changes that impact on specific research needs and opportunities, with advice to healthcare providers and the community. In the next few years, III will work with other organizations to promote clinical research into autoimmune diseases. III also expects to develop more international partnerships to promote research into global health issues.
The ultimate goal of the Institute of Infection and Immunity, as with all CIHR institutes, continues to be to improve health care for all Canadians through the best evidence-based care and scientific advice available.
