Ottawa‚s bold new approach to health research, which was on the drawing-board for almost 5 years, is reality after Allan Rock, the federal minister of health, launched the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in June. He also announced that the CIHR‚s inaugural president is Dr. Alan Bernstein, an internationally recognized cancer researcher. Exactly 22 days after the early-June launch, Bernstein cut the ribbon at the CIHR‚s new home at a downtown Ottawa office tower.
Among the 250 guests was Dr. Henry Friesen, former president of the now-defunct Medical Research Council of Canada, who is largely responsible for the conception, gestation and birth of the CIHR. ”Twenty-two days is an appropriate time frame for this process,” he says, ”because that is the gestational period for a mouse or a rat!”
The traditionally structured MRC, which responded to applications for funds from researchers, has been replaced by an organization that intends to drive the research agenda itself. This became clear July 19 when CIHR announced the creation of 13 ”virtual institutes” — networks of researchers across Canada — that will receive a share of the greatly increased research funding now available. The institutes cover areas ranging from aboriginal people‚s health to cancer research and genetics (www/cihr.ca).
The CIHR budget of $530 million is more than twice the size of the MRC‚s $260 million annual budget.
Four key themes will underpin CIHR-funded research. All institutes are expected to incorporate biomedical and clinical research, research respecting health systems and services, and research on societal, cultural and environmental influences on health. Bernstein says the emphasis on the last 2 priorities means that family doctors may play a more important role in Canadian research. ”They can be a key part of the teams focused on the impact of the health care system.”
Adds Karen Mosher, the CIHR executive director: ”A crucial aspect of our work is the translation and dissemination of research findings to practitioners. We want to increase research uptake, so clinicians are kept up to date.”
Denis Morrice, president and CEO of The Arthritis Society, says the CIHR ”is going to help ordinary citizens understand what is happening in science. People with arthritis will sit on the relevant advisory board. I‚ve never been so excited about research as I am today.” —
Figure. Drs. Alan Bernstein (left) and Henry Friesen: a new start for medical research?
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