The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; french: Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada.
CIHR supports more than 13,000 researchers and trainees through grants, fellowships, scholarships, and other funding, as part of the federal government's investment in health research. The
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
process is a vital part of CIHR. Review by panels of peers from the research community ensures that proposals approved for funding by CIHR meet internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence.
Along with the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, CRSH) is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and traini ...
, and the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...
, the CIHR forms the major source of federal government funding to post-secondary research and are collectively referred to as the "Tri-Council" or "Tri-Agency".
History
CIHR was created by an Act of Parliament on June 7, 2000, bringing together existing government activities. CIHR's annual budget is approximately $1 billion.
In 2021, Carrie Bourassa, the scientific director of CIHR's Indigenous health arm, was placed on immediate leave after the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) found no evidence to support her repeated claims of Indigenous ancestry.
Governance
CIHR is a departmental corporation listed in Schedule II of the ''Financial Administration Act''. As an arms' length agency of government, it is accountable to Parliament through the
minister of health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
. CIHR is managed by the president and the 17 members of Governing Council, who are assisted by various Standing and Advisory Committees and a 7-member executive team.
President
Alan Bernstein
Alan Bernstein (born June 25, 1947) is president and CEO of CIFAR (the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research). He is recognized as a leader in health research, science policy, mentorship and organizational leadership.
Education
Born in Toront ...
was the founding president of the agency (2000-2007), followed by Alain Beaudet (2008-2017). Michael Strong, an
ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...
researcher, was announced as the new president in June 2018.
Institute structure
CIHR consists of 13 "virtual" institutes, each headed by a Scientific Director and assisted by an Institute Advisory Board. They work together to shape a national health research agenda for Canada. The institutes bring together researchers, health professionals, and policy-makers from voluntary health organizations, provincial government agencies, international research organizations, and industry and patient groups from across the country with a shared interest in improving the health of Canadians.
The work of the institutes embraces the four pillars of health research:
# biomedical;
# clinical;
# health services; and
# population health.
A major goal of the institutes is to forge relationships across disciplines to stimulate integrative, multifaceted research agendas that respond to society's health priorities while adhering to the highest ethical standards.
Member institutes
Each institute focuses on a specific area of research.
*Institute of Aging
*Institute of Cancer Research
*Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
*Institute of Gender and Health
*Institute of Genetics
*Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
*Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
*Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health
*Institute of Infection and Immunity
*Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
*Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
*Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
*Institute of Population and Public Health
COVID-19
In June 2020, CIHR provided $109 million in funding to 139 research teams across Canada for COVID-19 research. On February 16, 2021, CIHR launched the CIHR-CEPI Leadership Award for Excellence in Vaccine Research for Infectious Diseases of Epidemic Potential, co-administered with the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a foundation that takes donations from public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations, to finance independent research projects to develop vaccines against emerging ...
(CEPI).
See also
*
Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI; ) is a non-profit and non-partisan organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that collaborates with governments, policy makers, researchers, front-line clinicians, patients and practic ...
*
Canadian government scientific research organizations
Expenditures by federal and provincial organizations on scientific research and development accounted for about 10% of all such spending in Canada in 2006. These organizations are active in natural and social science research, engineering research, ...
*
Canadian industrial research and development organizations
Expenditures by Canadian corporations on research and development accounted for about 50% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2007.
In the corporate sector research and development tends to focus on the creation or ...
*
Canadian university scientific research organizations Expenditures by Canadian universities on scientific research and development accounted for about 40% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2006.
Research in the natural and social sciences in Canada, with a few importa ...
*
EvidenceNetwork.ca
EvidenceNetwork.ca creates media content on public policy topics for publication in the mainstream media and links journalists with policy experts to provide access to non-partisan, evidence-based information. According to their annual reports, ...
*
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is responsible for co-coordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), which came into operation 1 April 2018, and brings together t ...
*
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
– US counterpart
*
National Research Council of Canada
The National Research Council Canada (NRC; french: Conseil national de recherches Canada) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research & development. It is the largest federal research ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Institutes Of Health Research
Medical research institutes in Canada
Health Canada
Federal departments and agencies of Canada
Funding bodies of Canada
2000 establishments in Canada
Government agencies established in 2000
Research funding agencies