CIHR - Planning and Dissemination Grants - ICS

CIHR's mandate is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system through a unique interdisciplinary structure made up of virtual Institutes and Initiatives. To achieve these objectives, the Institutes promote, and build upon, Canada’s firm foundation of research excellence; and Initiatives are created to investigate pressing health issues that are of strategic importance to our country.

One of the mechanisms for the Institutes to achieve their mandates is by offering Planning and/or Dissemination grants within the Institute Community Support (ICS) Program. The Planning and Dissemination Grants are intended to provide support for planning and/or dissemination activities consistent with the mandate of CIHR and relevant to CIHR Institutes, or Initiatives.

The intention of this funding opportunity is to prepare for future applications related to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Future funding opportunities may include, but are not limited to, collaborative projects in the following research areas:

1. Studies determining the etiology and pathogenesis of ME/CFS;
2. Studies that help to identify subtypes of ME/CFS based on biological markers and/or symptom classifications;
3. Longitudinal studies to understand the course of disease over time to better characterize the manifestations of ME/CFS; and develop and validate outcome measures for future intervention trials; and
4. Studies that identify of potential treatment targets for ME/CFS.

Relevant Research Areas

The CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA) will provide funding for one (1) application that is relevant to research activities in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

Events/activities may focus on, but are not limited to, the following:

Planning:

• Activities that assist potential teams of researchers, knowledge-users and/or partners in working together to identify research questions or emerging issues and priorities that could form the basis of a grant application;
• Stakeholder consultations, including citizen engagement activities, regarding needs, gaps and opportunities in the health research landscape, priority policy issues and/or priority research questions, where such common understanding is currently lacking or requires further development;
• Initial planning and discussion of a research project among potential team members including researchers, knowledge-users and/or partners to assess the viability of the research project and the partnership;
• Conducting an environmental scan or preliminary synthesis of relevant literature, activities or programs;
• Early-stage planning to determine possible commercial viability of a discovery;
• Opportunities for knowledge exchange involving stakeholder linkages (to inform practice, care, and/or policy) that could potentially lead to an application to a funding opportunity;
• Gatherings of partners, health researchers, and/or knowledge users where the main objective is to facilitate regional/national and/or international collaboration among individuals or groups from a variety of backgrounds (for example, building new and existing multi-sectored partnerships that include a significant number of participants from outside the conventional scientific community, consensus meetings, networking and partnership development events) interested in applying to a funding opportunity.

Note: This funding opportunity is not intended to support the direct cost of research (e.g., pilot projects, feasibility studies or operating grants), principal and co-investigator salaries or research equipment. Any activity that may be perceived as such should be justified (e.g., surveying individuals for the purpose of the project).