Arthritis Society - Star Career Development Award

The Stars Career Development award was created to help firmly establish the career of early career investigators. This salary and research funding represents a three (3) year commitment by Arthritis Society Canada, together with an additional three (3) year commitment by the applicant’s Host Institution. The program provides funding to support research programs aligned with Arthritis Society Canada's 2020-2025 Research Strategy. Arthritis Society Canada will be accepting applications relevant to five research priority areas: arthritis pain, OA, IA, childhood and work.

The program is intended to promote creativity in all domains of arthritis-related research responsive to Arthritis Society Canada’s strategic priorities. Applicants should review Arthritis Society Canada’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025: Accelerating Impact - Research Strategy which aims to identify research avenues that focus on areas of highest priority to patients and achieve the highest levels of scientific excellence and rigour. Applications must focus on innovative research efforts in the following priority areas.

• Arthritis pain research in:
  • Improving our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of pain
  • Translating basic science discoveries into practice
  • Improving techniques to measure pain
  • Developing new and more personalized treatment approaches
  • Alternative approaches to pain management including research on medical cannabis from basic science, clinical, health services and policy perspectives
  • Improving self-management tools and technology enablers to help manage and communicate about pain
• Osteoarthritis (OA) research in:
  • Improving our understanding of what cause different forms of OA, including the underlying biological mechanisms and how the disease progresses
  • Understand sex and gender differences in patients with OA
  • Developing new and more personalized treatment approaches
  • Developing more effective self-management tools
  • Improving health services and systems
  • Reducing health disparities in vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations
• Inflammatory arthritis (IA) research in:
  • Improving our understanding of what causes different forms of IA, including the underlaying biological mechanisms and how the disease progresses
  • Developing new and more personalized treatment approaches
  • Improving strategies to manage symptoms
  • Developing more effective methods to support patient-physician communications
  • Improving health services and systems
  • Reducing health disparities in vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations
• Childhood arthritis research in:
  • Improving our understanding of what causes childhood arthritis, how to detect it earlier, and diagnose it most effectively
  • Developing new and more personalized therapies that are safe and effective
  • Innovations to improve transitions in care as children navigate from pediatric to adult healthcare settings and improve unique quality of life issues through other life changes (e.g., education, employment)
• Work-related research in:
  • Providing a strong evidence base to inform arthritis-related workplace policies and accommodations
  • Ensuring that employees and employers have effective tools and resources to communicate how to manage chronic conditions in the workplace
  • The prevention of workplace disability and the most effective accommodations

To be eligible, an applicant must:

• Be an eligible Principal Investigator as defined by Arthritis Society Canada;
• Early Career investigators: Be within 5 years of their first academic appointment and within 10 years of their most recent graduate or health professional degree (or equivalent, in a field such as medicine, dentistry, rehabilitation sciences, nursing, pharmaceutical studies, veterinary medicine, etc.) at the time of the application deadline. Candidates who have a firm offer of an academic appointment effective before the award start date are also acceptable;
• Be a Canadian citizen or resident of Canada at the time of application with a position at an eligible Canadian Host Institution;
• Have a commitment from their Host Institution* from the Faculty Dean or Research Director that includes: Institutional support (suitable lab/research space, resources and support, etc.); a minimum of 80% protected research time for the duration of the award; 3 additional years of equivalent research and salary support (at an appropriate rank and salary beyond the term of this award) as well as adequate infrastructure and physical space;
• Not hold other funding support of a similar nature and goals (i.e., recipients of salary awards and operating grants aimed at establishing their research program and/or advancing their career development as of the funding start date are not eligible to apply). These include, but are not limited to, Canada Research Chair awards, province-specific establishment grants, early career institutional chair awards and early career investigator operating grants.
• Additional information is available in this FAQ.

The roles and responsibilities of the Principal Investigator and Host Institution in the management of Arthritis Society Canada’s research and training funds are defined on the Arthritis Society Canada website.

Abstract Registration

There is a limit of one Star application per Principal Investigator in a competition.

NEW! A PI can only hold two Arthritis Society Canada-funded grants or awards across all Arthritis Society Canada or partnered competitions as PI/Co-PI at any time. PI/Co-PIs can apply to only two competitions per year. Applications for subsequent funding can be submitted in the final year of Arthritis Society Canada funding of a current grant. Applicants will be required to declare all funding in the "Other Funding" section of their application(s).

All submissions will be screened for completeness and eligibility. Note that incomplete applications by the deadline will be deemed ineligible and withdrawn from the competition. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that applications are complete at the time of submission. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

All applicants are strongly advised to read all program documentation listed below. If you have any questions, please contact the research department at research@arthritis.ca.

Abstract registrations must be submitted through Arthritis Society Canada’s online research grant portal. The abstract registration will inform the panel composition. Registration is mandatory and will require applicant and mentor details, scientific abstract, keywords, relevance statement, and suggested reviewers and exclusions.

Any significant changes to the proposed program, environment or mentor after the Abstract Registration deadline should be communicated to Arthritis Society Canada as soon as they are known. Substantive changes that significantly alter the overall goals and aims of the proposed program relative to the Abstract Registration are not permitted.