CIHR Operating Grant : SPOR Innovative Clinical Trial Multi-Year Grant (2017)
Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery
Deadlines
Academic Unit: Inquire with Unit
Memorial Deadline: Thursday 7th, September 2017
External Deadline: Tuesday 12th, September 2017
Description
Letter of Intent Deadline: September 12, 2017
Full Application Deadline: January 16, 2018
The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is a national coalition of federal, provincial and territorial partners (patients and informal caregivers, provincial health authorities, academic health centres, charities, philanthropic organizations, private sector, etc.) dedicated to the integration of research into care.
Patient-oriented research refers to a continuum of research that engages patients as partners, focusses on patient-identified priorities and improves patient outcomes. This research, conducted by multidisciplinary teams in partnership with relevant stakeholders, aims to apply the knowledge generated to improve healthcare systems and practices.
All recipients of funding through SPOR are required to adhere to the following principles:
- Patients need to be involved in all aspects of the research to ensure questions and results are relevant;
- Decision-makers and clinicians need to be involved throughout the entire research process to ensure integration into policy and practice;
- Funding under SPOR is based on a 1:1 matching formula with non-Canadian federal government partners to ensure relevance and applicability;
- Effective patient-oriented research requires a multi-disciplinary approach; and
- SPOR is outcome driven and incorporates performance measurement and evaluation as integral components of the initiative.
As part of SPOR, the Innovative Clinical Trials (iCT) initiative aims to build capacity and increase the intensity of iCT research. iCTs use designs that are alternative to traditional Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) with application in areas ranging from product development to health system improvement. iCT methods can reduce the cost of conducting trials, reduce the amount of time needed to answer research questions, and increase the relevance of research findings to patients, health care providers and/or policy makers. Adopting these alternative designs can maximize the use of existing knowledge and data.
In an effort to facilitate collaborations, CIHR has launched the SPOR iCT linkage tool. More information can be found on the iCT initiative webpage.
Research Areas
Moreover, CIHR will provide funding for iCTs that have a primary focus in the research areas of:
- comparative effectiveness research; and/or
- implementation science research.
Comparative effectiveness research compares two or more healthcare options already shown to be efficacious. The healthcare options could include diagnostics, drugs, medical devices, surgeries, complementary medicine, self-care or ways to deliver health care. The findings should be able to inform health-care decisions by providing evidence on the effectiveness, benefits, and harms of different health care options and other type of interventions.
Implementation science research examines interventions that are already shown to work under certain conditions and within certain contexts, which could be defined by demographic, biological, clinical, social, economic, geographic, or other factors. Implementation science aims to determine if these interventions can be adapted to other contexts, how should they be adapted and what are the longer term effects. In other words, implementation research seeks to understand what interventions work for whom and under what circumstances. It studies the factors that influence the full and effective use of interventions in practice, which could include affordability, adaptability, scalability and sustainability.
For additional details on this program, visit CIHR’s website