CIHR – Team Grant : CIHR-JDRF Type 1 Diabetes Screening Research Consortium – Application
Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery
Deadlines
Academic Unit: Inquire within unit
Memorial Deadline: Tuesday 7th, March 2023
External Deadline: Tuesday 14th, March 2023
Description
RIS will be offering support with application development for this opportunity. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Jennifer Stevens (v5js@mun.ca) early during the development process to discuss the services available to them
Approximately 300,000 Canadians live with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and the incidence of T1D in children in Canada is among the highest in the world. In Canada, around 25-45% of new pediatric T1D diagnoses in the general population present with the life-threatening complication of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)1-3. DKA is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children with T1D, and DKA at diagnosis strongly correlates with long term negative health outcomes.
Stages of T1D have recently been defined based on the development of ≥2 autoantibodies to islet antigens (stage 1) as well as impaired glucose tolerance (stage 2), before progression to clinical diagnosis and requirement for exogenous insulin therapy (stage 3). Research studies have shown that T1D screening combined with clinical monitoring can reduce the incidence of DKA at diagnosis from 25-62% to 4-6%4, reducing healthcare system burden and improving short and long-term outcomes for patients and families. As relatives of people with T1D have a ~15 times increased risk of developing the disease compared with the general population, most T1D screening studies (i.e., identification of individuals in stage 1 or stage 2) have focused on family members. However, as 90% of people diagnosed with T1D do not have any family history, family-based screening does not identify the majority of people at risk4.
T1D screening and follow-up are not yet part of clinical practice in any country. However, family-based and general population research studies or pilot initiatives are occurring in several countries to enable reductions in the incidence of DKA at diagnosis, as well as provide opportunities for individuals to participate in clinical trials of drugs that could delay onset of clinical disease. They are also providing a foundation of evidence related to T1D screening, including on development and application of genetic risk scores and autoantibody assays; the feasibility, risks, benefits and cost-effectiveness of T1D screening; clinical monitoring and follow-up; and psychosocial implications.
This funding opportunity aims to support a National T1D Screening Research Consortium that can leverage and expand upon existing evidence to advance opportunities for T1D screening in Canada and accelerate international efforts to reduce the burden of T1D.
JDRF and the CIHR-Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD) held a T1D Screening Workshop in February 2022 to seek input and advice from experts and representatives from the Canadian pediatric type 1 diabetes research community. A summary of the proceedings from this Workshop are available.
Purpose
The goal of the CIHR-JDRF Type 1 Diabetes Screening Research Consortium is to develop a single nationally coordinated research Consortium to explore key research questions pertaining to the feasibility and acceptability of a general population T1D screening program in Canada, building on experiences from other countries.
The Consortium will bring together experts from different disciplines with stakeholder organizations and people affected by T1D including, but not limited to, pediatric clinical endocrinology, T1D research, general population screening, health economics, health policy, representatives from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and health authorities/organizations, primary care provider associations, and people with lived experience (PWLE; i.e., people at risk of or with T1D, and their families and informal caregivers, or a patient organization representing these groups). PWLE must be meaningfully engaged in the Consortium, including in the Leadership and Governance of the Consortium and in all aspects of the research process, to ensure the Consortium undertakes its work in a way that is relevant to the T1D community.
The Consortium will ensure that research projects and other activities are well integrated and occur in alignment with common objectives and themes, maximizing opportunities to establish a coordinated approach to T1D screening in Canada. The Consortium should support coordination among Federal, Provincial and Territorial stakeholders to ensure that the research addresses relevant policy and operational questions that would need to be answered to develop an effective approach for general population screening for T1D in Canada.
| Competition | 202303T1D |
|---|---|
| Registration Deadline | 2023-02-15 |
| Application Deadline | 2023-03-14 |
| Anticipated Notice of Decision | 2023-06-30 |
| Funding Start Date | 2023-06-01 |
More details can be found at ResearchNet.