Team Grant : Pan-Canadian Network: Emerging LHS in Perinatal Mental Health

Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery

Deadlines

Academic Unit: Inquire With Unit

Memorial Deadline: Friday 30th, January 2026

External Deadline: Thursday 5th, February 2026

Description

“RIS will be offering support with application development for this opportunity. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Jennifer Stevens (v5js@mun.ca) or Amanda Crompton (ajcrompt@mun.ca) early during the development process to discuss the services available to them.”

Description:

This funding opportunity will support the development of a learning health system (LHS) network in perinatal mental health. The LHS approach integrates research, data, and knowledge for continuous improvement in care to help ensure that the most effective treatments are consistently updated and implemented equitably across Canada. This approach would also enable the rapid translation of research findings into clinical and care practice, providing a mechanism for evaluating program impacts and improving equitable service delivery. Furthermore, this approach would ensure continuous improvement in efficiency and effectiveness of the processes of the LHS. The network is expected to develop an LHS by: (i) collecting and synthesizing data from real-world practice (‘practice to data’), (ii) using that data to answer questions and generate new and useful knowledge (‘data to knowledge’), and (iii) applying that knowledge to improve care to equitably meet the needs of people with lived/living experience (PWLLE), caregivers/families and communities served (‘knowledge to practice’), which includes knowledge mobilization and implementation science; see Additional Information.

Excellent research and LHSs should incorporate open science practices that enable timely access and sharing of research findings, data, and other outputs, see Additional Information.

Perinatal mental health (PMH) is an area that has seen significant research and service delivery investment/advancement in recent years at the local and regional levels. Perinatal mental illness occurs during prenatal and postpartum periods and includes conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If untreated, these conditions can have long-lasting effects, increasing the risk of chronic mental health issues for the parent and developmental challenges for the child. Despite the availability of evidence-based treatments, barriers such as stigma, lack of knowledge, and limited access to care—especially in rural areas—create a gap in treating individuals to full remission. Additionally, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples, racialized people, persons with disability, and those that identify as 2SLGBTQI+ face higher rates of perinatal mental illness, with even less access to appropriate care.

Across Canada, there are several specialized PMH programs located in academic centers that provide gold-standard care, including psychological and pharmacological treatment, but they are often burdened with long waitlists. Referrals depend on geographic location and primary care provider knowledge, creating an inequitable system. Timely intervention can prevent long-term negative outcomes and improve quality of life for both parent and child. Specialized programs are already collaborating on clinical guidelines and quality indicators for care, as well as engaging Indigenous experts for culturally safe care. However, despite these efforts, there remains a lack of an integrated, equitable system for timely access to perinatal mental health services. The ability to link programs and local networks to develop an LHS in PMH would improve health outcomes, health equity, service delivery, and cost. Additionally, an LHS would ensure proper integration of PWLLE and caregiver/family insights, which are key in PMH patient care.

Applicants are expected to ensure equitable access of diverse researchers, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, to opportunities available within the research team that will be established with program funding. This includes ensuring the research environment is supportive and any systemic barriers are addressed effectively and swiftly (see the Best Practices in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research for guidance and examples of systemic barriers).

Applicants are expected to adopt data management best practices to enable reproducible science and to enable successful sharing across the network (e.g., the FAIR principles – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). Final data policies and procedures, for example data access procedures, are expected to be publicly available. See Additional Information for more details.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity will support a project relevant to the development of a pan-Canadian learning health system network in perinatal mental health (PMH).

Role and Contributions of Applicant Partners: CIHR recognizes that a broad range of partners may be relevant to this opportunity and it is expected that applicant(s) describe the role of all applicant partners and how/if they will contribute to research and research related activities. Any consideration of risk and/or conflict of interest should also be explained, as appropriate.

Funds Available

CIHR and partner(s) financial contributions for this initiative are subject to availability of funds. Should CIHR or partner(s) funding levels not be available or are decreased due to unforeseen circumstances, CIHR and partner(s) reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to grants received as a result of this funding opportunity.

• The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $6,000,000, enough to fund one grant for up to five (5) years.

For more information on the appropriate use of funds, refer to Allowable Costs.

Important Dates:

Funding Sources

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)