Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions launches research chairs program to attract new talent

Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions (AIHS) is rolling out a new research chairs fund to attract new talent to the province to address priority areas identified in the Alberta Health Research and Innovation Strategy. AIHS will provide $42 million over seven years for a new Translational Health Chairs Program (THCP) to support between 10 to 20 top-flight researchers and their teams.

AIHS has partnered with the province's four research-performing universities to refine the program's target areas and the universities will be responsible for identifying and securing the best chair holders subject to AIHS review. Participating institutions are expected to provide some level of support although a precise leverage amount has not yet been determined.

"There is a degree of flexibility in the support package for each chair with junior and senior levels and a range of AIHS funding between $250,000 and $600,000 a year," says Dr Pam Valentine, AIHS's VP research and innovation. "The universities have to make the case for what they need and they have to provide an exit strategy. We provide funds for only seven years and then the universities must find alternative funding."

The new approach to chairs funding contrasts with that utilized by its predecessor, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), where the universities used the fund as part of their recruitment strategies. At its height, AHFMR supported 250 researchers which Valentine says was unsustainable over the long term.

"As an organization, it spent more than $1 billion but didn't do a great job of demonstrating impact. We also fly the flag," says Valentine. "As a funder using government dollars, there must be immediate benefits as well as long-term. The new chairs program has the capacity to support the medium- and long-term. We hope for a balanced portfolio in terms of AIHS's overall programs."

target best outcomes

The TCHP is more collaborative and is meant to assist the research community at the front end of recruitment, with ongoing discussions with the universities in terms of what they put on the table and identification of areas where targeted recruitment offers the best potential outcomes.

"The organization has moved from a translational funding perspective to one of the interested investor," says Valentine. "There's a lot of interest brewing in Alberta and it's starting to build across Canada."

AIHS has now launched five of six new programs since its inception in 2010. One of those is in partnership with Pfizer Canada, for projects of about 18 months duration with a strong commercialization focus. A catalyst grant program is also in the works which will target proof-of-principle and high-risk research projects.

Although the AHFMR is gone, its endowment has been assumed by the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education ministry. In addition, AHFMR's long-term approach to research finding has been supplanted by one in which research at all stages is both recognized and supported.

"We're given a prospective allocation to plan three years out. The allocation from the ministry is $75 million with additional pockets of funds like the Alberta Cancer Prevention Legacy Funds and the Pfizer fund," says Valentine, adding that the FY12-13 budget is $90 million, up from $83 million last year.

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