Bernstein warns of worsening funding environment

Dr Alan Bernstein has issued his sternest warning to date that the ability of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to fund top-flight researchers is imperiled without a significant increase to its base budget. The CIHR president outlined the depth of the impending crisis in an open letter to the health research community posted this week on the CIHR website (www. cihr.ca).

In the letter, Bernstein noted that CIHR's base budget has not kept pace with the increasing cost of conducting health research, the surging number of researchers seeking funding and the dwindling amount of uncommitted funds available for new grant applications. Evidence of the funding shortfall will become clear later this month with the release of results from the September/06 open grants competition.

"It now seems almost certain that the success rate for this competition will be significantly lower than for previous open grant competitions," wrote Bernstein. "I am very concerned about the impact this situation will have on all members of the research community – new investigators, mid-level established investigators and Canada's most senior researchers."

While the letter's release coincides with the run-up to next month's federal Budget, Bernstein does not attach any numbers to his description of the current funding situation. Instead, he opts to provide a methodical and detailed accounting of CIHR's existing expenditures and an explanation of where previous increases have been allocated.

In contrast, the Standing Committee on Finance and Research Canada (a health research advocacy group) are calling for CIHR's budget to be increased by $350 million over the next three years (see page 4).

Going forward, Bernstein calls for short- and long-term strategies that include a shift from inputs to outputs, greater public engagement and an emphasis on newly recruited young investigators. He also calls for a "high level" look at peer review, a reduction in the number of small, institute-led initiatives, and a "proactive mechanism that encourages research in designated areas."

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