Institute for Circulatory and Respiratory Health launches three Emerging Networks

The CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH) is investing $13 million in three Emerging Networks (ENs) to align expertise and training efforts across the country in three key areas of health research within the institute's mandate. To date the networks have lined up participation by provinces, charities, professional associations and industry to accelerate knowledge transfer and training in the areas of respiratory diseases, stroke prevention and vascular illnesses such as dementia, heart disease and macular degeneration.

Combined with $9.6 million in initial partner funding, the total commitment to date is $22.7 million with the prospect of much more to come as the networks ramp up. CIHR's Institute of Aging is also contributing $1 million.

"We're just beginning. Now that the Emerging Networks are branded, there will be a lot more partners coming on board, many of them international," says ICRH scientific director Dr Jean Rouleau. "The value of partner contributions is already at 50% and all will go over 100%. I expect the stroke network will go to 500% … Canada leads the world with this initiative and this amount of funding. Many people internationally are very impressed."

In a novel twist, the ENs will also engage patients to compete the lab bench to bedside continuum and improve compliance. Rouleau, who wrote the original version of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR), says the ENs are intended to cross the two so-called valleys of death in health research — transferring knowledge into practice and realigning the health system to optimize patient care, providing better care at less cost.

Fill health system gaps through training

For training and career development, the ENs will focus on students at the Masters and PhD levels by establishing an early career development program. Training will be undertaken in collaboration with universities and academic research institutions. Training is a major challenge within the disciplines encompassed by ICRH and the program aims to establish a strong pipeline of young researchers, attaining a balance of research expertise to address key knowledge gaps.

Rouleau says the role of stem cell research within the Canadian Vascular Network is a good example of how the ENs will work towards addressing priorities within the health system as determined both by researchers and patients.

"For paraplegics, work is being done with stem cells to regenerate the spine so people can walk again. But we also talked to paraplegics and found that their top priority by far is regaining bladder control," says Rouleau. "No one was working on this area so we will bring it to the forefront."

The ENs fit into the SPOR SUPPORT Units currently being established across the country (R$, November 26/13). They are also distinct from Networks of Centres of Excellence, which typically do not have a patient orientation.

The original intent of the EN program was to fund four networks with $17.5 million up for grabs. However, a proposal for targeting a priority area of imaging research was not successful in the international peer review, which noted weakness in the area of health systems research.

"It's unfortunate. It was a brilliant proposal but it was more about bringing things to market," says Rouleau, adding that the unused funding will be reallocated for other research purposes.

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