Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Encyclopedia
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. It aims to create new health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 knowledge, and to translate that knowledge from the research setting into real world applications. The CIHR was created by an Act of Parliament on June 7, 2000; bringing together existing government activities. In 2009-2010, CIHR's budget was just over 1 billion dollars.

CIHR is a Departmental Corporation listed in Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act. As an arms length agency of government, it is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Health.

CIHR is managed by the Prime Minister and the Governing Council, who are assisted by various Standing and Advisory Committees. The current appointed president of CIHR is Dr. Alain Beaudet.

CIHR consists of 13 "virtual" institutes, each headed by a Scientific Director and assisted by an Institute Advisory Board. They work together to shape a national health research agenda for Canada. The institutes bring together researchers, health professionals and policy-makers from voluntary health organizations, provincial government agencies, international research organizations and industry and patient groups from across the country with a shared interest in improving the health of Canadians.

The work of the institutes embraces the four pillars of health research: biomedical; clinical; research respecting health systems and services; and the social, cultural and environmental factors that affect the health of populations. A major challenge for the institutes is to forge relationships across disciplines to stimulate integrative, multifaceted research agendas that respond to society's health priorities while adhering to the highest ethical standards.

CIHR supports more than 9,000 researchers and researchers in training as part of the federal government's investment in health research. The peer review
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...

 process is a vital part of CIHR. Review by panels of peers from the research community ensures proposals approved for funding by CIHR meet international accepted standards of scientific excellence.

In 2008 CIHR also organised a series of Café Scientifique
Café Scientifique
Café Scientifique is a grassroots public science initiative currently running in 42 cities across the United Kingdom and cities in other countries. At least twelve cafés outside the UK are organised by the British Council alone. Similar but independent events have also sprung up in many cities...

 events across Canada.http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/34951.html

CIHR is supplying funding for PubMed Central Canada
PubMed Central Canada
PubMed Central Canada is a Canadian national digital repository of peer-reviewed health and life sciences literature. It joins UK PubMed Central as a member of the PubMed Central International network...

 in partnership with the United States National Library of Medicine
United States National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine , operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is a division of the National Institutes of Health...

 (NLM) and Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI).

In November 2009, controversy arose over the appointment of a senior executive of Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...

 to CIHR's governing council.http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/27/pfizer-appointment.html

Member institutes

Each institute focuses on an individual area of research.
  • Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health
  • Institute of Aging
  • Institute of Cancer Research
  • Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
  • Institute of Gender and Health
  • Institute of Genetics
  • Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
  • Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
  • Institute of Infection and Immunity
  • Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
  • Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
  • Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
  • Institute of Population and Public Health

See also

  • National Research Council of Canada
    National Research Council of Canada
    The National Research Council is an agency of the Government of Canada which conducts scientific research and development.- History :...

  • National Institutes of Health
    National Institutes of Health
    The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

     - US counterpart
  • Medical Research Council (UK)
    Medical Research Council (UK)
    The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...

  • Canadian government scientific research organizations
    Canadian government scientific research organizations
    Expenditures by federal and provincial organizations on scientific research and development accounted for about 10% of all such spending in Canada in 2006...

  • Canadian university scientific research organizations
    Canadian university scientific research organizations
    Expenditures by Canadian universities on scientific research and development accounted for about 40% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2006....

  • Canadian industrial research and development organizations
    Canadian industrial research and development organizations
    Expenditures by Canadian corporations on research and development accounted for about 50% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2007....

  • Health Evidence Network of Canada
    Health Evidence Network of Canada
    The Health Evidence Network of Canada, more commonly known as EvidenceNetwork.ca, is a comprehensive and non-partisan online resource designed to help journalists covering health policy issues in Canada.-Background:...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK