The Health Research Foundation of Innovative Medicines Canada invites applications for the Health Research Foundation of Innovative Medicines Canada Chair in Pandemic Preparedness Research.

The member companies of Innovative Medicines Canada contributed $500,000 to support the work of an early-career researcher affiliated with a recognized Canadian academic institution through the creation of a research chair in pandemic preparedness. Innovative Medicines Canada recognizes the critical need to support research excellence and to help world-class scientists working on the discoveries and innovations that keep us and our communities healthy, and our economy thriving. The creation of a research chair dedicated to pandemic preparedness, as well as to the role of healthcare and the healthcare sector in sustaining and growing our economy, will contribute to helping Canada look ahead to the next public health crisis and ensure our country is well-prepared to effectively respond and recover.

The Shock-proofing the Future of Work: Skills Innovation Challenge invites proposals that will explore and demonstrate ways in which skills innovation can promote resilience and new ways forward in the face of social and economic shocks like COVID-19.

Proposals should seek to examine new insights and models within or across three levels of the skills ecosystem:

● Innovation in support for individuals: Given rapid and often confusing changes in the labour market, individuals need diverse supports to navigate changing conditions and emerging opportunities in order to make informed decisions about their training and career paths. New approaches to training will be required in this new reality. As part of this process, we must ensure we reach communities and populations that have previously been excluded in a way that engages everyone in ongoing opportunities to access skills development.

● Innovation in support for organizations: The current crisis has led to unprecedented disruption in organizations — whether large or small business employers, government, educational institutions, or service delivery organizations. It has also precipitated unprecedented levels of innovation in approaches to work, policy development, and program delivery. Through innovation and agile responses to disruption there are new opportunities to extend flexibility, reach, efficiency, and effectiveness. Rapid deployment of technology and virtualization has created massive challenges but also chances to improve co-ordination, and sharing across organizations, and to to extend the reach of services. Organizations may need support as they re-engineer existing processes through the skills development and employment cycle.

● Systems change: The skills and employment ecosystem has long faced challenges due to fragmentation, duplication, and uneven results. How can we use systems-wide levers — policies and funding programs, industry associations, infrastructures — to grapple with challenges and opportunities or scale innovative solutions? How do we examine the role of skills in addressing disproportionate barriers that have led to underemployment of disadvantaged populations on a systems wide level?

The John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award recognizes the world’s leading researchers who have used rational, scientifically based research to improve the wellbeing of those facing health inequalities worldwide. While a single significant scientific discovery would continue to be sufficient evidence to select a nominee, the Award will also recognize outstanding researchers who apply rational scientific approaches to successful implementation, evaluation and policy interventions.

Gairdner invites nominations from any field of research impacting global health and health inequity. The award is intended for research-focused candidates, not those primarily involved in administrative or advocacy roles. This award can be shared by multiple recipients at the discretion of the Foundation.

Quality nominations are essential to the evaluation process for this award. Packages should be accurate, current, and complete throughout the five year period of consideration. The nomination portal is open each year from mid-April- October 1 for edits, changes or additions by nominators.

The Canada Gairdner Wightman Award recognizes a Canadian health researcher who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership paired with exceptional science. Successful nominees will demonstrate research excellence in the health sciences at an international level as well as superior leadership among their peers, with local, national and international impact. Outstanding candidates at varied levels of career development are eligible.

Quality nominations are essential to the evaluation process for this award. Packages should be accurate, current, and complete throughout the five year period of consideration. The nomination portal is open each year from mid-April- October 1 for edits, changes or additions by nominators.

The SickKids Foundation-CIHR-IHDCYH New Investigator Research Grants in Child and Youth Health program seeks to strengthen Canada’s capacity and knowledge to respond to children’s health challenges and needs. The grants are jointly sponsored by SickKids Foundation and the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH). New investigators (also referred to by CIHR as early career researchers) may obtain up to three years’ support for research in biomedical, clinical, health systems and services, population and public health sectors that has the potential for significant impact on children’s health outcomes.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To understand and address the acute mental health and/or substance use needs of individuals, communities and/or populations, and/or the effects on related care systems, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• To develop the evidence to better match access to mental health and/or substance use services with the people who need them the most, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications must be in alignment with both of the objectives to be deemed relevant to this funding opportunity.

The Azrieli Foundation is pleased to announce the “Back on Track from COVID19” funding opportunity for clinical and fundamental researchers working in the area of neurodevelopmental disorders. 

This opportunity addresses the interruption to biomedical research laboratories and clinical research as a result of the COVID19 emergency.

The funds are intended to cover costs to research incurred by facility shutdown or changes in work plans due to social distancing, assisting graduate student progress to complete research, and to mitigate the loss of promising discoveries and ideas.

The award (up to $CDN 10,000) will be used to supplement an already awarded peer-reviewed grant/project, and selection will prioritize Early Career Researchers.

To access the application form, instructions and timelines, please visit our website.

Please send inquiries to: science.grants@azrielifoundation.org

Connection Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Connection program.

These grants support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives. These events and activities represent opportunities to exchange knowledge and to engage on research issues of value to those participating. Events and outreach activities funded by a Connection Grant may often serve as a first step toward more comprehensive and longer-term projects.

Connection Grants support workshops, colloquiums, conferences, forums, summer institutes, or other events or outreach activities that facilitate:

• disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary exchanges in the social sciences and humanities;
• scholarly exchanges between those working in the social sciences and humanities and those working in other research fields;
• intersectoral exchanges between academic researchers in the social sciences and humanities and researchers and practitioners from the public, private and/or not-for-profit sectors; and/or
• international research collaboration and scholarly exchanges with researchers, students and non-academic partners from other countries.