cihr's health research training strategy aims to equip research trainees so that they emerge from their training as scientific, professional, or organizational leaders within and beyond the health research enterprise. generating research leaders of tomorrow is a key objective for cihr.

fellowships provide support for highly qualified applicants in all areas of health research at the post-phd degree or post-health professional degree stages to add to their experience by engaging in health research either in canada or abroad.

it is expected that applicants integrate sex and gender perspectives into their research to promote rigorous science that has the potential to expand our understanding of health determinants for all people. as such, applicants are required to indicate how they will account for sex (biological factor) and gender (socio-cultural factor) in the research design, methods, analysis and interpretation, and dissemination of findings. for more information and resources, please see the sex, gender and health research page on the cihr website.

the specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• contribute to the evidence base on standards or guiding principles for mental health and/or substance use health services across diverse settings;
• enable a learning health systems approach for the delivery of mental health and substance use health services for youth where standards can be continuously measured and adapted to meet the needs of the populations served;
• mobilize evidence to inform policy- and decision-making on the development of pan-canadian standards in mental health and substance use health; and
• facilitate effective and meaningful engagement of knowledge users in research related to standards to ensure the perspectives of children, youth, young adults, and their caregivers/families, among others (e.g., decision makers), are considered in the development pan-canadian standards.

brain canada is pleased to be partnering with als canada to launch the als canada-brain canada career transition award 2022.

the intent of this award is for als canada and brain canada to support a promising postdoctoral fellow or research associate working at a canadian institution to transition into an independent faculty position contributing to als research. the award will be for up to three (3) years for a total of $250,000 cad. each year, als canada and brain canada will provide a $60,000 salary and $20,000 research allowance, with $30,000 for research allowance in year three.

evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (edi) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. als canada and brain canada are committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.

click here to view the terms of reference

deadline for receipt of applications: august 22, 2022 at 13:00 et

background and rationale

the use of ai is showing promise in transforming how health systems are planned and health services are delivered across low- and middle-income countries (lmics) today. responsibly designed and implemented ai has the potential to contribute to improved global health outcomes. in the area of srmh outcomes, ai applications have the potential to strengthen point-of-care services, inform diagnoses and provide personalized information based on real-time analysis of relevant data. for example, ai models and applications have been developed to support the early detection of pre-eclampsia and improve accuracy of hiv testing.

in lower-income countries, indicators for sexual, reproductive and maternal health — referred to by some more generally as sexual and reproductive health rights (srhr) — are not on track to achieve sustainable development goal (sdg) 3: good health and well-being. inadequate srmh service provision has been linked with unintended pregnancies — including teen pregnancies — early and forced marriage, complications related to unsafe abortions, gender-based violence and increases in sexually transmitted infections. this is particularly pronounced for vulnerable groups such as adolescents, people living with disabilities, refugees and internally displaced populations. the covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on srmh outcomes such as access to essential services and support for survivors of gender-based violence. gender inequality, the focus of sdg5, is a central challenge for women and girls to overcome, especially in matters related to sexuality and reproduction.

despite the promise of ai to improve srmh outcomes, there are important ethical, legal and social risks that need to be appropriately managed, mitigated and governed. for example, harmful biases can be integrated into algorithms, which can translate into biased public health messaging, diagnoses and treatment protocols. furthermore, much of the data required to develop ai models to tackle srmh challenges are non-representative or inaccessible. the current increase in demand for health-focused ai solutions in lmics is not commensurate with the investments being made to strengthen health systems, credible data, skilled individuals and requisite computing infrastructure.

key objectives

through this call, up to three hubs will be set up and managed, one each in mena, lac and asia. these hubs will be managed by a regionally based organization or consortium of organizations. each of the hubs will be tasked with establishing, managing and supporting implementation research networks in their respective region. setting up the network should consist of running an open call to select implementation research projects in the corresponding region working on or researching ai innovations for srmh, with a typical approach being to select six to ten projects. it is expected that the selected projects will represent linguistic, gender and geographic diversity across the respective region; diversity across relevant areas of application of ai to srmh; and diversity of relevant involved stakeholders (e.g., university researchers, start-ups, ministries of health, research-oriented think-tanks, consultancies, labs or community groups). the selected innovation research projects will receive funding and support as sub-grants for an implementation research project for a duration of at least 18 months.

the general objective of each of the three innovation research networks is to advance srmh in mena, lac and asia through implementation research promoting responsible development and deployment of ai innovations. by responsible, we are referring to ai innovations that are ethical, respect human rights, inclusive and contribute to environmental sustainability.

specific objectives are to:

1. strengthen the body of multidisciplinary evidence emerging from lmic-based researchers on how to develop and scale responsible ai innovations for improving srmh in mena, lac or asia.
2. build innovation research capacities in mena, lac or asia to develop, deploy and scale responsible ai applications in “real world” settings to improve srmh outcomes.
3. deepen understanding and informed practices to enhance gender and social inclusion and limit related biases in the design, implementation and use of ai solutions for srmh.
4. influence ai and srmh policies, practices and efforts to scale up and/or commercialize responsible ai solutions.

the primary responsibilities of the hubs include:

• developing and managing an open call for proposals process to select innovation research projects focused on using ai to improve srmh outcomes;
• strengthening how gender equality and inclusion (gei) and intersectional analysis are addressed in the innovation research projects, and ensure each research project team has the appropriate multidisciplinary experience required;
• supporting networking among selected research teams to strengthen knowledge exchange;
• harvesting and synthesizing outcomes related to health outcomes, innovation processes, strengthening gei and scaling strategies;
• facilitating equitable engagement of women in research and leadership roles.

for more information, please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

mit solve, in collaboration with the bill and melinda gates foundation, seeks solutions that will offer new ways of measuring primary health care performance improvement in low- and middle-income countries. to that end, this challenge seeks novel and improved methods that:

• employ unconventional or proxy data sources to inform primary health care performance improvement;

• provide improved measurement methods that are low cost, fit-for-purpose, shareable across information systems, and streamlined for data collectors;

• leverage existing systems, networks, and workflows to streamline the collection and interpretation of data to support meaningful use of primary health care data;

• provide actionable, accountable, and accessible insights for health care providers, administrators, and/or funders that can be used to optimize the performance of primary health care; and

• balance the opportunity for frontline health workers to participate in performance improvement efforts with their primary responsibility as care providers.

for more information, please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

sshrc and women and gender equality canada (wage) have launched this knowledge synthesis grants competition to mobilize social sciences and humanities research to examine and synthesize existing knowledge on gender-based violence (gbv). grant holders will identify research gaps and opportunities and their work will inform and guide policy-makers and service providers contributing to ensuring a violence-free canadian society.

investment in research is a long-term strategic initiative of the grain farmers of ontario for the benefit of all barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers. ontario’s grain farmers have sponsored and participated in decades of practical research that has resulted in economic gains and improved agricultural sustainability for ontario farmers and the ontario environment. our goal is to invest in research and support innovation and knowledge transfer that will enhance farmer member profitability and sector competitiveness.

grain farmers of ontario aims to address the research needs for barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat through four overall priority areas: agronomy and production; weed, disease and insect pests; crop quality and utilization; and breeding and genetics. within each priority area, grain farmers of ontario invests funds in projects of high priority to ontario farmers, strives to maximize public sector research investment, and encourages private sector research investment.

each year grain farmers of ontario identifies specific priorities toward which it would like to target increased research investment. this year, grain farmers of ontario is placing a particular emphasis on research proposals targeting the following research priorities:

o integrate 4r nutrient stewardship practices for commercial fertilizer with other nutrient sources (e.g., cover crops, manure application, biosolids) and validate 4r practices to improve farm profitability and reduce n losses and ghg emissions per unit of crop production.

o develop integrated weed, disease, and insect pest management strategies that consider multiple management options, biology and epidemiology of the pest, and prevention of pest resistance to trait and pesticide control measures.

o explore revolutionary grain drying technologies to substantially improve grain drying efficiency and explore agronomic solutions for drydown to improve profitability of corn production and reduce ghg emissions.

o quantify the impact of standard field practices on soil health and develop strategies to profitably improve or maintain soil health.