2019 Scholar Competition Information Session Webinar

Andrew Biagtan | Research Competitions Coordinator

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Webinar Agenda

• Program Highlights• Previous Scholar Award

Recipients• Eligibility Requirements• Award Amount and Duration• Changes for 2019• Knowledge Translation• Partnership Opportunities

• Evaluation Criteria• What reviewers look

for?/Application Tips• Application Process Flow• How to Apply• Contact Information• Q and A session

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Program Highlights

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Previous Scholar Award Recipients

Dr. Meghan Winters | Cities, Health and Active Transportation Research Lab, Simon Fraser University | 2007 Research Trainee & 2016 Scholar

THE RESEARCH

Winters’ program of research is generating new evidence about the impact of city design, and redesign, on the health of citizens.

She leads the Cities, Health, and Active Transportation Research Lab at SFU, a 20-person interdisciplinary team that is working with local governments in across the country, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Halifax. She also spearheads the Vancouver and Victoria components of the INTERACT project, a $2M pan-Canadian research collaborative exploring how city design shapes the health and wellbeing of Canadians.

Winters’ work helps cities plan and implement healthy and sustainable urban development initiatives, such as cycling networks that make cycling accessible to all ages and abilities, and shared spaces that encourage physical activity and social participation.

MSFHR'S IMPACTWinters credits her two MSFHR awards with enabling her to build an impactful research program and lead local and national project teams.

“The Scholar award came at a really critical time when I was starting to launch a bigger research program. The award was extraordinarily helpful in allowing me to really focus and grow that program of research.”

Support from MSFHR means Winters also has more time to invest in developing future research talent with her 10 BC trainees, including 2013 MSFHR Research Trainee Dr. Christine Voss, as well as hiring skilled personnel. “I started with a couple of graduate students, and now there are 12 students and five research staff. I feel like we are really part of something bigger, working together with really bright and talented data scientists, urban planners and statisticians that bring new tools and perspectives. It’s a rich hub of interdisciplinary collaboration.”

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Previous Scholar Award Recipients

Dr. Natalie Strynadka | Life Sciences Centre, University of British Columbia | 2005 Scholar | Supervised 19 MSFHR Research Trainees

THE RESEARCH

Strynadka’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that allow bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. This information is crucial in the race to develop interventions that keep existing medicines working, and discover new innovative ways to treat resistant infections.

She is a pioneer in the study of proteins that enable bacteria to cause disease, and was the first to describe a “syringe like” complex of 24 proteins found across many of the most drug resistant pathogens. This complex allows bacteria to inject disease causing proteins into infected human cells. Understanding the atomic blueprint of these proteins may hold the key to ‘turning off’ the infectious component of bacteria without triggering the changes that can lead to resistance.

“My work is like an atomic puzzle, with each piece building a more

complete picture of how resistance occurs. To me, each of those puzzle pieces represents the trainee that carried out the work, finished their training and took those skills to pursue a career in health research.”

MSFHR'S IMPACT

Having come to BC from Alberta, Strynadka credits her Scholar award as pivotal to building a productive research team and attracting additional research funding to the province.

“Despite having received several international awards, the Scholar award felt like a changing point of recognition in BC, and was crucial for attracting more collaborations and funding.”

Since receiving her Scholar award in 2005, Strynadka has received numerous international and national awards for her research leadership, and mentored over 50 emerging researchers in BC –including 19 MSFHR Research Trainees – to develop their skills and launch careers in health research. “My post docs have benefited profoundly from MSFHR Research Trainee awards. To know that an external agency believes they can do great things scientifically is priceless validation, and can provide pivotal support to enable a future career in research.”

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Previous Scholar Award Recipients

Dr. Ziba Vaghri | School of Public Health & Social Policy, University of Victoria | 2014 Scholar and 2017 Reach award

THE RESEARCH

Since receiving an MSFHR Scholar award in 2014, Dr. Ziba Vaghri has attracted over a million dollars in additional funds to develop, build and pilot GlobalChild – an electronic platform to track and measure children’s rights and health in British Columbia and worldwide. It will track the status and impact of government commitments, providing evidence on what works, highlighting gaps and identifying programs that are most and least effective.

With support from MSFHR, a $1.2 million CIHR grant followed. Together, these have allowed Vaghri to build a team of BC trainees and staff to drive her research forward. Now, with a number of smaller grants and additional international funding in the pipeline, Vaghri is working with leading Indigenous scholars in BC to customize existing child health measurement criteria for Indigenous children. These will be used to build and pilot the

platform in BC, New Brunswick and one additional region of Canada – with a particular focus on Indigenous children –before being rolled out globally.

MSFHR'S IMPACT

The Scholar award helps to attract and retrain BC’s best and brightest researchers, and Vaghri is no exception. “In 2014 I was in need of research funding and took a short-term contract with the World Health Organization. I intended to take a year and rethink the direction of my research career,” says Vaghri. “The week I left for Geneva, I received notification that I had been awarded Scholar funding from MSFHR. This support meant I was able to return to BC and continue my research.”

“MSFHR was the first funder to put trust in my ideas. The award not only gave me funding and protected time to focus on this important area of research, but also the credibility to attract more funding, drive the project forward and bring it to the attention of the national and international human rights community.”

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Organizations with Scholar Recipients

The following organizations have Scholar award recipients in the past three years:

• BC Cancer• BC Centre for Disease

Control• BC Centre for Excellence in

HIV/AIDS• BC Centre on Substance Use• Centre for Health Evaluation

and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS)

• Gender and Sexual Health Initiative

• International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (iCORD)

• James Hogg Research Centre• Providence Health Care

Research Institute• Simon Fraser University• University of BC – Okanagan• University of BC – Point Grey• University of Victoria

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Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility RequirementsMust have a PhD or equivalentCommit to a minimum of 75 percent time conducting researchCurrently hold an appointment or have a commitment of an appointment to begin by the award start date of July 1, 2019 at a BC institution that holds a memorandum of understanding with MSFHR as a host institutionBe within five years from the start of their first university appointment (at an assistant professor level, or equivalent) as of the Full Application deadline, January 31, 2019Research must display clear link to human health research

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Award Amount and Duration

Biomedical

Clinical

HealthServices

PopulationHealth

ResearchThemes

Up to 5 years

$90,000/year(incl. benefits)

70%

30%allocated to all 4 research themes

Allocated across the five BC Health System Priorities

Each Scholar Award:

Total Program FundingApplicant

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Changes for 2019

New for 2019

Separate peer review pools for new faculty recruits and more established junior faculty

Access to expedited Mitacs Accelerate funding

Unconscious bias training for reviewers

Greater emphasis on availability of institutional mentorship support

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Knowledge Translation

Note: MSFHR’s Knowledge Translation team will now provide information on knowledge translation activities in the program of research.

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Knowledge Translation

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Knowledge Translation

MSFHR requires applicants from all research pillars to include knowledge translation activities in their project proposal in one of two ways:

1. KT Practice: As components of a research project (e.g. research user engagement, research dissemination, and/or research uptake activities)

2. KT Science/Implementation Science: As the focus of the project (KT science: exploring the theories, mechanisms, concepts, and/or methods by which evidence is used in health care practice and policy)

RESEARCH

PRACTICE POLICY

RESEARCH

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Research/Knowledge Users

• Research or knowledge users are the target audience(s) of research evidence

• Research users are experts on their needs, environment and local context

• A research user may include but it not limited to:- other researchers - policy makers - health care practitioners - decision makers- health care administrators - educators - patient user group - health charity - public

• Likely able to use research results to make informed decisions

• Level of engagement may vary in intensity and complexity

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Knowledge Translation

Practice of KT

• KT related activities should be embedded within the program of research rather than included in a separate section

• Applicants should carefully consider appropriate KT activities with respect to type of research, expected findings and target audience.

Health professional investigator applicants are encouraged to engage research users throughout the research process, as appropriate.

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Some KT Strategies

• Interactive small groups• Educational outreach• Mass media campaign• Opinion leaders• Performance feedback• Peer reviewed publications• Conference presentations• Press release• Webinar

• Reminders• IT decision support• Best practice guidelines• Financial incentives• Networks• Patent license• Arts-based KT• Social media• Patient advisory group

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Knowledge Translation

KT Science/Implementation Science

• KT science explores the theories, mechanisms, concepts and/or methods by which evidence is used in healthcare practice and policy.

• KT Science applications will be evaluated with KT science criteria in addition to the regular criteria.

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Examples of KT Practice: Biomedical

www.grad.ubc.ca/campus-community/meet-our-students/vent-schmidt-jens

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Examples of KT Practice: Biomedical

www.msfhr.org/news/spark-bc-health-research-blog/batman-and-beyond-using-middle-ground-communicate-complex-ideas

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Examples of KT Practice: Clinical

https://cansolveckd.ca/about

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Examples of KT Practice: Health Services & Policy Research

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3016635/

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Examples of KT Practice: Population Health

https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/8438; http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/29418.html

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Example of KT/Implementation Science

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Example of KT/Implementation Science

https://implementationscience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1748-5908-6-51

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Implementation Science Evaluation Criteria: 10 Key Ingredients

1. The care gap or quality gap2. The evidence-based treatment to be implemented3. Conceptual model and theoretical justification4. Stakeholder priorities, engagement in change5. Setting’s readiness to adopt new services/treatments/programs6. Implementation strategy/process7. Team experience with the setting, treatment, implementation process8. Feasibility of proposed research design and methods9. Measurement and analysis section10.Policy/funding environment; leverage or support for sustaining change

Proctor et al., Writing implementation research grant proposals: ten key ingredients., Implementation Science 2012; 96(7).

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Partnership Opportunities

MSFHR partners with leading organizations to build capacity and fill strategic gaps in health research in BC.

Process:

• Applicants interested in partnered awards are encouraged to email mkassam@msfhr.org for instructions on how to register your interest and indicate how your research aligns with partner areas of interest.

• MSFHR uses keywords provided by partners to identify applications that may be relevant to and align with partners’ area of interest.

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Mitacs Accelerate Partnership

• New for 2019 – expedited application process for Mitacs Accelerate funding

• Support experiential training internships for Master’s, PhD students, and post-doctoral fellows

• Applicants indicate interest at letter of intent

• Separate application form outside of ApplyNet system. Form to be uploaded to Full Application.

• Interested applicants must contact their regional Mitacs Business

• Development representative to obtain an Accelerate Proposal application

• Contact a business development representative?? for more information

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Evaluation Criteria

Assessment criteria and weighting:

New for 2019Separate peer review pools for junior faculty:• Within two years of first appointment• Between 3-5 years from first appointment

Criterion Weighting

Track record 50%

Program of research 30%

Environment and support 20%

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Evaluation Criteria: Cont’d

Program of Research

Description of a single project and a set of coordinated projects undertaking related research for the five-year term. KT related activities must be embedded with the program of research.

Environment and Support• Department Head Form • Dean Form (if applicable)

Single Research Project

Set of coordinated

projects

5-year program of

research

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What do Reviewers Look for?

• Lay summary that describes key elements of the research program in a plain language understandable by a non-specialist, and non-specific audience.

• CCV that provides information about your academic and research training, mentorship activities, KT plans, and non-academic activities e.g. community work.

• Reference letters that provide specific details of intellectual curiosity, recognized or potential research experience, academic strength and scientific training.

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What do Reviewers Look for? Cont’d

Publication list of all published and accepted publications throughout your career, that indicates your percent contribution and trainees:

• Categorized under separate headings.

• Role and percent contribution in multi-authored publications.

• Underline names of trainees whose work you have supervised.

• It’s recommended to include the journal impact factor and number of citations for each publication.

• Maintain the author order as it exists in the original citation.

Important:Reviewers may deduct points the applicant hasn’t followed the instructions of the funding agency — page limits, formatting, etc.

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Application Development Tips

• Reviewers do not have the time to look up information on your behalf — if it is important, make it explicit in the application.

• If you have pilot data, mention it.

• If you were not able to capture important information about your activities and contributions in the CCV, add it to the Most Significant Contributions section in the full application.

• Pay attention to grantsmanship — cohesive flow of information allows reviewers to read the application without having to flip back and forth between pages.

• You will have 10 additional pages for your appendices, which may include references, tables, charts, figures, and photographs, however if the data is important to your program of research, please include it within the main Program of Research document.

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Application Development Tips: Cont’d

• Seek support from your organization’s grant facilitation office for development, editing, and revision of your application.

• Have your application critically reviewed by colleagues.

• Review the competition’s evaluation criteria and make sure they are addressed in your application.

• Format the application to be easy to read. Use headings to show a logical progression and break up the text into paragraphs. Don't be afraid of white space.

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Application Process Flow

Letter of Intent

FullApplication

Host Institution Approval

Eligibility Quiz

2019 Scholar competition opens:November 1, 2018

Applicant creates Third Party tasks

in ApplyNet

Applicant completes and submits the Full

ApplicationThird Parties*complete their tasks

in ApplyNet

LOI Deadline:November 29, 2018

Host institution deadline:

Prior to January 31

MSFHR Full Application deadline:

January 31, 2019

* Third Parties: Department Head, Dean, and 3 referees

Applicant completes Eligibility Quiz and Letter of Intent in

ApplyNet

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How to Apply

• Create an account in MSFHR ApplyNet• If you have an existing MSFHR ApplyNet login and password

and have forgotten the information, DO NOT LAUNCH A NEW ACCOUNT

• Call MSFHR Help Desk at 604.714.6609 or email helpdesk@msfhr.org

• Note: Your third parties need their own ApplyNet accounts to complete their tasks in order for you to submit your full application. It is recommended that you get in touch with your third parties beforehand and find out if they have an existing account, or need to create one.

Contact Information

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Questions regarding the application and submission process

Andrew BiagtanCoordinator, Research Competitions604.714.6002

Email: careerprogram@msfhr.org

ApplyNet and other technical support

MSFHR Help Desk604.714.6609

Email: helpdesk@msfhr.org

Questions?

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Key Competition Dates Target Date

Competition Launch November 1, 2018

Letter of Intent (LOI) Deadline November 29, 2018, 4:30pm PT

Full Application Deadline January 31, 2019, 4:30pm PT

Review Meetings April – May 2019

Anticipated Notice of Funding Decision June 2019

Anticipated Start of Funding July 1, 2019