The Journal

Dr. Martin Steinbach and I were invited by The President of the Medical Research of Canada, Dr. Henry Friesen, to be informed in the name of the Vision Health Research Council about the major changes taking place in the funding of Medical Research in Canada. These changes will deeply affect all of us involved in Vision Research. Some changes, like the basic administrative structure that will govern the process, are already final. Others, most important, will mature as an ongoing process defining among other things the various specialised Institutes that will be created. To be part of this process in order to ascertain our identity as a Canadian Institute of Vision Health Research is at this moment, the one most important single duty of all involved in Vision Research and dependent on its future. Here is a summary of what has been outlined to us.

Major structural changes in research funding

MRC disappears
After a third of a century of activity, after fulfilling its mandate successfully, the Medical Research Council of Canada will cease to exist April First 1999. It will merge into the new Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR).

Other Councils to merge their Health Component
Beyond MRC, the new CIHR will be inclusive of the health-research-related component of all Federal Councils and agencies: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), National Research Council (NRC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Health Canada, Industry Canada and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF).

Phasing out and devising Programs
The existing commitments of the present Programs will be respected. These programs will be phased out progressively as the grants come to termination. Previous engagements will be merged into the new programs adopted by the CIHR. From April 99 on, grant applications for renewals and new applications will be directed to the CIHR structures.

Budget increases for the Councils
While the CIHR structure is being further developed there is an increase of $185 millions over the next three years to the budgets of the Councils for their health-related research component divided as such annually:

$27.5 million to the Medical Research Council;
$7.5 million to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council;
$7.5 million to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council;
$5 million to the National Research Council;
$2.5 million to Health Canada's National Health Research and Development Program.

New budget for the CIHR
Some $240 millions more will be allocated to the CIHR for its various specialised CIHRs, $65 millions in 2000-01 and $175 millions in 2001-02.

Global budget increases
Another $125 million is allocated to health research $100 million of which goes to the Canada Foundation for Innovation. There are a number of other funding allocations related to health and accessible to various aspects of health research for a total of $450 millions.
The total of the new funds made available to health research in all its aspects up and above the actual health budgets of the various Councils within the next three years, 1999-2002, is in the order of $1.3 billion of which $550 millions are affected directly to the CIHR. A complete breakdown of these appropriations will be summarised elsewhere later on.

New trends in Health Research directions

The support of Investigator Initiated Research
The existing basic investigator initiated research will benefit, according to the Febuary 99 Federal Budget, of increased funding. These funds will be made available according to and in continuity with the same principles of competition for Excellence as we have known in the past.

Priority oriented research
New Basic Science Research will be funded in the context of the priorities defined by the various CIHRs.

Clinical research well identified
The need of developing and funding a full national program of Clinical Research is clearly expressed in the objectives of both the CIHR project and mission description given by Government.

Quality research
All research funded will be selected in order to promote world quality excellence through peer review.

Determination of priorities
Up to now, agencies like MRC have funded research according to excellence. It has never been the function of MRC to define priorities. The CIHR has the obligation of defining research priorities in collaboration with all stakeholders and principally the specialty CIHRs. This is an entirely new situation.

The presence of Stakeholders
The major new element in defining the orientations of research will be the presence of stakeholders (non investigators) at all levels, from the higher administrative levels down to each of the CIHRs structures.

New orientations
There is an obligation in the mandate set by Government that "should be respected inclusivity and balance among the four primary divisions of health research: 1) Biomedical, 2) Applied Clinical, 3) Health Services and Health Systems and 4) Society, Culture and Health of Population".
Much value will be attributed to multidisciplinarity and collaborations in the evaluation of grant applications

The granting of Research Funds
Finally, it must be fully realised that all of Research Funds will in the future be granted through the various CIHRs according to priorities defined by the same CIHRs. It is quite evident in that context that the funding of research in any given domain or specialty will be greatly helped by presence or the representation of this specialty at the administrative level of the CIHRs.

Actions to be taken

It is evident that the considerable task of preparing a project that will obtain for us a Canadian Institute of Vision Health Research can only be managed by a collective effort. In a near future a preliminary plan of action will be circulated outlining the principal stages of the project. To concentrate our efforts a representative Task Force will be selected A mode of representation and communication will be established for all investigators to be able to contribute their points of view. References will be given for informative documentation available on the Web.

The project we must define is what we would like Vision Research to be in the year 2002 taking into account the means offered and the guidelines provided by the CIHR Project. The implementation of our project will have to be broken down is realistic stages to be completed in 3 years. This project has to be submitted by Fall 99 !

The success of our endeavour depends on your active collaboration. We really insist, Martin Steinbach and I, to impart to all of you a sense of urgency about the need for action.

Jean Real Brunette
brunette@courrier.usherb.ca