Environmental Urban Health Research Consortium – A Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Funding Opportunity

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is pleased to pre-announce the launch of a Canadian Environmental Urban Health Research Consortium (EUHRC) funding opportunity, a key component of the CIHR Environments and Health Signature Initiative.

The Consortium is expected to be a national interdisciplinary and intersectoral resource bringing together researchers from academia, government, non-governmental organisations and industry with appropriate partners and stakeholders to undertake a pan-national research program focused on addressing key issues related to the impact of the urban environment on health.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

  • Provide researchers with one-stop access to ‘analysis-ready’ environmental data relevant to the Urban Form (i.e. air quality, active and passive transportation, green/natural spaces, land use data and policies, climate change/extreme weather, etc.);
  • Provide researchers with models/methods/analytics to assess environmental exposure to address specific health research questions;
  • Lead to the creation of new knowledge of priority environmental health issues in the Urban Form, and accelerate its transfer to relevant stakeholders;
  • Enable Government agencies (federal, provincial, municipal) to incorporate environmental health research into new and existing policy-relevant projects;
  • Enable existing cohorts to add environmental data to their datasets;
  • Foster capacity-building by providing training for early-career scientists; and
  • Become a resource for public and private organizations seeking access to a network of leading Canadian scientists to conduct research in the field of environments and health.

Funds Available

  • The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $4,165,000, enough to fund one grant over five years. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate in this initiative.
  • Of the $4.165M, $100,000 per year is available for the incorporation of cohorts focusing on reproductive, fetal and/or child health, conditional upon positive relevance review.

The EUHRC is a priority-driven initiative funded through CIHR’s Roadmap Accelerator Fund (RAF). The RAF is intended to support transformative and impactful research that aligns with CIHR’s Research Priorities and is multi-disciplinary in nature.

Eligibility

The application process for this funding opportunity is comprised of two steps: (1) Expression of Interest (EOI) and (2) Application.

Expressions of Interest must be submitted by groups including the following types of applicants:

  • independent health researchers,
  • leaders/directors of a publicly-funded, population-based national cohort,
  • individuals with experience in managing big data infrastructure (data warehouse, platform, etc.) beyond his (her) own large dataset or cohort,
  • individuals with expertise in urban health and/or environmental health, or
  • federal government scientist.

For the EOI, applicants are not required to have the full complement of team members that will be required for the full application. However, applicants are encouraged to build national, multi-disciplinary and cross-jurisdictional collaborations and CIHR will facilitate networking and dialogue between potential team members through:

  • A Linkage Tool made available to potential team members to self-identify through a web portal. CIHR encourages interested applicants to follow the link and express interest: CEUHRC Linkage Tool;
  • Webinar(s) to be held after the EOI phase to provide opportunities for teams to network and discuss opportunities to work together.

Important Dates (anticipatory)

  • Funding opportunity live late-September 2015
  • Expression of Interest phase closes late November
  • Full applications due March 2016
  • Notification of decision and funding start date: Summer 2016

Partners

Partners can support this research initiative through a wide variety of ways. We look forward to discussing how we can best work together to form a mutually beneficial funding opportunity that reflects your areas of interest.

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