2005 Highlights and Funding Recommendations
The Foundation will fund the top-ranked program under each of the four priority theme areas, as per the stated objective for the competition and the budget envelope of $2 million available for this competition. Please refer to the list of full-scale applications that were recommended for funding.
Also, for the 2005 competition, a new partnership has been struck with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute to enable a second program to be funded under the managing for quality and safety theme. The Foundation and CPSI are equal partners for the programs funded under this theme. A major focus of CPSI is to increase the scope and scale of patient safety research in Canada.
Competition objectives
The 2005 Research, Exchange, and Impact for System Support (REISS) competition sought proposals for four-year programs which include components in research, capacity development, and knowledge exchange, as well as periodic deliverables over the course the program. The Foundation committed to funding one program in each of its four priority theme areas:
- management of the healthcare workplace;
- managing for quality and safety;
- nursing leadership, organization, and policy; and
- primary healthcare.
The competition continues to emphasize:
- the importance of partnerships and the sharing of issues and ideas with decision makers to maximize the potential impact of the research;
- projects that have a national focus and/or make comparisons across jurisdictions; and
- a co-financing formula of one external dollar for each Foundation dollar.
Competition process
The REISS competition was conducted using a two-stage process: 1) an open invitation for, and review of, letters of intent; and 2) the review of invited full-scale applications.
The merit review panel was composed of an equal mix of decision makers and researchers. Decision makers included representatives from a provincial ministry and a national funding agency; senior researchers included representatives from various disciplines. In addition, the panel included an intern member drawn from the pool of CHSRF/CIHR postdoctoral award holders.
The panel included expertise in each of the four priority theme areas. Panel members represented all regions of Canada with one member from the eastern provinces, two from Quebec, two from Ontario, and one from the western provinces. Mr. Owen Adams was the chair and Dr. François Champagne was the scientific officer for this full-scale application stage. They were both instrumental in guiding the panel through the application review workload.
Results
Twelve full-scale applications were invited and received. The merit review panel met on October 3rd to review these applications.
The panel rated the full-scale applications on two dimensions—potential impact and scientific merit (using published review criteria).
Although all 12 full-scale applications ranked in the "fundable" range (potential impact of significant and scientific merit of acceptable), the panel recommended funding the top-ranked program under each of the four priority theme areas as per the stated objective for the competition and within the budget envelope of $2 million available for this competition. Please refer to the list of full-scale applications that were recommended for funding.
In addition, funds for an additional program under the managing for quality and safety theme have been made available through a new partnership with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. The second program under that theme will also be funded.
The following table shows the distribution of the recommendations by theme, region, and administering agency type.
| Theme/Region/Administering Agency Type | LOI* Received | FSA** Invited and Received | FSA Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management of the healthcare workplace | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Managing for quality and safety | 13 | 3 | 2*** |
| Nursing leadership, organization, and policy | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Primary healthcare | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 41 | 12 | 5 |
| Atlantic | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Quebec | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| Ontario | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| West | 14 | 5 | 2 |
| Total | 41 | 12 | 5 |
| Research organization | 25 | 9 | 3 |
| Decision-making organization | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| Other (hybrid) | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 41 | 12 | 5 |
* letter of intent
** full-scale application
*** the two programs recommended for funding under this theme are being co-funded by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.
Co-sponsorship
This competition required a co-sponsorship commitment at a 1:1 minimum level; however, the total value of the REISS programs recommended for funding is $5.32 million. The Foundation's $1.95 million contribution has leveraged $3.37 million from co-sponsors, which represents co-sponsorship at a 1:1.7 level.
The following table shows the funding recommendations by amount of co-sponsorship dollars leveraged.
| REISS Funding by Co-sponsor $ Leveraging | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offered Funding | # | $ from CHSRF | $ Co-sponsor Cash | $ Co-sponsor In-kind | $ Total |
| Total = | 5 | $1,945,544 | $2,174,488 | $1,195,577 | $5,315,609 |
| Average/program = | n=5 | $389,109 | $434,898 | $239,115 | $1,063,122 |
In addition to the Foundation's new partnership with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute for REISS 2005, it should be noted that many of the partners who were co-sponsors for the former Open Grants Competition are continuing to offer co-sponsorship funding for REISS. In fact, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care will all act as co-sponsors for the recommended programs in their provinces.
