CIHR Team Grant: Healthy Cities Implementation Science (HCIS) Team Grants

Sponsor

The CIHR Healthy Cities Research Initiative (HCRI), co-led by the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH); the Institute of Aging (IA); the Institute of Gender and Health (IGH); the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR); the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH); the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA); and the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD), in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)

Program

Healthy Cities Implementation Science (HCIS) Team Grants

For More Information

Webinar

CIHR and PHAC will be hosting webinar(s) to support participants with the requirements of this funding opportunity and to answer questions. For more information and to register, visit the CIHR Webinars page.

Partner Linkage Tool

CIHR is providing a linkage tool for the Healthy Cities Research Initiative (HCRI) designed to facilitate partnerships between researchers as well as municipal or other government organizations, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizationsor other organizations should there be interest. This is not a mandatory tool. Information is provided on a voluntary basis and does not confer any advantages in the evaluation and funding of applications. The table will be updated weekly, until the application deadline. If you would like to use this tool, please complete this short form. The information you provide will appear on a public CIHR web page. Please note that potential applicants are not required to use the linkage tool or contact those who have submitted their information.

Description

The Healthy Cities Implementation Science (HCIS) Team Grants funding opportunity is offering grants focused on increasing our understanding of how to design, implement and promote the systematic and equitable uptake of evidence-based interventions (i.e.interventions that have been piloted or tested in a setting and found to be promising) in multiple urban1 environments to improve population health and well-being.

One of the biggest challenges in applied healthy cities research, and the focus of this funding opportunity, is to implement evidence-informed interventions into different contexts and to understand whether those interventions are effective, for whom, and why. This is the central pursuit of implementation science. This funding opportunity will support multi-site implementation science ꟷ population health research studies in specific thematic research areas to understand which interventions/solutions can improve the health and wellbeing of people living in cities, the differential health impacts of these interventions within populations and why they occur.

For the purpose of this funding opportunity, interventions must have a population health focus and aim to positively affect all or some of the people within a city by improving the environmental, social, cultural, and/or structural determinants of health. The interventions can include policy changes, introduction of a new program or practice, and/or physical changes to the environment.

For research projects involving First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis Peoples, research must be conducted by, grounded in, or engaged with First Nations, Inuit, Métis or Urban Indigenous communities, societies or individuals and their wisdom, cultures, experiences or knowledge systems, as expressed in their dynamic forms, past and present. 

It is expected that successful research projects will engage with the Healthy Cities Research Training Platform to enhance the capacity-building efforts of the HCRI and create opportunities for training and mentorship.

Thematic Research Areas

The HCIS Team Grant funding opportunity will support one (1) research project in each of the six (6) thematic research areas described below. Therefore proposed research projects must be relevant to at least (1) thematic area but may also be relevant to multiple thematic areas.

The six (6) CIHR thematic research areas are:

• Healthcare systems, services and policies
• Healthy aging
• Musculoskeletal health, mobility or prevention (including skin and oral health)
• Type 2 diabetes prevention
• Urban Indigenous health
• Population and public health

Opportunity for Supplementary Funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada

Supplementary funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is also available to support the HCIS Team Grant research projects; and will focus on the promotion of healthy living and the prevention of chronic disease (see “Supplementary Funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada” below). This supplemental funding is available through PHAC’s Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund (HCCF) and aligns with the Chief Public Health Officer’s 2017 Report on the State of Public Health in Canada titled Designing Healthy Living.

PHAC shares CIHR’s interest in identifying new solutions to promote health and health equity, sparking interdisciplinary collaborations, and advancing the field of implementation science to better understand how healthy living and chronic disease prevention interventions can be implemented so that they result in positive and equitable health outcomes in real-world settings. Applicants interested in applying for the PHAC supplement must ensure their research project is still viable without the supplementary funding since success in obtaining CIHR funding does not guarantee that PHAC supplementary funding will be provided.

Applicants are expected to make a scientific case for why these supplemental funds are being requested; this could include, but is not limited to the following:

• Adding intervention elements (e.g. a programmatic and/or policy component could be added to what would otherwise be solely an infrastructure intervention);
• Increasing the number and types of activities within an intervention;
• Supporting the scaling of interventions to additional communities;
• Facilitating more and deeper multi-sectoral engagement.

Applicants interested in applying for the PHAC supplemental funds must ensure their research project is still viable through sole CIHR funding. Note that only CIHR funded projects will be eligible for grant supplements. Please see How to Apply for more details.

In addition to being relevant to at least one thematic area listed above, PHAC will consider applications relevant to one or more of the following priority areas and/or relevant to healthy living and chronic disease prevention:

• Active neighbourhoods
• Healthy food environments
• Supportive environments

Eligibility

Letter of Intent (LOI) step

For the application to be eligible:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant must be
   • an independent researcher affiliated with a Canadian post-secondary institution and/or its affiliated institutions (including hospitals, research institutes and other non-profit organizations with a mandate for health research and/or knowledge translation) at the time of funding; or
   • an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate; or
   • an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate (see Administration of Funds, below).
2. The Nominated Principal Applicant must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. At least one participant, must be a Principal Knowledge User (PKU) who will be responsible for co-leading the funded activities with the NPA.< >The PKU must have expertise in the relevant research area and knowledge of the city being investigated (see Eligibility criteria 7 below).The PKU must also hold an active position in policy development, senior community leadership or management at a municipal or community-based organization (e.g. community health centres, community-based primary healthcare practices, Indigenous representative organizations, etc.) that developed the intervention of study and/or will be involved in testing/rolling out the intervention.The NPA and PKU must have successfully completed at least one of the sex and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and have submitted a Certificate of Completion. See How-to-Apply for more details.

   For additional information on sex, gender and health research, applicants are encouraged to review the How to integrate sex and gender in research section on the CIHR website.

4. In addition to the NPA and PKU above, the core research team must also include one of each of the following:
   1. An independent researcher, identified as a Principal Applicant (PA) (this is in addition to the NPA if they are an independent researcher); and
   2. An Early Career Researcher (ECR), identified as a Principal Applicant (PA).
5. One project participant must be identified as the Sex and Gender Champion:< >This person must have experience in sex and gender-based analysis or with gender diversity in the community.This individual may hold other roles in addition to standing as the team’s Sex and Gender Champion.If this individual is neither the NPA nor the PKU co-leading the funded activities, they must have successfully completed at least one of the sex and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and have submitted a Certificate of Completion. See How-to-Apply for more details.How to integrate sex and gender in research” section on the CIHR website.
6. A minimum of one (1) municipality must be identified in the application:
   • This municipality must be the one to whom the PKU (described above) is affiliated with.
   • The research activities described must relate to an intervention in a municipality located wholly or partly within medium or large population centres as defined by Statistics Canada.
   • A ranking for population centres in Canada is available at Population and Dwelling Count Highlight Tables, 2016 Census.
   •  A Partner Letter must be submitted (see How to Apply for details).
7. For applications involving research with Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) communities but not solely focused on Urban Indigenous Health, teams must include:
   1. A PA or a PKU (independent researcher or knowledge user) who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples.
   2. A knowledge user who holds an active position in policy development, senior community leadership or management at an Indigenous organization that developed the intervention of study and/or will be involved in testing/rolling out the intervention.
   3. One team member who is an Indigenous Elder or Indigenous Knowledge Keeper*.
8. For applications to the Urban Indigenous health thematic research area, teams must include:
   1. An NPA who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples.
   2. A PKU who holds an active position in policy development, senior community leadership or management at an Indigenous organization that developed the intervention of study and/or will be involved in testing/rolling out the intervention.
   3. A knowledge user who is an Indigenous Elder or Indigenous Knowledge Keeper*.
   4. An ECR who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples.
9. For applications relevant to the Healthcare Systems, Services and Policies thematic area the leadership team must include the following two participants:
   1. A health services and policy researcher; and
   2. A primary healthcare provider OR a healthcare decision maker.

*A Knowledge Keeper (also known as a Knowledge Holder or Knowledge Guardian) is an Indigenous person, regardless of age, who possesses the Indigenous cultural knowledge necessary for the proposed research project or activities, as recognized, validated, and authenticated by the Indigenous community.

Full Application step

In addition to the LOI eligibility outlined above, for a Full Application to be eligible:

11. The research activities described must engage one additional municipality, for a minimum of two (2) municipalities, located wholly or partly within medium or large population centres as defined by Statistics Canada.
    1. Each municipality must be represented by an individual on the core research team and identified as a PKU. Each individual must have expertise in the relevant thematic research area and have knowledge of the cities being investigated in the application.
    2. Each PKU must also hold an active position in policy development; senior community leadership or management at a municipal or community-based organization (e.g. community health centres, community-based primary healthcare practices, Indigenous representative organizations, etc.) that developed the intervention and/or will be involved in testing/rolling out the intervention.
    3. In the event that the PKU and/or municipality representative changes from LOI to Full Application, efforts should be made to replace that individual with an individual of similar role within the same municipality.   
    4. Additional study locations will be eligible. These can be situated in municipalities located outside of medium or large population centres and can include small, non-rural municipalities or international sites.
    5. Partner Letter(s) must be submitted (see How to Apply for more details).
12. For applications relevant to the Healthcare Systems, Services and Policies thematic area the leadership team must include the following 3 participants:
    1. A health services and policy researcher;
    2. A primary healthcare provider AND a healthcare decision maker.
13. CIHR funds cannot be used to cover the costs of the intervention. Applicants will be required to demonstrate how the intervention is being covered by an external party to the application.
    1. Applicants are required to attach a Partner Letter describing the agreement with the partner(s) (i.e. municipality, industry, charity, etc.) who will cover the cost of the intervention should their team grant application be successful. See How to Apply for more details.

COVID-19 Impact on ECRs

CIHR is temporarily adjusting the period of eligibility for an ECR. All those who held ECR status as of March 1, 2020, or who secured their first academic appointment after this date, will have their status extended by one year.

Funding Availability

• The total CIHR and PHAC amount available for this funding opportunity is up to $27,450,000 as detailed below. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate.
• Of the $18,450,000 available from CIHR:
  • $450,000 is available at the LOI stage to fund up to 18 Development and Engagement grants (three (3) in each thematic research area) up to $25,000 each, if requested, for a period of one (1) year;
  • At the full application stage, a total of $18,000,000 (not including Partner Funding – see below) is available, enough to fund a minimum of six (6) grants. The maximum amount per grant is $500,000 per year for up to six (6) years, for a total of $3,000,000 per grant.
    • $3,000,000 is available to fund one application relevant to the healthcare systems, services and policies thematic area;
    • $3,000,000 is available to fund one application relevant to the healthy aging thematic area;
    • $3,000,000 is available to fund one application relevant to the musculoskeletal health , mobility or prevention thematic area;
    • $3,000,000 is available to fund one application relevant to the type 2 diabetes prevention thematic area;
    • $3,000,000 is available to fund one application relevant to the Urban Indigenous health thematic area; and
    • $3,000,000 is available to fund one application relevant to the population and public health thematic area.
• Of the $9,000,000 available from PHAC at the full application stage:
  • $9,000,000 is available to support applications relevant to PHAC priorities, as described above, enough to fund a minimum of three (3) supplemental grants. The maximum amount per grant is $500,000 per year for up to six years, for a total supplementary funding of up to $3,000,000 per grant over six (6) years.

Special Notes

Please note that research activities carried out in the context of COVID-19 need to adhere to the University of Guelph COVID-19 research principles, policies, guidelines and processes as they may be updated from time to time and communicated on the Office of Research web-page.

How to Apply

• The application process for this funding opportunity is comprised of two steps:  Letter of Intent and Full Application.
• To complete your Letter of Intent, follow the instructions in the Team Grants/ Emerging Team Grants - ResearchNet "Letter of Intent" Phase Instructions Checklist along with any additional instructions found below under “Specific Instructions”.
• To complete your Full Application, follow the instructions in the Team Grants / Emerging Team Grants – ResearchNet “Application” Phase Instructions along with any additional instructions found below under “Specific Instructions”.
• All participants listed, with the exception of Collaborators will:
  • Require a CIHR PIN
  • To complete the Equity and Diversity Questionnaire.
• Organizations applying as Nominated Principal Applicants must contact CIHR's Contact Centre for guidance in creating a ResearchNet account, registering for a CIHR PIN.
• Note: All documents must be in PDF format and must adhere to the guidelines for attachments on the Acceptable Application Formats and Attachments.

Webinar

CIHR and PHAC will be hosting webinar(s) to support participants with the requirements of this funding opportunity and to answer questions. For more information and to register, visit the CIHR Webinars page.