Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Research Committee Report 2013

Abstract

The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) and its Foundation, the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation (CDHF), in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the CAG -CDHF partners, aims to promote excellence in research. The overarching objective is that this research, in turn, will lead to new discoveries which will translate into improved health for Canadians. Moreover, this partnership will sustain and increase this capacity through high quality education and research training of talented young scientists and clinicians in gastroenterology. The CAG strategic plan is to sustain its strong support of biomedical research while increasing support for research in CIHR pillars 3 and 4, including outcomes research, quality assurance and knowledge translation. This report, on behalf of the research committee (Table 1), outlines another very successful year for this partnership program. TABLE 1 Members of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Research Committee 2013 Details relating to eligibility and application processes for all of the following awards are available on the CAG website: www.cag-acg.org/research. The review and assessment of every application complies with CIHR standards and guidelines and any potential conflicts of interest are meticulously identified and avoided. Operating Grant and New Investigator Award One operating grant and one new investigator salary award (Table 2) were awarded this year. The New Investigator Salary Award is in name only because the application ranked at a level to be funded entirely by the CIHR. TABLE 2 Funded grants (2013) CAG-CIHR-Partnered Post-Doctoral Operating Fellowship Program The fellowship program is the cornerstone in the CAG research activities and its sustained success makes it a model for other societies. A large number of applications were received again this year and support from CIHR, the CCFC and CAG’s industry partners (identified in tables 2, ​,3,3, ​,55 and ​and6)6) 10 fellowships were funded (Table 3). One fellow received CAG-CIHR awards in name only as their applications ranked at a level to be funded entirely by the CIHR. TABLE 3 Funded Postdoctoral Fellowships (2013) TABLE 5 Summer Studentships 2013 TABLE 6 Resident Research Awards (2013) CDHF-CIHR SHOPP PhD Studentship Program Six PhD students, three awarded in 2011 and three awarded in 2012 (Table 4) continue to be funded in 2013 under this partnership program. As of the 2012–2013 competition, the CIHR has discontinued the Small Health Organization Partnership Program (SHOPP), which was used to support this program. TABLE 4 Canadian Digestive Health Foundation-Canadian Institutes of Health Research (SHOPP) Studentship Program 2013 Summer Studentships It is critical that young investigators be supported at all levels of their training. The CAG supported nine awards ($5,000 each). The CCFC supported six awards ($5,000 each). The CDHF supported the 2013 Ivan Beck Award ($500) in partnership with the CAG; Ms Megan Levings (UBC) received a total award of $7,000. Funds support students to work in labs of recent and established investigators whose interests cover many facets of gut function in health and in disease. (Table 5). Resident Research Program Three awards were made available with the generous partnership from Shire and Warner Chilcott (Table 6). Workshop Grants Three CAG Workshop Grants were provided; one for the Banff Inflammation Workshop (January 31 to February 3, 2013), one for the 16th International Congress of Mucosal Immunology (July 17 to 21, 2013) and one for the Sherbrooke 10th Symposium on the Physiology and Disease of Digestive Tract (September 11 to 13, 2013). These workshops make a significant contribution to education in gastrointestinal (GI) research, and help to showcase the cutting-edge GI research from Canada and beyond. The CAG is proud to acknowledge its Benefactor Corporate Sponsors: AbbVie Corporation Olympus Canada Inc Pentax Canada Inc Janssen Inc Takeda Canada Inc CCFC-CAG Partnership The CCFC continues to be a key partner in the CAG research program and IBD research a major focus of the research being conducted. The summaries (Tables 2, ​,33 and ​and5)5) show that CCFC supported five Fellowships, one New Investigator salary award and six Summer Studentships. Congratulations to all the successful awardees. We look forward to your contributions and your continued participation in CAG research program. And again, many thanks to CIHR and CCFC and the CAG industry partners – the 17 Summer Studentships, three Resident Research awards, 10 Fellowships, one New Investigator Salary Award, and one operating grant add up to a research dollar commitment in 2013 of $1,095,000.