PSI Grants Approved in December 2019

Results from December 2019 Grants Committee Meeting

PSI Foundation is pleased to announce that over 30 applications were approved totalling $2,272,500. For more information regarding these funded studies, please visit the Funded Research page.  At this meeting, in addition to the standard funding streams (e.g. New Investigator grant), the Grants Committee also reviewed the applications for the 2020 Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship, 2020 Research Trainee Fellowship, and the 50th Anniversary funding streams (i.e. PSI-50 Mid-Career Clinical Research Award and 2020 Mental Health Knowledge Translation Fellowship).

PSI Foundation would like to thank all of our applicants for submitting their applications, external peer reviewers for strengthening the scientific rigour of our granting program, and the medical universities in Ontario for assisting the Foundation with the process.

Stay Connected

We look forward to showcasing all of our grantees via our communication channels. We invite you to follow us on Twitter to stay on top of PSI news, including new funding opportunities and updates to our funding guidelines.

2019 3rd Quarter Update

In an effort to keep Ontario’s physicians and the general public more informed about PSI Foundation, we are providing quarterly updates about our activities and news. We welcome any feedback you may have about these updates.

In the third quarter of 2019, PSI Foundation has launched some exciting new initiatives. Read on to find out more.

Relaunch of Grantee Spotlights

PSI Foundation funds approximately $5 million in research and education every year, and all of these funded physicians help PSI to achieve our mission of improving the health of Ontarians. To help show how these grantees work towards solving problems that will improve Ontarians’ health, we are highlighting some of our grant recipients who represent various medical fields and funding programs in Grantee Spotlights posted on our website.

So far, the featured researchers include:

  • Dr. Sonny Dhanani, chief of pediatric intensive care at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), whose team developed a tool using vital sign waveforms to predict whether a patient removed from life-sustaining therapy might be a potential organ donor
  • Dr. Peter Wong, a pediatrician in Toronto, who led research finding that shorter breastfeeding duration did not increase the risk of household food insecurity
  • Dr. Cindy Shen, a former resident with the University of Toronto, who studied the barriers that immigrants face in being screened for colorectal cancer

More spotlights will be added to the PSI website in the coming months. Follow #PSISpotlight on Twitter to stay updated.

More than $1 million in new funding approved

PSI Foundation’s Grants Committee approved 10 new grants in September 2019, representing an investment of $1,142,500.

The new grants are examining a range of topics, including the impact of pharmacare for children and youth with diabetes, traditional birth knowledge in a northern First Nations community, obesity prevention in toddlers and a tool to assess quality of care in medical assistance in dying. See the full list of the new grant recipients.

The Grants Committee thanks all applicants and external reviewers for their time and expertise.

PSI Foundation 50th Anniversary Update

PSI Foundation is marking its 50th anniversary on June 4, 2020. To help celebrate this milestone, we are funding a Mental Health Knowledge Translation Fellowship and Mid-Career Clinical Fellowship Award. We are looking forward to receiving applications from each medical university in Ontario for both of these awards.

The Grants Committee will be reviewing the applications for these awards in the near future, and results will be available towards the end of December.

We will be highlighting more of PSI Foundation’s achievements over the last 50 years throughout 2020. More details to come!

Contact

For more information about any of these topics, please contact the PSI Foundation office, and follow us on Twitter (@PSIFoundation) for updates.

 

2019 Second Quarter Update

In an effort to keep Ontario’s physicians and the general public more informed about PSI Foundation, we will be providing quarterly updates about our activities and news. This is the first such update, and we hope it is useful in keeping up to date with our activities. We welcome any feedback you may have about these updates.

The second quarter has been a busy one at PSI Foundation, starting with the annual general meeting (AGM) in April to announcing new grants and funding opportunities in June. Read on to find out more about our activities.

Annual General Meeting focused on knowledge translation

This year’s AGM was held on April 26 in Toronto, and it included continuing education and the business meeting. The continuing education portion of the meeting focused on knowledge translation (KT) and included presentations from leaders in the field and former recipients of the PSI Foundation Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship. Attendees also participated in round table discussions related to overcoming barriers to implementing KT in their institutions.

During the business meeting, representatives from PSI’s Board provided updates from the various committees, presented a history of the Foundation and its successes, and updated attendees on plans related to PSI’s 50th anniversary.

Read more about the event.

Seven new grants approved in June 2019

PSI Foundation is investing a total of $683,000 in seven new grants, which were approved at the June 2019 grants committee meeting.

The new grants, awarded to researchers at institutions in Ottawa and Toronto, represent a range of research types and fields, for example the physical and mental health of children with medical conditions and disabilities, pregnancy and parental leave of women physicians, and immune system response to oncolytic virus infection of colorectal tumours. Congratulations to all of the successful researchers! Read more about the new grants.

The Grants Committee thanks all of the applicants and external reviewers for their time and expertise during this process.

PSI Health Research Grants enhanced

Starting with submissions received as of January 2020, PSI Foundation is raising the amount of funding available for Health Research Grants, from $200,000 over two years to $250,000 over three years. We are very happy to increase the support for our researchers with this enhancement. More information is available here.

Fellowship funding opportunities for 2020 announced

Two of PSI’s annual fellowship programs will soon be accepting applications for 2020.

The Research Trainee Fellowship provides $50,000 over two years to medical doctors enrolled in a PhD or MSc program, or to students enrolled in a combined MD/PhD or MD/MSc program. This fellowship is meant to support MDs who are pursuing research in clinically relevant fields. Applicants must have the support of a mentor and of their institution.

The Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship provides a maximum of $300,000 over two or three years to support a new investigator who is working in KT research, and it is meant to protect at least half of the fellow’s time for such research. Applicants must be within the first five years of their academic appointment, or may be practising physicians either with an academic appointment or working with a supervisor who has an academic appointment.

Researchers or physicians who are interested in applying must work with the research office at their institution, as the institution, not the individual, must submit the application. If you have questions or would like more information about either program, please contact the PSI Foundation office.

PSI Foundation’s 50th anniversary preparations underway

PSI Foundation will be marking our 50th anniversary on June 4, 2020, and we have a variety of activities planned to celebrate this milestone. We will share details over the coming months, but for now, we are pleased to announce two one-time funding opportunities.

The Mental Health Knowledge Translation Fellowship will provide up to $300,000 in funding over two or three years to support a new investigator working in KT specifically related to mental health. For a number of years, mental health research was outside the scope of PSI Foundation’s mandate, but recently it has been included in the primary Health Research Funding program. This new fellowship is specifically earmarked for mental health research. The funding is meant for physicians within the first 10 years of an academic appointment, or for practising physicians with an academic appointment or with a supervisor who has an academic appointment, and it will protect at least 50% of their time to do KT research related to mental health. Please contact the PSI Foundation office with questions or for more information.

In addition, a Mid-Career Clinical Research Award will provide up to $300,000 in funding over three or four years for a clinician-researcher between five and 15 years of their first academic appointment. This award recognizes that this phase of a researcher’s career is particularly challenging, with additional academic roles and responsibilities as well as the ongoing clinical work, and it will protect at least 50% of a recipient’s time for research that aligns with PSI Foundation priorities. Those who are interested in applying for this one-time opportunity should contact the research office at their institution, as applications must be sent by the institution, not the applicant.

Contact

Please contact the PSI Foundation office for information about any of these topics, and follow us on Twitter (@PSIFoundation) for updates.

Enhancement to PSI Health Research Grants: Maximum Amount and Duration

Changes to the Current Funding Guidelines: Health Research Grant

PSI Foundation is pleased to announce that the maximum amount and duration of funding for Health Research grant will be increased to $250,000 for 3 years for submissions received as of January 1, 2020.

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter @PSIFoundation for the latest news and updates, such as updated application forms, funding guidelines, and policy revisions.

Enhancement to PSI Resident Research Grants: Maximum Amount

Maximum Amount Raised for Resident Research Funding Stream

PSI is pleased to announce that the maximum amount of funding per application has been raised from $20,000 to $30,000. Please visit our Funding Programs section for revised funding guidelines.

This change is a reflection of PSI’s commitment to funding resident research in the province of Ontario. Please visit our Funded Research section for a list of Resident Research grants funded by PSI.

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter @PSIFoundation for the latest news and updates, such as updated application forms and policy revisions.

Update to PSI’s Areas of Non-Support: Mental Health

Mental Health Research Now Eligible Under All Funding Streams

PSI is pleased to announce that we now accept grant applications in the area of mental health. Please visit our Funding Programs section for revised funding guidelines. Clinician researchers in the area of mental health are welcome to submit their application under the appropriate funding stream (e.g. New Investigator), as there is no longer a dedicated mental health funding stream.

Previously, PSI had a separate mental health research funding stream offered through a Letter of Intent process. This revision will provide flexibility to clinician researchers to submit mental health grant applications to PSI at any time.

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter @PSIFoundation for the latest news and updates, such as updated application forms and policy revisions.

SPECIAL EVENT: NOSM’s 2016 PSI Visiting Scholar: Dr. Frank Sullivan

“If you want smart young people to be committed to working in rural areas then you should recruit people who have grown up in rural areas.” – Dr. Frank Sullivan

Rural Ontario continues to face many serious health concerns that need to be better understood and resolved with the help of clinical research. To address this issue, Community Submission Dates (NOSM) is making clinical research a central focus of their Strategic Plan (2015-2020).

In support of this initiative, PSI Foundation funded NOSM’s 2016 Visiting Scholar Program, which intended to:

  • Connect an experienced researcher to the institution as a role model
  • Offer educational opportunities to physicians interested in research
  • Aid in the development of their research skills and/or a research project of their own
  • Identify people interested in research funding

This year, Dr. Frank Sullivan, who is currently the director of the University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network, was announced as NOSM’s 2016 PSI Visiting Scholar. His primary research focus is on the application of health informatics clinical decisions in primary care, which was inspired by the dilemma of physicians having three unanswered questions for every two consultations with patients.

The visit was an overwhelming success on a number of levels. Dr. Sullivan engaged students, physicians, residents, health care professionals and faculty throughout his tour of rural communities in Northern Ontario. Specifically, he delivered a keynote presentation at the Northern Health Research Conference, which addressed how evidence based medicine and research can influence practice. A short documentary highlighting the visit is provided below along with a link to Dr. Sullivan’s keynote presentation.

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5jaIYf0_QA
Slideshow – https://www.slideshare.net/pincomm/dr-frank-sullivan-early-diagnosis-of-lung-cancer?ref=http://www.psifoundation.org/ResearchPortfolio/frank_sullivan.php

PSI is engaged in receiving grants application from NOSM as they are a new institution in a unique position to make research a big focus now. Dr. Sullivan noted that this is extremely beneficial to rural healthcare as the more physicians engaged and trained in rural areas, the more likely they are committed to stay and practice in rural areas.

Although great strides have been made to build interest in research in the rural north, many challenges still exist, including the lack of structure, skills and resources. Fortunately, there is a great deal of determination among faculty and staff at NOSM to support this initiative.

If you’re interested in learning more about research opportunities at NOSM, please direct all your questions and concerns to Dr. David MacLean, Assistant Dean, Research at dmaclean@nosm.ca. All other inquiries about the content of this article can be directed to the Post Grant Coordinator, Nuvi Dhaliwal at dhaliwal.n@psifoudnation.org.

If you’re interested in learning more about Dr. Sullivan, please click on the following link:

The Scope, Northern Health Research (http://bit.ly/29oV46N)

Stay Informed

Grant and foundation updates straight to your inbox.