Antimicrobial Resistance – Featured Research

AMR research funded by CIHR aligns with the actions being taken by other federal departments to address AMR, as described in the Government of Canada’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Use in Canada: A Federal Framework for Action (2014) and on the Government of Canada’s webpage on AMR.

The Government of Canada released the Federal Action Plan on AMR and Use in Canada in 2015, with the aim to coordinate AMR activities of federal departments and agencies. In 2017, the Federal Ministers of Health and Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada released the Pan-Canadian Framework on AMR to coordinate efforts across all levels of government and sectors. The associated Action Plan is currently being developed under the following pillars:

Surveillance;
Stewardship;
Infection Prevention and Control;
Research and Innovation.

While AMR has been a key research priority for the CIHR since 2000, the AMR Research Initiative was formally created following Canada’s 2015 Budget announcement of $1.8 million in annual grant funds. The AMR Initiative was implemented in 2016 and led by the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity (III) and the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH).

In line with the One-Health approach to addressing AMR, AMR research initiatives also recognize that AMR is a global health problem. To that end, CIHR has been partnering with the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) to encourage international partnerships for Canadian AMR researchers. The CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity (III), has been at the forefront in the creation of a global Virtual Research Institute (VRI) – the JPIAMR VRI – as part of the CIHR’s AMR International Activities.