Research showcase

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), formerly called chronic fatigue syndrome, is a debilitating chronic, multi-system illness affecting millions of people worldwide. Symptoms of ME include profound fatigue exacerbated by effort or exercise, unrefreshing sleep, pain, cognitive impairment, orthostatic intolerance (when standing upright causes the onset of symptoms), and many others. There is not yet a cure or any approved treatments for ME.

Many people with Long COVID also meet the criteria to receive an ME diagnosis, further underscoring the need for research to better understand ME.

To boost ME research in Canada, CIHR has invested $2 million to continue supporting an ME research network over the next five years. Since 2019, the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ICanCME) research network has brought together researchers, clinicians, and patient partners to advance ME research. The network is co-led by Dr. Alain Moreau at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montréal alongside a team of scientific and lived-experience leaders from across Canada and around the world.

Since its inception, the network has been connecting the ME research community, supporting promising research projects, and sharing ME resources for patients, researchers, and clinicians. With this new funding, ICanCME aims to:

• Expand their research network,
• attract promising students to the field of ME research and develop the next generation of scientists,
• develop strategies for ME clinical trials in Canada, and
• share research findings and promote open science to accelerate discoveries.

Learn more about ICanCME

Trainees and early career researchers are the future of health science discovery and innovation in Canada. CIHR is committed to providing new training and development opportunities to build their capacity and skills and ensure Canada’s health researchers are equipped to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the future as new research directions, practices and technologies continue to emerge.

That is why CIHR has invested $16.25 million to support the development of five research training platforms that bring together mentors from across a variety of disciplines, sectors and jurisdictions to equip trainees and early career researchers with the foundational skills and knowledge required for a range of careers within or outside of academia while working in some of Canada’s most innovative areas of health research.

These research training platforms are focused on building capacity in the following areas:

• One Health approach to antimicrobial resistance;
• One Health approach to emerging zoonoses;
• embedding researchers in health systems organizations;
• brain health and cognitive impairment in aging; and
• bioinformatics, computational biology and health data sciences.

First launched in 2021, this initiative, known as the Health Research Training Platform (HRTP), goes beyond the standard research training program. In addition to gaining foundational research skills and knowledge, participants receive comprehensive research training in areas such as grant writing, project management, science communications, interdisciplinary research, open science and knowledge mobilization and have the chance to work closely with mentors to develop a greater understanding of emerging research and knowledge mobilization approaches. Foundational to the initiative, participants are trained in the science of conducting diverse and inclusive research, such as respecting Indigenous Ways of Knowing, incorporating sex- and gender-based considerations in research and recognizing unconscious bias.

Learn more about the training platforms and recipients.

For more than three decades, the Government of Canada has provided funding for a HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Network to establish infrastructure that advances clinical trials for HIV and AIDS. While significant progress has been made towards developing successful therapeutics to combat HIV, both a cure and a vaccine remain elusive. Globally and in Canada, recent trends have shown alarming increases in new cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI).

In 2022, globally:

• 39 million people were living with HIV
• 630,000 died from HIV/AIDS
• 1.3 million people were newly infected
• an estimated 58 million people were living with chronic hepatitis C and 296 million with hepatitis B

In Canada, the challenges in treatment and prevention of STBBI vary by region and clinical trial infrastructure is concentrated in the biggest cities, creating barriers to participation for rural, remote and isolated communities and resulting in poorer health outcomes for populations disproportionately affected by STBBI.

CIHR’s recently launched HIV/AIDS & STBBI Clinical Trials Research Network funding opportunity aims to build on the important contributions and efforts of the previously funded clinical trial network team and establish research infrastructure that advances innovative, community-centred clinical trials. These trials will have an expanded scope for research on STBBI beyond HIV with a focus on other existing health conditions, co-infections, and disparities in the health and well-being of key populations disproportionately affected by STBBI in Canada.

The successful team, led by Dr. Marina Klein from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, is being awarded $25 million over five years. Dr. Klein will lead a diverse network with five regional teams, four specialized think tanks and a community-centred knowledge mobilization hub. This nationally coordinated, interdisciplinary and connected clinical trials network will strengthen Canada’s capacity to address HIV and STBBI from prevention to cure.

Learn more about the network