Catalyst Grant: Avian Influenza One Health Research 2024

Eligibility

For an application to be eligible, all the requirements stated below must be met:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be one of the following:
   1. an independent researcher or a knowledge user, affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary 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).
   2. an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate.
   3. a researcher or scholar working in a municipal, provincial or territorial government in Canada where the activity which forms the subject matter of the funding is not being funded by specific programs of those municipal, provincial and territorial governments.
   4. a Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit organization (including community or charitable organizations) with a research or knowledge translation mandate.
   5. If you are a Canadian university researcher who is eligible to receive NSERC funds, you can apply on your own or as a team with co-applicants who are also eligible academic researchers
2. The NPA must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The Institution Paid must be authorized to administer CIHR funds and/or NSERC funds by the funding start date.
4. For laboratory based research with infectious H5 or H7 virus/samples, only researchers affiliated with already approved containment level 3 laboratories with the appropriate human and animal pathogen licences and authorizations in place are eligible to apply.
5. The NPA must have successfully completed one of the sex- and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and submit a Certificate of Completion (see How to Apply section).
6. For applications involving Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit, or Métis), the team must include at least one applicant who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or demonstrates a track record of meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples.
7. Applicants must comply with CIHR's Policy on Identical / Essentially Identical Applications (see Section 5.2 Application Administration Guide).
   • Members of the Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (CBRF/BRIF) should ensure that there is no overlap in funding as outlined in the CIHR Guidelines on Identical or Essentially Identical Applications, should they apply for this funding opportunity. If you have received funding for similar work as part of the CBRF/BRIF, please indicate how the scope of the current application does not overlap with this work, and how this application is leveraging the CBRF resources.

Summary

The priorities for this funding opportunity have been informed by several meetings, events, expert panels and reports on the state of the science related to H5Nx and evidence gaps. A cross-cutting need that has been identified through these inputs is the importance of integrating and operationalizing a One Health approach to advance our understanding of the intersecting human, animal, and environmental dimensions of avian influenza when designing and implementing interventions to address the risk posed by this virus. This is the first of two Funding Opportunities launched by CIHR and led by the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (CRPPHE) that will support research on Avian Influenza. This first Funding Opportunity will fund rapid research on the most time-sensitive evidence gaps and immediate research needs related to the current outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in animals and the risk of zoonotic spillover to human populations. A second Funding Opportunity will be launched in Fall 2024 to continue to address ongoing or newly emerging evidence gaps related to avian influenza.

This funding opportunity will support research projects taking One Health* approaches to address the most urgent knowledge gaps informed through the prioritization activities described above. These priority research areas are:

• Research Area 1: Identification and characterization of the biology and behaviour of influenza A (H5Nx) viruses in humans, animals and ecosystems including but not limited to biological, virological, genomic, immunological and environmental factors that affect infectivity and transmission dynamics of the virus and how it is distinct from, and/or cross reacts with previous pandemic strains of virus.
• Research Area 2: Applying and advancing research methods, tools, and approaches (such as infectious disease modeling, economic modeling, genomic epidemiology, wastewater surveillance, and sero-epidemiology) to improve surveillance, early detection, risk assessment in high exposure populations including agriculture sector workers, hunters and trappers, animal and wildlife workers, and characterization of the impacts of H5Nx at the interface of human, animal, and environmental systems;
• Research Area 3: Evidence-based assessment of safety, effectiveness and relative advantage/disadvantage of pharmaceutical (including therapeutics and vaccines) and non-pharmaceutical (including PPE, ventilation, infection prevention and control) approaches for preventing, responding to and treating H5Nx infection and transmission (including through behavioural, social sciences, infodemic and health policy research) to inform the development and implementation of interventions in human and animal populations, particularly to reduce and/or mitigate higher-risk exposure to the virus in rural, occupational, and recreational settings.

*For this Funding Opportunity, research studies must align with the concept of One Health endorsed by the Quadripartite Organizations' One Health Joint Plan of Action.

Applicants proposing projects focused on animal and/or environmental health sectors and other relevant domains within the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) must describe how their project will either directly or indirectly contribute to protecting human health and/or well-being.

Overhead

n/a

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Webinar

CIHR will be hosting the following webinar to support participants with the requirements of thIS funding opportunity and to answer questions on how to apply.

When: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 1:30 PM MT | Join
Duration: 90 minutes

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on July 8, 2024. Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in enough time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the internal RSO deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Do not submit through ResearchNet until RSO's signature has been granted!! 

Once institutional signature has been obtained, a copy of the CIHR signature page will be available via the RMS record, under Documents. Upload the CIHR signature page and routing slip in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on July 11, 2024.

RESOURCES 

Support for projects involving Indigenous Research: 

Support with the development of your grant application is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST). Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage. 

Support for Knowledge Engagement: 

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, and responsible research assessment (DORA) is available through the Knowledge Engagement Team. Applicants can reach out by email to the KE team at knowledge.engagement@ucalgary.ca. For more information, please visit the KE team webpage. 

Support for Research Data Management: 

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca OR research.data@ucalgary.libanswers.com. 

Support for EDI in Research: 

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice. Contact Jaya.Dixit@ucalgary.ca for more information. 

Support for Research Security: 

The Research Security Division is available to assist researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the new policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC). Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.  

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with RSO units, the more help we can be! 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application