Applied Public Health Chairs

In 2020, the APHC program was updated to incorporate findings of a mid-term evaluation and other consultations undertaken by PHAC and CIHR-IPPH. These efforts highlighted an ongoing need to support mid-career applied public health researchers as an important group for training and mentoring subsequent generations of diverse researchers. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasized the value of, and need for, close connections between diverse people with lived and living experience, researchers and decision-makers, and has reinforced the need for equity-informed applied public health research. To this end, CIHR-IPPH and PHAC have relaunched the APHC Program in 2022.

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to fund diverse mid-career applied public health researchers in Canada who will undertake inclusive and equitable applied research programs that tackle pressing public health challenges and who will work with decision makers from various sectors and communities to help support evidence-informed decisions that improve health and health equity.

The APHC funding opportunity is designed to be:

• Responsive to emerging applied public health priorities identified by diverse knowledge users, public health decision makers and practitioners, community leaders, and/or people with lived or living experience
• Adaptive to ensure that the public health issues addressed have the right amount of time and resources to generate actionable solutions; and
• Integrated with policy and decision-making processes in Canada to maximize the potential of impact through applied interventions.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity will support ten (10) applied public health research Chairs. All APHC programs must focus on population health intervention research to promote health and health equity, and must align with CIHR-IPPH’s mandate and PHAC’s mandate.

Population health intervention research uses quantitative and qualitative methods, including Indigenous knowledges and approaches to research, to produce knowledge about policy and program interventions that operate within and/or outside of the health sector and have the potential to impact health at the population level, and is not clinical or laboratory based. Research programs do not have to develop or implement interventions directly. Population health interventions can include policy, environmental, social, cultural, and resource distribution approaches. These interventions are often complex and operate within and outside the health sector (e.g., education, housing, built environment). All applications funded through this opportunity will be required to align with this description.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• Support high quality programs of population health intervention research that contribute to new knowledge to improve health and health equity across the life course. A program of research outlines multiple research projects that are conceptually linked and implemented over several years, based on an analysis of gaps in current knowledge in the field, especially gaps of importance to knowledge users engaged in relevant policies and programs in public health and other sectors.
• Catalyze interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral collaborations between researchers and knowledge users that contribute to evidence-informed decision-making and use of knowledge by public health and other sectors.
• Support and strengthen the ability of the research community to respond with actionable evidence to emerging or re-emerging public health concerns that could impact the health and well-being of Canadians.
• Mentor the current and next generation of population and public health researchers (in particular post-doctoral fellows and early career researchers), practitioners and policy makers from a range of disciplines and sectors.
• Stimulate the application of innovative theories, methods and approaches in research and knowledge mobilization (KMb) that promote reciprocal learning within and/or between countries. This includes low-, middle- and/or high-income countries.
• Strengthen research excellence and ensure maximum impact through consideration of diverse socio-cultural identity and/or biological factors in research design, including diverse research methods such as those based in Indigenous ways of knowing.

Eligibility to Apply

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

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be an independent researcher 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. 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 before the funding can be released (see Administration of Funds).
4. The NPA must be a mid-career population and public health researcher who, at the time of Full application, assumed their independent research position 5-15 years prior. (Updated: 2023-02-28)
   • NOTE: the eligibility window will be adjusted, as follows:
     • eligible leaves (e.g. maternity, parental, medical, family medical, bereavement) will extend mid-career researcher status (i.e. will not be counted towards the maximum) and are credited as twice the amount of time taken;
     • no adjustments are provided for professional leaves (e.g., training, sabbatical, administrative). No adjustments are provided for time spent on non-research related duties or for the pursuit of non-research related career activities. (Updated: 2023-03-23)
5. The NPA must not previously have held an Applied Public Health Chair award from CIHR.
6. For Research Area 3 (Urban Indigenous Health) and any applications involving research with Indigenous communities: this funding opportunity seeks applicants who self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) or applicants who provide evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples in order to:
   • Prioritize First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples and communities, including urban Indigenous communities, in leading their research agendas;
   • Promote cultural safety of Indigenous Peoples and appropriate engagements by researchers working with Indigenous Peoples in meaningful ways to ensure that respectful relations are established;
   • Add value to the research through the use of Indigenous culturally relevant theoretical and conceptual frameworks, and Indigenous culturally relevant research protocols, including Indigenous methodologies; and

   • Promote equity and development of trainees, researchers and knowledge users who are of Indigenous ancestry.

     NOTE: Any research applications involving Indigenous Peoples must include a researcher or knowledge user who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or who provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples, or an Indigenous Elder or Indigenous Knowledge Keeper*.

     *A Knowledge Keeper (also known as a Knowledge Holder or a Knowledge Guardian) is an Indigenous person, regardless of age, who possesses the Indigenous cultural knowledge necessary for the proposed research project or activities, as recognized, validated, and authenticated by the Indigenous community.

7. Applicants proposing research specifically involving Indigenous Peoples must therefore submit a one (1) page "Other" attachment, entitled "Indigenous Health Research", describing how they meet the above requirements. See How to Apply for more details.
8. In order to increase capacity and allow as many researchers as possible to benefit from federal, peer-reviewed funding, the NPA may not concurrently hold a CIHR salary award and/or another federally funded salary award. Current Canada Research Chair (CRC) holders are only eligible to apply for a CIHR salary award if their award (CRC) has concluded by the Full Application Notice of Decision date for this funding opportunity.

In addition to the above LOI criteria, for an application to be eligible at the Full Application stage:

9. The NPA must identify at least one decision maker who will be directly engaged in their research program and will support the uptake and impact of their research in an applied setting. A decision maker may be a provincial/territorial/local Medical Officer of Health, a community leader, or a partner from a non-federal governmental or non-profit agency responsible for evidence-based public health practice or policy making. This decision maker cannot be from the PHAC.
10. The NPA must provide confirmation of a commitment from their institution/organization (in the form of a letter of support), including commitment to protect a minimum of 75% of the NPA's time to carry out research activities relevant to the Objectives, and Research Areas of this funding opportunity.
11. The NPA must also provide a confirmation from their institution that they are in a tenure track position or will be able to apply for a tenure-track position (or equivalent) in their department or faculty during the six-year award period. Note: for researchers based at non-academic institutions or organizations, a letter from their institution confirming that they are in or will be able to apply for a position similar or equivalent to a tenure track is accepted.
12. The NPA must have successfully completed one of the sex- and gender- based analysis online training modules through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and submit a Certificate of Completion (see How to Apply section). Please select and complete the training module most applicable to your research project. For additional information on sex, gender and health research, applicants are encouraged to review the "How to integrate sex and gender in research" section on the CIHR website. For additional guidance refer to Best Practices in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research, and "Quantitative intersectional study design and primary data collection" sections on the CIHR website.

How to Apply

• The application process for this funding opportunity is comprised of two steps: 1. Letter of Intent and 2. Full Application.
• To complete your Letter of Intent, follow the "Specific Instructions" listed below and where applicable, consult the Salary Awards – Application Instructions. Note that a Letter of Intent must be submitted to be eligible to submit a full application
• To complete your Full Application, follow the "Specific Instructions" listed below, and where applicable, consult the Salary Awards – Application Instructions.
• All participants listed, with the exception of Sponsors, are required to:
  • Have/obtain a CIHR PIN
  • Complete the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Self-identification Questionnaire.