Team Grant: Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment in Aging KM Hub

Eligibility

Applicants:

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 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) at the time of funding. 
      OR
   2. an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate.
      OR
   3. an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research or knowledge translation mandate.
2. The NPA (individual) 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 Research Team must include each of the following roles. Note that an individual can fulfill multiple roles.
   1. A Knowledge User (KU) as Principal Applicant, or Co-Applicant. 
   2. A Knowledge Mobilization expert as Principal Applicant, or Co-Applicant. 
   3. An expert in brain health and cognitive impairment in aging as a Principal Applicant or Co-Applicant.
   4. A PWLLE as Principal Applicant, Co-Applicant, or Collaborator. 
   5. An Early Career Researcher as a Principal, or Co-Applicant. 
   6. The team must have a principal applicant or co-applicant who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provides evidence of meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples. (see How to apply for more details).
   7. An EDI champion, where the EDI champion will foster EDI in the KM Hub's strategies and activities (e.g. inclusion of typically underrepresented population groups in decision making).
   8. A Sex and Gender Champion, who has the expertise to ensure that sex and/or gender considerations are integrated into the KM Hub's strategies and activities, as appropriate.
5. The NPA and Sex and Gender and EDI Champions must have each successfully completed at least one of the sex and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and have submitted a Certificate of Completion. See How to apply for more details.
   • Organizations as NPAs: For organizations applying as the NPA, a representative of the organization must complete the training module on the organization's behalf.
6. Only applications that are successful at the Letter of Intent (LOI) phase will be eligible to apply to the Full application phase.

Note: Participants, including Indigenous Elders and/or Indigenous Knowledge Holders, may participate on an application in a Collaborator role without the need to secure a CIHR PIN. Follow the instructions in the How to apply sections that pertain to Collaborators. Please note, names of Collaborators do not appear in CIHR funding decision databases and documents.

Summary

CIHR is launching this funding opportunity (FO) to support the Canadian Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment in Aging Research Knowledge Mobilization (KM) Hub (herein referred to as "KM Hub").

This FO is a key part of the Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment in Aging (BHCIA) Research Initiative and the successful applicant team will be expected to collaborate with the brain health and cognitive impairment in aging research community in Canada, including grantees from other BHCIA Research Initiative funded projects, in addition to the broader brain health and cognitive impairment in aging  research community in Canada, building upon existing platforms and infrastructures. The KM Hub will also be expected to contribute to the fulfillment of  key research goals of the National Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire (2019).

Design Elements

The KM Hub will be national in scope and will serve as a centralized source of information and evidence-based practice for researchers, knowledge keepers, and knowledge users, including but not limited to persons with lived and living experience (PWLLE) of dementia and their care partners (i.e. family, friends, care givers and care providers). The KM Hub will compile knowledge created from transdisciplinary research related to brain health and cognitive impairment, including dementia, from partners, funded projects through the BHCIA Research Initiative and other national (and international) researchers.

The KM Hub will also foster collaboration amongst the broader cognitive impairment in aging and dementia community to conduct and support activities that promote a dynamic community of researchers, trainees, knowledge users (including PWLLE, Indigenous communities, decision makers), research funders, and community and not-for-profit organizations.

The KM Hub will promote and amplify new research findings and facilitate the application of evidence to practice and contribute towards a growing, pan-Canadian learning and collaborative community with a shared commitment to cognitive impairment in aging research and healthy brain aging.

The KM Hub will use an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) lens in its governance structure processes and planned activities. Information developed by the KM Hub for public consumption for the purposes of informing and engaging interested parties (e.g., website content) must be provided in both official languages (English and French) and should be developed using plain language practices (see Allowable Costs for more details).

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• Accelerate and facilitate dissemination of evidence-based information through an inventory function to provide equitable and inclusive access to research findings to diverse audiences across Canada, promoting health literacy.
• Contribute to the dissemination of the knowledge created by research in areas related to the National Dementia Strategy.
• Foster impactful, equitable and accessible uptake of knowledge (including official language considerations) created through research, to inform policy development and/or promote implementation of evidence-based interventions.
• Increase collaborations and create linkages between a diversity of researchers and knowledge users in the brain health and cognitive impairment in aging field, including partners in research (e.g., Indigenous communities), and the public.