Title: Establishing a Canadian Child Health Research Network
1 Establishing a Canadian Child Health Research
Network November 2004
2Why child health research?
- Pediatric diseases have a greater component of
genetic determinants than adult diseases - Antecedents of adult diseases can be found in
pediatric populations - Children are a manageable population sector
- Child health leads to a stronger economic base
healthy children today means healthy adults
(working population) tomorrow - Children have been identified as a
unique/vulnerable research population
3The external context favours the establishment of
a child health research network (I)
- Changing public expectations (relevance,
knowledge transfer, technology transfer and
ethics, as criteria for excellence) - Big - big science (theme based funding,
programs rather than projects, expected return on
investment) - Emphasis on quality in research oversight
- Competition for staff/trainees
4The external context favours the establishment of
a child health research network (II)
- Investment in research is continuing
- The requirement for institutional participation
in many matching programmes would be
facilitated by a network - Opportunity to blend both federal and provincial
funding - Possibility of attracting private funds through
national fund-raising activities
5Opportunity for a Child Health Research Network
- Research on children has unique elements, in
particular their developmental processes - Knowledge transfer may be especially feasible on
issues of child health - Increasing emphasis on translation research the
idea that translation research is feasible has
become established in past 10 years - Increasing emphasis on multi-centre research
- Opportunity to build competence and capacity and
minimise / eliminate weaknesses
6Goals for a Pediatric Research Network
- 1. To improve health outcomes by implementing
research advances - (Connect basic scientists, clinician-scientists
and health practitioners) - 2. To take advantage of the Canadian health care
system - (Marry national health care system with
entrepreneurial science system) - 3. To improve funding for pediatric research
- (Create effective lobby for child health
research)
7Goals for a Pediatric Research Network
- 4. To establish and develop research partnerships
- (Enable collaboration through existing networks
present at this meeting, among others) - 5. To enlist provincial partnerships
- (Allow each centre to obtain support from its
province) - 6. To spread a climate of research throughout the
country - (Make all institutions partners in research)
- 7. To improve support to existing networks
- (Create infrastructures common to all networks)
8Use of new resources
- Personnel
- Salaries of investigators
- Enhanced national training programs
- Infrastructure
- Specific research support (CIUs, CEUs, data
bases) - Indirect costs
- Capital projects
9First step development of a national child
health clinical research network
- Components of Clinical Research Support
- Clinical Investigation Unit/Clinical Research
Centre - Clinical Trials Consortium
- Health Services, Economics and Policy/Advocacy
Research - Data Management
- Knowledge Transfer
- Pediatric Clinical Research Institutional Support
and Oversight
101. Clinical Investigation Unit/Clinical Research
Centre
- Local, regional, national and/or virtual
- Some or all of
- bed space, exercise physiology, research
pharmacy, access to imaging, pool of specialized
personnel, behavioural research unit, etc.
112. Clinical Trials Consortium
- Work with existing groups or develop new program
- Provide methodological support, standardized
contracts, ethics, data management, coordinated
oversight - Network of individuals with similar roles to
create standard operating procedures, develop
education and training - Opportunity to attract funding
- Link to industry
123. Health Services, Economics and Policy/
Advocacy Research 4. Data Management 5.
Knowledge Transfer 6. Clinical Research
Institutional Support and Oversight (Harmonizatio
n of research ethics boards, contracts, policies
and procedures re CTAs, continuing review)
13The Sick Kids Clinical Research Pathway
CLINICAL
RESEARCH
Clinical Research Secretariat
Medical Advisory Committee
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Clinical Research Office
Clinical Departments
STUDY MANAGEMENT
DISSEMINATION
SCIENCE
OVERSIGHT
APPROVALS
- Health Care Team
- - Clinical Practice
- - Rounds
- Research Subjects
- Patients
- Individual Results
- Summary Results
Education Study Audit Monitoring
Division / Dept Clinical Services Clinical
Program
Patients Patient Care policy Safe Location
Clinical Department Research Directors
Clinical Research Centre (Nursing, Beds,
Exercise Lab) Staff Education Template
SOPs Study Budgets Data Management
Biostatistics (CRSU)
Study Design
Grants Contracts
(Clinical Research Support Unit CRSU)
Peer Scientific Reviews
- Colleagues
- - Conferences
- - Peer review journals
- Public
- Advocacy Groups
- Granting Agencies
- Media
HEALTH CANADA ( / or FDA )
HEALTH CANADA ( / or FDA )
RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD
RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD
14NIH Regional Translational Research Centers (RTRC)
- Phase 1 3 Million in 2005 for 20 grants to
conceptualize/design three models of RTRCs - regional centres with clinical research services
(e.g. protocol design, data management/biostatisti
cs, regulatory including Good Clinical Practices
and Good Laboratory Practices, REB, subject
recruitment, pilot project support, staff) - core laboratory technology centres (e.g, imaging,
animal toxicology, real time PCR, genetic and
microarray statistical support, pharmacokinetics,
including LC-MS) - hybrid of regional and core
- Phase 2 Infrastructure for translational
research (RFP in 2006 for 8-10 RTRC worth 27
Million)
15Questions regarding a national child health
research network
- Are there sciences/clinical problems particular
to children? (if Childrens hospitals dont study
them, no one else will) - Are there competitive advantages to coordinating
research at pediatric centres? - What approaches would work best to enlist all
partners in our common objectives? - What measures (scientific or other) could be used
to gauge success of such a Network?
16Next steps to develop the clinical research
network
- Receive endorsement from this group
- Each centre will establish its needs and
participation in network - Begin to implement aspects that require little
money identify local lead individuals - Compete for CIHR/CFI RFPs when they are announced
- Write a full application