Research projects don’t “just happen”

Research doesn't just happen. Basic research requires many minds that come together from a variety of disciplines to first define a question and then work on finding the answer. The research itself may be carried out in labs in many institutions across the country, and indeed around the world. It costs a lot to carry out. So how do researchers, projects and funding come together in order to answer the questions posed by arthritis?

In June 2004, CAPA Voices brought you several articles about the cutting-edge Frontiers in Inflammatory Joint Disease Conference held in May. (For your reference this issue is available at www.arthritis.ca/capa) Conference participants were top clinical investigators and basic scientists, and consumer/activists from several different arthritis organizations. Consensus was reached on the top issues needing to be addressed. Questions were developed to be answered by research that are most relevant to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), and Spondyloarthritis (Sp-A)

Funding now enters the picture. Without it everything comes to a screeching halt. One of the major funders of arthritis research is The Arthritis Society (TAS). Last fall TAS announced a New Strategic Plan for Research (www.arthritis.ca/research). This month TAS announced the first Arthritis Society National Research Initiative in Inflammatory Joint Diseases/Juvenile Idiopathic Diseases and issued a Request for Applications (RFA) . The RFA provides all necessary information to those who wish to submit a proposal, from eligibility requirements and evaluation criteria, to the application process complete with time lines.

The effect of the RFA is to throw the ball back in the researchers court. It lists the questions determined by the FIJD Conference, and all submissions must target at least one of these questions. Projects must also take into consideration other factors such as the gender, age diversity, regional and cultural factors, and remote and unique/indigenous populations who develop these diseases. Patient focus, knowledge translation and exchange, and the training of researchers and advocates also play important roles in the project design. Submissions will be peer reviewed as part of a selection process that decides which projects will receive funding. This is no small matter as funding to a maximum of up to $500K will be available per year, for up to five years.

In June, 2005, the Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN) in combination with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA), The Arthritis Society and others will announce another and complimentary RFA for a strategic research initiative/New Emerging Team (NET) Grant Program in Inflammatory Joint Diseases. This funding will enable more research projects to find answers to the puzzle that is arthritis.