Harnessing the Power of Health Research

Harnessing the Power of Health Research | 2 December 2012

Health research supports British Columbians Health research takes place in our colleges and universities, our

hospitals, and our communities. It answers key questions that keep

British Columbians healthy and improve our health care system.

By supporting a vibrant health research community in BC, we can:

develop new treatments and cures

respond to emerging health threats

improve the delivery of health care

Health research is also an important catalyst for innovation and economic development. It creates high-quality knowledge economy jobs and attracts investment to BC.

“How can we optimize our response to emerging pandemic threats?”

MSFHR mobilizes priority research to ensure

BC’s health system leaders have the evidence

to address rapidly emerging health threats.

In 2009, we coordinated and funded a rapid

response study to understand which age

groups were most at risk from H1N1. This

real-time risk analysis was key to the effective

roll-out of BC’s immunization campaign.

“By partnering with MSFHR, we were able to bridge science and public health. We are now better prepared for the next pandemic.”

— Dr. Danuta SkowronskiPhysician epidemiologist, BC Centre for Disease Control

Clinical professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC

>10 fold = leverage of foreign, federal, private sector and not-for-profit funding for each dollar invested in health research by the Government of British Columbia (based on Statistics Canada GERD data for 2006)

MSFHR supports health research

Harnessing the power of health research requires nurturing our province’s exceptional researchers and providing the training and tools they need to innovate. MSFHR is a vital pillar of support to BC’s health research community and plays a central role in fostering capacity for world-class research.

*Other includes separate additional grants to specific research initiatives including Terry Fox Research Institute, Rick Hansen Foundation, Pacific Alzheimer Research Foundation, and others. BCKDF, Genome BC, and LEEF numbers are for health research portion only.

MSFHR

BCKDF

Genome BC

CDRD

LEEF

Other

Major health R&D investments by BC government since 2001 (%)1

Total health research funding = $917M

$300 millionAdditional CIHR dollars to BC over last decade as a result of investments in capacity building*

*cumulative benefit of shifting BC’s percentage of CIHR funding from 9% to 14%

Percentage of CIHR funding

19

91

8%

9%

10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

15%

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

AlbertaBritish Columbia

Harnessing the Power of Health Research | 3 December 2012

“The establishment of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research in 2001 was a game changer. It meant we could recruit, grow, and retain researchers of global stature and build teams focused on important health problems.”

— Dr. David Huntsman, MD, FRCPC, FCCMG

Director of OvCaRe, Vancouver General Hospital, BC Cancer Agency and UBC

Professor, Departments of Pathology and Lab Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UBC

Dr. Chew Wei Memorial Professor of Gynaecologic Oncology, UBC

Medical Director, Centre for Translational and Applied Genomics, BC Cancer Agency

We were founded in 2001 as part of the effort to revitalize health research in BC. Our province was losing ground to other provinces and struggling to recruit and retain top minds that could attract federal health research dollars.

1 British Columbia Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, November 2012

39.5%

23.7%

3.6%

5.9%

10.2%

17.1%

Health research answers important questions that improve the health of British Columbians

Harnessing the Power of Health Research | 4 December 2012

Sustaining excellence

BC’s ability to respond to these and other questions must be sustained. Our province is home to world-class researchers and resources, and MSFHR is key to harnessing the power of health research for the benefit of all British Columbians.

The recent announcement of government funding to MSFHR allows forward planning through the next 16 months. Stable, sustained funding is needed starting in 2014. A three-year commitment of $30M per year would enable MSFHR to continue supporting excellence and expand its efforts to catalyze health systems transformation through innovation and learning from what we do.

Michael Smith Foundationfor Health Research200 – 1285 West BroadwayVancouver, British ColumbiaV6H 3X8 Canada

T 604 730 8322F 604 730 0524www.msfhr.org

“What can we learn from HIV/AIDS

research that can change how we think

about other diseases?”

Early treatment can equal prevention.

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

has improved outcomes and reduced the

chances of HIV transmission by more than

95% through the use of HAART (highly

active anti-retroviral therapy) and routine

testing.

“We are at the forefront in the global effort to confront HIV/AIDS and ready to transfer the success of the ‘Treatment as Prevention’ strategy to other chronic diseases because of investments made by the BC government and MSFHR.”

— Dr. Julio MontanerDirector, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Chair in AIDS Research and Head of Division of AIDS, Faculty of Medicine, UBC

“How do differences in community

size and access to health care affect

outcomes?”

Health research found that women

diagnosed with breast cancer while living

in rural BC used breast cancer screening

less frequently, presented at a later

stage and chose surgical treatment over

radiation therapy more often than women

from large cities.

“Through our work at the BC Cancer Agency, we are trying to understand how the health-care system affects patients so we can optimize access and use of services across BC.”

— Dr. Nadine CaronMember, MSFHR Board of Directors

Assistant Professor, UBC Northern Medical Program at UNBC in Prince George

Scientist, BCCA Genome Sciences Centre

“How can we use the wealth of information available to improve health?”

MSFHR supports Population Data BC,

a platform to provide researchers with

secure, coordinated, and effective access

to BC’s health databases so they can

develop better treatments and better

health policy.

“[Stakeholders] identified the need to explore greater use of de-identified data and broader support for data sources such as Population Data BC.”

— Elizabeth DenhamBritish Columbia Information and Privacy Commissioner

Vancouver Sun, August 15, 2012