Parliament is Back… and What of Research and
Innovation…
It’s
back to work for Members of Parliament as the fall session of Parliament got underway last week. The agenda is already full with provincial negotiations
taking up a lot of the federal government’s time.
The
Liberals will have to reach a consensus with the premiers on a long-term health
accord and figure out how to achieve our Paris climate change targets. During
the fall, a special committee will release its recommendations on how we should
change our voting system and the government should announce where the country
will send its 600 troops for a new peacekeeping mission in Africa.
What about the Fundamental Science Review and the Innovation
Agenda?The response has been overwhelming, we hear. Research
Canada and seven of its national partners or the R8 are trying to assist the
Fundamental Science Panel, in particular, in making sense of the cacophony of
views and positions being extolled by our sector. We are producing a letter
from our eight respective organizations* providing some collective messages to
Minister Duncan and the Panel. The final
letter will be available on our website on September
30, 2016.Research
Canada, in its own submission, is making the case for a holistic view of
research and innovation. As an Alliance, Research Canada is uniquely positioned
because we represent the full continuum of health research and health
innovation stakeholders.
For us, you cannot separate fundamental science from innovation
and vice-versa. We have to look at both fundamental science and the innovation
agenda through the lens of the other because they are inextricably linked along
a continuum of activity that involves the GAIN spectrum of stakeholders:
Government, Academe, Industry and the Not-for-profit sectors.
Research
Canada is also making the case for better governance of our federal funding
system for research and innovation through the creation of a separate council
focused on governance and representative of all of the stakeholders, which
comprise the research and innovation continuum. We are also calling for flexibility
in our funding model that, among other things, mitigates new and emerging
research from falling through the cracks. Research Canada’s submission to the
Naylor Panel will be posted on its website on September 30, 2016.
*Association
of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, BIOTECanada, Colleges and Institutes
Canada, HealthCareCAN, Health Charities Coalition of Canada, Innovative Medicines
of Canada, MEDEC, Research Canada.
Frailty Among the Aged in Canada
On
October 24th, 2016, Research Canada will host a Health Research Caucus
Reception on Frailty Among the Aged in Canada, welcoming Parliamentarians to
meet with 20 leading
frailty researchers from across Canada. Topics include: the Biology of Frailty,
Identifying Frailty, Frailty and our Healthcare System, the Societal Impact of
Frailty and the Prevention of Frailty.
Research
Canada is pleased to welcome Dr. Kenneth
Rockwood as our Keynote Speaker at the event and is grateful for the
leadership and support of Sanofi Pasteur,
our Platinum Sponsor, Innovative
Medicines Canada, our Platinum Partner
and the Canadian Frailty Network! Please visit the event page to view all the sponsors and learn more about the event.
Media Portal and Media Monitoring
Research
Canada is pleased to be offering its Members, Partners and Supporters free
Media Monitoring services through its HRI Portal. To subscribe to our RSS feed
and receive current news on health research and health innovation in Canada,
please visit: www.hriportal.ca
We
are also offering a media release distribution service at a fraction of the
cost of traditional newswire services. The HRI Portal is tailored to our
Members, Supporters and Partners and targets health and science journalists
specifically. For more information, please contact sfordyce@rc-rc.ca
Leadership Award and Award Gala
Research
Canada received sixteen stellar nominations this year for both individuals and
organizations dedicated to health research advocacy in Canada. 2016 Awardees
will be announced on the evening of November
22, 2016 at the HRF, Prix Galien and Research Canada Award Gala at the
Toronto Convention Centre. Visit here for tickets.
