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Canadian Institutes of Health Research "Catalyst Grant"

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
Or at least pay something towards the many lab tests available elsewhere, but not in Canada. I have an excellent GP who is willing to put considerable time into studying my health issues during her "off" hours. However, I can't expect her to try off-label treatments without some indication we're on the right track.
i once applied for Ontario to pay for 1 NK cell function test. I gave them papers showing our NK cell function is low. They refused, saying that I had had the test before in the past....makes no sense since I wanted to know if it had changed..
 

K22

Messages
92
I personally would advise Canadians not to settle for this. It's an insult to people who've been severely ill 30 years to have what in uk terms is around £130,000/ year - peanuts. We have had this" small start" stuff from the uk and it's not good enough. When you contrast the sum asked by patients to what has been given (& think of what can be achieved with tiny sums - tiny steps) it reminds me of my carer's experience in uk A & E, where she took herself because of agonising endometriosis pain and was offered paracetamol.

Canada is a rich, first world country. Norwegian government have given about $2-3m for rituximab trial. I would as a patient org be inclined throw it back, say you can't endorse it and say are they seriously offering just that?

It seems Canada is taking lessons from uk and USA past decades in how to offer a teeny tiny crumb to give the appearance of doing something whilst falling way short of doing enough for a sometimes desperately sick patient group .
 
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Cheshire

Senior Member
Messages
1,129
Does someone know this guy? Dr Alain Moreau is leading a study in Québec.
In this video, he explains his aims (sorry everything is in French)

No sign of psychobabble, he talks about "Encéphalomyélite myalgique", no effective treatment yet, PEM...
I have not the skills to juge the quality of his research. It seems very very ambitous.

upload_2016-3-3_11-48-2.png


There's a very short presentation (no details) of his research project here:
https://aqem.org/projet-de-recherche-du-dr-alain-moreau/
 

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ScottTriGuy

Stop the harm. Start the research and treatment.
Messages
1,402
Location
Toronto, Canada
Does someone know this guy? Dr Alain Moreau is leading a study in Québec....

His is on the Advisory Board at the Institute for Muscoskeletal Health and Arthritis (the institute that the CIHR has stuck ME):

Dr. Alain Moreau is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry (Stomatology Department), cross-appointed to the Biochemistry Department in the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal. He is the Assistant Director - Academic Affairs of Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre and Co-director of the Dentistry Department. Dr. Moreau is also responsible for the development of the research program in pediatric rehabilitation at Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Center, which is part of Sainte-Justine University Hospital.

Dr. Moreau received his Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from the Université de Montréal in 1986, a Master's degree in Applied Microbiology from the INRS-Institut-Armand-Frappier/Université du Québec in 1989, and a doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology from the Université de Montréal in 1993. He did a first postdoctoral training at the Protein Engineering Center of University of Liège, Belgium (1992-1993), followed by a second postdoctoral fellowship at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal, and affiliated with McGill University (1997). He is a recognized authority on molecular genetics of idiopathic scoliosis.

He has published many peer-reviewed research articles, and his pioneer works allowed the development of the first tools for the early screening of scoliosis and design of novel therapeutic approaches to prevent and cure idiopathic scoliosis (2 patents and others pending). Dr. Moreau is the founder and scientific director of ICONS (International Consortium ON Scoliosis), an international collaborative consortium where he coordinates among others the clinical validation of innovative predictive scoliosis blood tests in Montreal (Canada), Milan (Italy) and Hong Kong (China).

His research has been supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council Canada, The Yves Cotrel Foundation (Institut de France), Génome Québec and research contracts with the industry (Paradigm Spine LLC, USA). Dr. Moreau is a member of the MENTOR training program of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and is a former member of the CIHR Dental Sciences Committee. He is past president of the Quebec Scoliosis Society, and the former Chairman of the Canadian Connective Tissue Conference of 2005.

Dr. Moreau's main research interests also include the genetic causes of osteoarthritis and the molecular mechanisms implicated in inflammation and pain as well as the normal and pathological regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues.
 

ScottTriGuy

Stop the harm. Start the research and treatment.
Messages
1,402
Location
Toronto, Canada
I personally would advise Canadians not to settle for this. It's an insult to people who've been severely ill 30 years ....I would as a patient org be inclined throw it back, say you can't endorse it and say are they seriously offering just that?

It is insulting.

The CIHR doesn't care about ME patients. They don't consult at all, never have, with the national ME group.

I'm sorry to say that throwing it back / rejecting it would have no effect.

I strongly suspect the grant has been unofficially awarded as 6 weeks to organize stakeholders, develop a plan, and submit an application means the CIHR is not really interested in a fulsome competition for the grant.

If no one applies, the CIHR gets to say, "look we created a grant, and no body applied".

Or perhaps they will deem none of the applications of sufficient strength to allocate the grant.


I note that a similar HIV/AIDS catalyst grant was issued Feb 23 and that application deadline is a very resaonable June 28 - and a quick peruse does not indicate that 20% of funding must come from the PI's institution (unlike the ME grant):

https://www.researchnet-recherchene...ltCount=25&sort=program&all=1&masterList=true
 
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ScottTriGuy

Stop the harm. Start the research and treatment.
Messages
1,402
Location
Toronto, Canada
This is a concern. I think that maybe we should put together an information pkg and letter stating what we as patients know about our illness +what else is known research wise and how we hope for them to proceed with an emphasis on what we most definitely don't want to see happen.

I'm prepared to provide some of this material and contribute to a letter. Unfortunately not today--but I hope I could do this sometime this week...

@Snowdrop

Now that a week has passed, how are you feeling about sending a package and letter to the CIHR? Do you think its worth the time and energy?

Thanks.