Research Manitoba

**Research Manitoba**

Formation	2014; Formerly, Manitoba Health Research Council established in 1982.
Type	Provincial agency under the Ministry of Jobs and the Economy
Legal status	active
Purpose	Promotes, supports and coordinates the funding of research in health, natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities in the province of Manitoba
Headquarters	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Location	205-445 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg, MB Canada R3B 3P5
Region served	Manitoba
Official language	English
Executive Director	Christina Weise, Executive Director; Dr. Brian Postl, Board Chair
Budget	$17 million (2014-2015)
Staff	15
Website	http://researchmanitoba.ca/

Research Manitoba (MHRC) is a government-funded organization based in Winnipeg, Canada that promotes, supports and coordinates the funding of research in health, natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities in the province of Manitoba.^[1] It was created in 2014 by the provincial government to advise the Minister of Jobs and the Economy on matters related to research, and with funding received from the province, provides funds for research through a number of grants and awards programs.^[2]^[3]

About

Research Manitoba provides financial grants and awards for research in the province, publishes and distributes scientific, technical and economic research and information related to research it funds and advises and makes recommendations to the provincial government on matters related to its mandated areas of research. Research Manitoba has also been tasked to develop, coordinate and implement a provincial research strategy and major funding programs on behalf of the province.^[4]^[5]

Background

Research Manitoba was established by the Manitoba government on June 19, 2014 as a way to bring several major provincial research funding programs together into a single, coordinated organization and to make more focused and effective use of research funding. The earlier programs included the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC), the Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund (MRIF), the Health Research Initiative (HRI) and the Manitoba Centres of Excellence Fund (MCEF).^[6]

Dr. Brian Postl was appointed the organization’s inaugural chair and Research Manitoba received $17-million in funding for 2014-2015. Its board of directors consist of at least nine, but not more than 17 directors, who are appointed by the lieutenant-governor in council upon the recommendation of the Minister.^[7]^[8]

Research Manitoba was built on the staff and board structure of the former Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC), but while the MHRC funded only health-related research, Research Manitoba has broadened its mandate to fund natural sciences, social sciences, engineering and the humanities.^[9]

The MHRC was created in the early 1980s when Dr. Arnold Naimark, Dr. Henry Friesen and Dr. Lyonel Israels met with the then Provincial Minister of Health, Bud Sherman and his Acting Deputy Minister, Dr. George Johnson, to express concern about the absence of provincial funding to support and recruit young scientific investigators to Manitoba and the inability to retain established scientists.^[10]

Several other provinces had allocated funding to health research by this time, including Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and the doctors suggested that Manitoba needed a competitive edge to both recruit and retain scientists in the province.^[11]

When the Ministry of Health agreed, the MHRC was born, but it was not until 1982 that the MHRC was officially established, after the Manitoba Health Research Council Act was passed.^[12] (See more historical details at Manitoba Health Research Council).

Over the next three decades, the size and the scope of the MHRC expanded dramatically. According to Research Media, it more than doubled the number of funded applications between 2005 and 2011, and since its inception, it has supported more than 1,300 health researchers with their projects.^[13]

Funding

Research Manitoba offers a wide range of grants and awards to both emerging and established researchers in the province.^[14] In 2014-2015, the government pledged $17 million towards funding research in the province. Research Manitoba’s core-funding programs and peer review process were adopted from Manitoba Health Research Council practices.^[15]

Research Manitoba offers a peer-reviewed competition for its grants and awards to researchers, which support research in four distinct health research categories: biomedical; clinical; health systems and services; and the social, cultural and environmental factors that affect the health of populations.^[16]

They also invest in multi-disciplinary research clusters. In April 2015, $5.95 million was invested to support three multidisciplinary health research clusters, which are encourage investment from partners, such as post-secondary institutions, hospitals and foundations, research institutes and health charities.^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]

In 2014, Research Manitoba also invested in five Applied Health Services Research Grants. Some wide-ranging examples include research on promoting mental health and well-being, assessing, improving and supporting effective health services delivery, particularly primary care renewal; improving the access and quality of mental health services for youth; optimizing colonoscopy procedures to reduce unnecessary (and over) use; and investigating “risk based triage” and the transition from primary to nephrology care.^[21]

Research Manitoba’s Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Matching Funds program provides matching funds (40 percent of project total) for proposals that have been awarded grants elsewhere. The Research Connections Program provides matching funding to support research conferences, workshops, research days and events and promote exchange between and among researchers and others. And The Health Research Initiative (HRI) Program provides $2 million annually to assist Manitoba health research centres in meeting a portion of their operational expenses.^[22]

The Strategic Investments in Research and Innovation (SIRI) program is intended to invest in proposals that fill a strategic, system-wide gap or promise a significant system-wide impact by looking beyond one particular research or innovation question.^[23]

Select publications

WAVE magazine^[24]
Taking stock: research and knowledge translation in Manitoba^[25]

Partner organizations

The following is a list of organizations with which Research Manitoba partner or work closely (from 2015):

Jobs and the Economy | Province of Manitoba
Canadian Foundation for Innovation
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
CancerCare Manitoba Foundation
Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI)
Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)
Crohn's and Colitis Canada
Health Sciences Centre Foundation
Manitoba Lung Association
Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
Province of Manitoba
Regional Health Authorities of Manitoba
Rick Hansen Institute
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
University of Manitoba

References

External links

Research Manitoba

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