CIHR – Catalyst Grant : HIV/AIDS and STBBI Community-Based Research

Funder’s website

The funder’s website can be found HERE.

Funding Value and Duration

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $1,000,000, enough to fund approximately 10 grants. The maximum amount per grant is $100,000 per year for up to one year.

Overview

The CIHR HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBI) Community-Based Research (CBR) Program (hereafter referred to as the CBR Program) is one of four research funding areas of the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative, and supports the mission to strengthen and support a diverse, inclusive and collaborative research community that applies community-based, holistic and inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to create and mobilize knowledge for better and equitable prevention, testing, treatment and care of HIV/AIDS and STBBI in Canada and around the world as outlined in the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative Strategic Plan 2022-2027.

As part of the strategic plan commitment to improving health equity, strengthening research capacity and mobilizing knowledge, the CBR Program supports the partnered work of Community Leaders and Researchers in knowledge development and capacity-building initiatives of relevance to communities engaged in the fight against HIV and/or other STBBI. The CBR Program offers funding opportunities available in two distinct funding streams: Indigenous and General.

The aim of this funding opportunity is to provide seed money to support HIV and/or other STBBI CBR planning and development activities and/or research activities which represent a first step towards the pursuit of more comprehensive funding opportunities (e.g., operating grants).

Community-Based Research (CBR)

The CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative considers CBR as a community-driven and/or community-led approach to research that supports collaborative partnerships between Community Leaders, community members, particularly people with lived/living experience, and researchers from academic or other research institutions. CBR also promotes the participatory action of community members and people with lived/living experience throughout the research process to ensure projects are aligned with community priorities and to maximize the potential to impact the health of people living with or at risk for infection with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and other STBBI. The approach combines research, education, knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities. CBR empowers members of the community to: identify the issues; generate and/or collect, analyze and interpret the data; and decide how to use the results to inform policy, change practice and improve conditions in the community. Moreover, CBR brings innovation to research by supporting novel methodologies, new models of care, and holistic approaches rooted in community needs and values. Researchers from academic and other research institutions bring knowledge of scientific methodology and rigor, and experience in mentorship of future researchers. CBR therefore promotes bi-directional sharing and learning, equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each partner brings.

Community Leaders

For the CBR Program, a Community Leader is defined as an individual who has direct involvement with a community affected by HIV/AIDS and/or other STBBI, understands the needs of the community and how research can lead to useful and practical outcomes for the community, and can facilitate the involvement of the community in the research process. Community Leaders play an integral role in the research process to ensure that the research will lead to useful and practical outcomes that will directly benefit the community. Academic and other researchers originating from or belonging to the community may be recognized as serving a dual-role as research and Community Leader.

Indigenous Stream

The Indigenous Stream seeks applicants who self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples in order to:

1. Prioritize First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples and communities, including urban Indigenous communities, in leading their research agendas;
2. Promote cultural safety of and appropriate engagements by researchers working with Indigenous Peoples in meaningful ways to ensure that respectful relations are established;
3. Prioritize the use of Indigenous culturally relevant theoretical and conceptual frameworks, and Indigenous culturally relevant research protocols, including Indigenous methodologies; and
4. Promote equity and development of trainees, researchers and knowledge users who are of Indigenous ancestry.

Important Information for Community Organizations

Applications for CIHR funding are evaluated through a competitive process within a set funding envelope; therefore, not all applications received are funded. Visit the Review Process section for more information.

Recognizing that capacity to apply to CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI CBR funding opportunities and engage in community-based research varies across organizations, CIHR supports a number of resources aimed at building capacity for community-based research. Prior to applying to this funding opportunity, CIHR encourages community organizations to find out more about these resources by visiting the Additional Information section.

Special Consideration

CIHR is committed to ensuring that positive measures are undertaken that contribute to the vitality of the French- and English-speaking minority communities in Canada, as set out in the Official Languages Act. As such, CIHR encourages researchers to consider issues related to official languages and Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs) in developing their research projects, to submit their application in the official language of their choice and encourages researchers from OLMCs to apply for this opportunity. CIHR also encourages organizations working with or within OLMCs in Canada to participate.

Potential applicants are also encouraged to contact CIHR with any questions related to this funding opportunity and/or the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI CBR program for more general information.

Research Areas

In alignment with the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Strategic Plan 2022-2027, the CBR Program will fund projects that focus on the development and/or implementation of interventions for addressing HIV/AIDS and/or other STBBI across one or more areas of the care cascade (prevention, testing, linkage to treatment and care, and ongoing care and support) at the community level. The CBR Program is committed to supporting research that focuses on key populations including: First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, including Urban Indigenous communities; ethno-racial minority communities with high rates of infection; gay and other men who have sex with men; transgender populations; people currently or previously incarcerated; people who use drugs; people engaged in the sale or the purchase of sex; youth and women.

The CBR Program supports partnerships among community organizations, researchers, and decision-makers working in areas such as, but not limited to: housing, mental health, substance use disorders, activity limitations and employment, health services and access to care for key and hard to reach populations, stigma, racism, discrimination and systemic oppression, culturally-safe models of care and intervention. Research projects involving quantitative and/or qualitative research methods, including epidemiology, intervention research, arts-informed research, case studies and interviews, are eligible for funding.

To accommodate the overarching goals of the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative, the Pan-Canadian STBBI Framework and Canada’s Action Plan on STBBI, which support achieving the STBBI global targets, applications that propose projects outside of Canada may be considered for funding. However, such applications must clearly demonstrate how the knowledge created will have impact on Canadian communities through such methods as a knowledge transfer plan.