ResearchNet - RechercheNet

Table of Contents

• Description
• Objectives
• Eligibility
• Guidelines
• Review Process and Evaluation
• How to Apply
• Contact Information
• Sponsor Description
• Additional Information

Description

Summary

This funding opportunity on Zika virus is in response to the virus outbreak in the Americas and the Caribbean and to the health threat it represents for the affected populations. CIHR and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), working with parameters set out by members of the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R), are planning to invest in areas where new knowledge on Zika virus will help develop diagnostics for Zika virus infection, understand the pathology caused by the virus, and ultimately prevent its transmission and morbidity.

Background

Zika virus is a single-stranded positive RNA mosquito-borne virus from the Flaviviridae family and is related to other pathogenic viruses such as Dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile virus. Once transmitted to humans, most cases are asymptomatic, only a fraction of cases develop mild fever, red eyes, joint pain, headache and rash. The Zika virus was identified almost 70 years ago in Africa, right after in Asia and since then, it has spread to Oceania with outbreaks in 2007 in Micronesia, and in 2013-14 in French Polynesia. In late 2015, Brazil suffered a Zika virus outbreak, which has since spread to surrounding countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Of greater concern in the current epidemic is the association between Zika and microcephaly in newborn infants, reported in different affected countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in Brazil with an apparent 20-fold increase in microcephaly compared to the previous year (notably in the Northeast Region of Brazil). The maternal-fetal transmission of Zika virus has been well documented throughout pregnancy. Although Zika virus RNA has been detected in the pathologic specimens of fetal losses, it is not known whether Zika virus caused the miscarriage. The presence of Zika virus infections have been confirmed in infants with microcephaly and a recent review concluded that a causal relationship exists between prenatal Zika virus infection and microcephaly. However, it is not known how many of the microcephaly cases are associated with Zika virus infection, and the full range of birth defects caused by congenital Zika virus infection should be investigated. Basic research are needed to demonstrate the causative role of infection in pregnancy with Zika virus in the etiology of fetal microcephaly and to understand the Zika virus infection pathogenesis and transmission to the fetus.

In February 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. This was in large part due to a potential causal relationship between Zika virus and microcephaly as well as other neurological disorders; including Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Other neurological complications related to Zika virus infection have been also reported like acute myelitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and meningo-encephalitis.

The Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) is an alliance which brings together research funding organizations, of which CIHR and IDRC are members, on a global scale to facilitate an effective and rapid research response against a significant outbreak of a new or re-emerging infectious disease with pandemic potential. Canada, through its membership in GloPID-R, wishes to join the international research response against Zika virus. CIHR and IDRC are offering a funding opportunity that will support research on Zika virus pathogenesis, the development of improved diagnostic tests for Zika virus, the ecological transmission dynamics of Zika virus and the assessment of integrated vector control approaches. This funding opportunity is also meant to increase networking between Canada-Latin America and the Caribbean teams and other research teams supported by members of GloPID-R.

Linking Tool (Updated: 2016-05-25)

Funds Available

CIHR and IDRC financial contributions for this initiative are subject to availability of funds. Should CIHR or IDRC funding levels not be available or are decreased due to unforeseen circumstances, CIHR and IDRC reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to grants received as a result of this funding opportunity.

Applications need to include proposals submitted jointly and involving both Canadian researchers and from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) researchers. CIHR will fund Canadian members of the research team and IDRC will fund team members from research institutions based in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

• The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $3,000,000 ($1,500,000 from CIHR and up to $1,500,000 for IDRC), enough to fund approximately three grants. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate. The maximum CIHR amount is $166,667 per year for up to three years for a total of $500,000 per grant. The maximum IDRC amount is $500,000 for up to three years per grant. Note: there is flexibility with the IDRC source of funds in how the amounts are allocated per year.

A funding pool will be established for each of the three research areas. Funding will be distributed to the top rated full application in each of the research areas. If any of the research areas does not have a fundable application, then two in the same area could be funded (see funding decision section).

• Of the $3,000,000:

• A total of $1M is available to fund an application relevant to the pathogenesis research area.
• A total of $1M is available to fund an application relevant to the diagnostics research area.
• A total of $1M is available to fund an application relevant to vector studies research area.

Objectives

The Canada-Latin America and Caribbean Zika Virus Research Program is expected to:

• Contribute to the global response to the Zika virus outbreak;
• Provide and share evidence that will support decision-making and a basis for evidence-informed recommendations for national and international organizations;
• Strengthen scientific research capacities of Canadian researchers and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) based researchers in Zika virus research;
• Establish collaborative teams between Canadian and LAC teams to share new knowledge relevant to the Zika virus on equal terms; and
• Increase networking and collaboration between Canadian researchers and LAC research teams and other research teams supported by other members of GloPID-R.

Applications are expected to develop collaborative informal or formal linkages with research teams supported by other relevant initiatives on the Zika virus, either already existing or under development at national, regional, and international level, including other initiatives from members of GloPID-R, in order to maximise synergy and complementarity and avoid duplication of the research efforts. Specific propositions on how this can be achieved should be included in the proposal.

CIHR and IDRC will provide funding for one application determined to be relevant in each of the three research areas below:

1. Pathogenesis
   Understanding the biological mechanisms of the Zika infection that lead to the severe reported complications, including but not limited to microcephaly and Guillain-Barré Syndrome, and better define the full spectrum of defects caused by congenital Zika virus infection.


2. Diagnostics
   The development of improved Zika diagnosis and differential diagnosis assays, including testing and implementation, as necessary. This includes but is not limited to nucleic acid-based and serological assays, characterization of reagents for assay development and validation.


3. Vector Studies
1. the ecological transmission dynamics of Zika virus that may include some of the following dimensions: vector species identification, vector competence and vector capacity of local mosquito populations; infectivity of asymptomatic infected humans; assessment of Zika virus transmission/spread/persistence risk based on mathematical modelling and spatial analysis; or
2. the assessment of systematic and integrated vector control approach involving communities complemented with the evaluation of new technologies. Valid scientific studies should be carried out at an appropriate scale and include sustainability, feasibility, cost-effectiveness and community acceptability dimensions.

The research must be conducted either exclusively in Latin America and the Caribbean or in Canada and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Eligibility

Eligibility to Apply

For your application to be eligible:

1. The Canadian Nominated Principal Applicant must be an independent researcher.
2. The Canadian Nominated Principal Applicant must be appointed at an eligible institution (See Institutional Eligibility Requirements for eligibility process and associated timelines).
3. In order to be considered eligible, teams must include researchers that are based in Canada and researchers that are based in low and middle income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee.
4.  At least one researcher based in each LAC country must be listed as a Principal Applicant.
5. For teams in which research will be conducted in more than one Latin American and Caribbean country, there must be at least one researcher listed as a Principal Applicant based in each country.  Note that one of the LAC Principal Applicants will have to be clearly identified as the holder of IDRC funds in the applicants table. For teams involving sub-grantees (indirect beneficiaries of IDRC funds), these sub-grantee institutions must be identified and described by  the Principal Applicant (see Applicant table).
6. Teams must include one member with data management and responsible data sharing expertise.
7. Applicants may not apply to any other funding agencies with the same proposal.

For additional eligibility requirements for individuals, refer to the Individual Eligibility Requirements.

Guidelines

General CIHR Policies

For recipients of CIHR funding, successful applicants funded through this funding opportunity and any other persons working on the project must fully comply with the applicable CIHR Funding Policies.

General IDRC Guidelines

For recipients of IDRC funding (including sub-grantees), they will comply with the policies and guidelines as outlined in the General IDRC Funding Guidelines.

Allowable Costs

For recipients of CIHR funding, they should review the Use of Grant Funds section of the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) Financial Administration Guide for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

For recipients of IDRC funding (including sub-grantees), they will comply fully with the policies and guidelines as outlined in the General IDRC Funding Guidelines.

• The applicant must consent to the use and disclosure of full application and nominative information for relevance review and funding decisions at the time of application.
• The Canadian Nominated Principal Applicant will be required to submit an electronic Final Report to CIHR. The Final Report will be made available to the Canadian Nominated Principal Applicant on ResearchNet at the beginning of the grant funding period and can be filled in as the research progresses.
• The Canadian Nominated Principal Applicant will be required to submit an annual report. This report will be provided for completion.
• All reports will be shared with partners supporting the grant.
• Applicants must budget for costs of having at least two team members participate in one annual two day face-to-face international meeting relevant to the current Zika virus outbreak. Attendance at this meeting is mandatory for two team members, with at least one participant from Latin America /Caribbean and one from Canada.
• Applicants should be prepared to share quality-assured interim and final data as rapidly and widely as possible, including with public health and research communities and the World Health Organization, as outlined in the Statement on Data Sharing in Public Health Emergencies.
• Applicants are reminded that CIHR and IDRC’s open access publication policies are in effect. This also includes ensuring that bio-molecular data generated from CIHR funding are freely accessible online.
• Successful applicants receiving IDRC funding will need to complete IDRC’s Institutional Profile Questionnaire  and provide necessary documentation for legal validation and risk assessment.
• Any successful applicants receiving IDRC funding will be required to use IDRC’s budget template and sign IDRC’s standard grant agreement, as amended by IDRC from time to time. For a sample of the general terms and conditions, see General IDRC Funding Guidelines.
• Successful LAC applicants will submit financial reports to IDRC and will comply with the General IDRC Funding Guidelines.
• Successful LAC applicants receiving IDRC funding will need to comply with the ethics requirements as indicated in Part 2 Standard Terms and Conditions.

Review Process and Evaluation

Relevance Review Process

The CIHR and IDRC will perform relevance review to identify applications that are in alignment with the objectives and research areas of this funding opportunity.

The following criteria will be used in conducting the relevance review:

• Each application must be relevant to one or more of the relevant research areas. Please note that you will be asked to select one research area (funding pool) under which your application should be considered for funding.

Applications that are not deemed to be relevant will be withdrawn from the competition.

Review Process

Evaluation Criteria

To support the strategic objectives of this funding opportunity, the following evaluation criteria will be used.

1. Quality of Project
• Proposal within the objectives and one of the research areas set out in the call;
• Strong scientific rationale for pursuing the research areas or gaps in knowledge that are being addressed;
• Applicants have considered and integrated where appropriate complementary research underway with relevant International/national initiatives in response to the Zika virus outbreak;
• Proposed methods are appropriate and feasible to answer the study question(s) and are considered best practice in the international field;
• Interdisciplinary proposals are welcomed, where appropriate;
• Proposal must be innovative and timely to enable early and valuable outcomes to be established;
• Ethical issues have been considered (i.e. data-related considerations, such as privacy/security of data being shared).


2. Quality of Team
• Multidisciplinary team members have established a high quality track record in related fields of proposed research;
• The team includes expertise in data management and responsible data sharing;
• Evidence that the research is jointly managed by Canadian and LAC based researchers;
• Collaborative informal or formal linkages with research teams supported by other relevant initiatives on the Zika virus, either already existing or under development at national, regional, and international level, including initiatives from members of GloPID-R, in order to maximise synergy and complementarity and avoid duplication of the research efforts are established; and
• Collaborative links are established between Canadian and LAC research teams in the proposal development stage and contribute to a shared complementary research design.


3. Project Plans
• Major scientific, technical or organizational challenges have been identified, and realistic plans to tackle these are outlined in the research proposal;
• Inequities and equity gaps including sex and gender have been taken into account in the design; and
• A data management plan is provided, outlining how data will be managed and shared, both amongst the team and with international collaborators.


4. Potential Impact
• Success is likely to lead to new understanding of the pathogenesis induced by Zika virus, the development of specific and validated diagnostic tests for Zika virus, a better comprehension of the transmission dynamics of Zika virus or the development of sustainable and cost-effective vector control management;
• Team demonstrates plans to align with other international efforts to study Zika;
• Team appropriately leverages existing programs and platforms (e.g. research, data, delivery platforms) in health and/or other sectors; and
• Appropriateness of the knowledge translation and exchange plan.

Funding Decision

Funding will be distributed to the top rated full application in each of the research areas (pathogenesis, diagnostics and vector studies) and then all applications in the competition will be pooled together and will be funded in rank order.

The opportunity to add new partners and internal collaborators to this funding opportunity may arise after publication. These partners and internal collaborators may not be listed; however, the principles that govern relevance review, including consent to share information, and funding decisions will still apply.

How to Apply

• The application process for this funding opportunity is comprised of one step: Full Application
• To complete your Full Application, follow the instructions in the Team Grant/Emerging Team Grant “Application” Phase Instruction Checklist along with any additional instructions found below under “Specific Instructions”.

Specific Instructions

Task: Identify Participants (Updated: 2016-07-04)

• PIN: Please note all participants listed (other than Collaborators) will require a CIHR PIN.
• An Academic CV validated for CIHR is required only for the Canadian Nominated Principal Applicant.
• A Summary Curriculum Vitae (4 pages maximum) is required for the Principal Applicant in LAC.
• A four pages maximum free format CV is required for all other participants.
• Collaborators do not need to provide a CV.

Task: Enter Proposal Information

Research Proposal (maximum 10 pages, not including references, charts, figures etc.), the Research Proposal should clearly outline each of the following elements:

Quality of Project

• Description of the proposed research program (objectives, research area(s), design, methods/best practices, sex and gender considerations and ethical (i.e. data-related considerations, such as privacy/security of data being shared), legal and social issues;
• Description of how the proposal is innovative and timely to enable early and valuable outcomes to be established;
• Description of the scientific rationale for pursuing the research areas or gaps in knowledge that are being addressed;
• Description of the consideration and integration, where appropriate, of complementary research underway with relevant International/national initiatives.

Quality of Team

• Description of collaborative informal or formal linkages with research teams supported by other relevant initiatives on the Zika virus, either already existing or under development;
• Description of the collaborative links established between Canadian and LAC research teams.

Project Plans

• Description of anticipated major scientific, technical or organizational challenges, and realistic plans to tackle these.

Potential Impact

• Description of the potential impacts of the proposed research;

• Demonstration of plans to align with other international efforts to study Zika;
• Description of existing leverages of other programs and platforms (e.g. research, data, delivery platforms) in health and/or other sectors; and
• Description of the knowledge translation and exchange plan.

Task: Complete Summary of the Research Proposal

• Summarize your research proposal. Note that your summary cannot exceed one page.

Task: Enter Budget Information

• Complete the Budget Module in ResearchNet for the total requested budget.
• In the budget justification, indicate which expenses are relative to the CIHR (Maximum $166,667 per year for up to three years) and IDRC (Maximum of $500,000 for up to three years) sources of funds according to the Allowable Costs of each organization.
• Applicants must budget for costs of having at least two team members participate in one annual two day face-to-face international meeting relevant to the current Zika virus outbreak. Attendance at this meeting is mandatory for 2 team members, with at least one participant from Latin America /Caribbean and one from Canada
• Applicants should include in their budget forecast expenses related to open access publications and participation to international scientific conferences.

Task: Attach Other Application Materials

• Upload these documents as "Other":
• Applicant Table:
• In table format, list all applicants (including collaborators) with their role, affiliations, country and 5 to10 expertise keywords. Note that this table must also clearly identify the data management expert, the LAC Principal Applicant administering the IDRC funds and sub-grantees if appropriate.
• Data management plan:
• Outline how data will be managed and shared, both amongst the team and with international collaborators.
• Upload as “Publications”
• A maximum of 10 publications related to the application may be appended (optional)
• Upload as “Letter of Collaboration”
• Signed letters of Collaboration are required from all collaborator(s) listed as Collaborators on the application.
• Please note original signatures are not required. A scanned pdf of Letters of Support and Letters of Collaboration must be uploaded directly onto ResearchNet.

Task: Apply to Priority Announcements / Funding Pools

• Under the "Priority Announcement/Funding Pool Title", please select the appropriate Funding Pool from the drop down list below:
• funding pool focusing specifically on Pathogenesis 
• funding pool focusing specifically on Diagnostics
• funding pool focusing specifically on Vector Studies
• Applicants are asked to select only one of the Funding Pools listed above. In the case where more than one Funding Pool is selected, the first Funding Pool identified will be used by CIHR to assign the proposal to a funding pool.

Task: Print/Upload Signature Pages

• Required signatures: Signatures must be included for all applicants (except Collaborators), and individual(s) with signing authority from the Institution Paid.
• Original signatures are not required. The scanned signed signature pages and the Routing Slip must be uploaded in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet prior to submitting your application.

Contact Information

For all inquiries please contact:

CIHR Contact Center
Telephone: 613-954-1968
Toll Free: 1-888-603-4178
Email: support@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Sponsor Description

Partners

International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) provides researchers in developing countries with the financial resources, advice, and training that will help them find solutions to the local problems they identify, encourages sharing knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world, fosters new talent by offering fellowships and awards, disseminates research findings and strive to get new knowledge into the hands  of those who can use it.

Internal Collaborators

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada’s health research investment agency. CIHR’s mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system for Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

Additional Information

(Updated: 2016-05-25)