Research and Innovation
- Spanning across the four pillars
- Institutes as the research hub
- Includes shared infrastructure and core facilities / resources for discovery and clinical research
- Establishing priorities based on strengths, impact and expertise
- Support for grant success
- Culture of innovation
Five-year vision (December 31, 2025)
- We have well-defined, sustainable and impactful research institute(s)
- The FoMD has increased in national rank related to research metrics
- 10 new processes and 10 new commercial entities with an impact on care and/or have generated revenue. Focus on translation of innovations into care; precision health; and new viable companies
- Enhanced and inclusive training prepares all our research-focused trainees to meet the needs of our community and partners including industry, health system, precision health, rural and Indigenous health
Three-year picture (December 31, 2023)
- Precision health woven into the fabric of each of the research institutes with improved clinical outcomes and research impact
- Number and types of viable research institutes established with clear sustainability plans
- Institutes meet the stated expectations and shared objectives and have begun to demonstrate added value
- Approach to measurement of institutes’ research impact is clearly defined and operationalized including broad metrics including but not limited to research metrics, and community and patient engagement
- Connections enhanced between FoMD institutes and AHS including SCNs
- Resources allocated, sustainable business model developed for support of pan-faculty and pan-University cores and platforms
- 25 per cent increase in research-intensive (>40 per cent time allocation) faculty through recruitment and retention
- Process for evaluation of research outputs for research-intensive faculty between FEC and institute input defined and integrated in FEC (including consequences if expectations are consistently not met)
- Supports or platforms enhanced or developed for non-research-intensive faculty and clinicians with a focus on enhancing opportunities for collaboration with research intensive faculty and training to contribute meaningfully to research and innovation
- Grant-development support enhanced, including addressing needs for inclusion of sex and gender, Indigenous health, knowledge translation and research impact
- Mechanism developed for appropriate attribution of credit in collaborative research
- Shared support mechanisms developed for innovation and commercialization with the University and external stakeholders, including for example the VPRI office and School of Business
- Better ways of tracking innovation and commercialization efforts developed
- FEC and ARO altered to value commercialization activities
- Training programs are integrated and aligned with department structure and institutes
- New and revised research training programs for post-graduate and resident clinicians developed and approved
- Increase in graduate-student funding identified, including for post-doctoral fellows
Possible activities to help us deliver Vision 2025
- Establish a working group to review existing institute reports and define purpose, expectations and shared objectives for institutes with a focus on support for members, multidisciplinary research, funding, sustainability and value-added
- Forward recommendations to DEC and senior leadership regarding the number and composition of institutes
- Review the need for a research institute in population and health-services research
- Work with institutes and establish plans to operationalize, including governance
- Develop approach for faculty recruitment with institutes and departments
- Define approach to institute membership. Identify faculty members who do not align
- Review all research activities in departments, groups and centres, for synergies with existing institutes and/or need to develop new institutes
- Review partnerships of institutes with communication, branding and advancement; partner institutes with charitable foundations where possible
- Develop an approach to integration of precision health, AI in health, population health (including Indigenous and rural health), and health services research in the FoMD research plan
- Review allocation of existing research-intensive and non-research-intensive faculty for alignment with overall strategic goals and research across all pillars
- Allocate unfilled endowed chairs and develop policies, procedures and processes for endowed chairs’ success and sustainability
- Review impact and performance of existing cores, centres and platforms
- Review the need and support for new cores and clinical research support platforms including bioinformatics (pan-faculty) and research computing
- Assess the feasibility of centralization of HSLAS
- Renew NACTRC joint venture to align with the academic mission of the FoMD and University and address integrated/coordinated clinical trial support
- Review opportunities to improve research operational processes with the University, VPRI, RSO and AHS in alignment with the service excellence transformation (SET) initiative
- Review the ranking system used and the modifiable contributions in research to our success
- Review intellectual property and innovation strategy with the University innovation office
- Modify and improve the commercialization section in the ARO and highlight the importance of this area at FEC
- Define a path to commercialization through apprenticeship and mentorship (e.g. pre-Phase 1 program at CCI/UAlberta Health Accelerator)
- Review existing training programs and their organizational structure for alignment with strategic goals, new proposed department structure and institutes
- Review current funding support for graduate training
- Review the need for new or revised training programs with a focus on identifying community needs, industry employment requirements and evolving areas such as precision health or AI in health
- Review training needs and programs for resident clinicians pursuing a future clinician-scientist career
- Identify the data requirements process and ensure faculty maintain an up to date research profile