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Research Funding Partnerships

Research Funding Partnerships

Arthritis Society Canada funds grants and awards through its programs, and also partners with other organizations to fund research and related initiatives. Our current partnerships are listed here and we look forward to exploring additional partnerships in the future. 

The Arthritis Community Research & Evaluation Unit (ACREU)

Arthritis Society Canada funds the Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit (ACREU). ACREU was founded in 1991 as an interdisciplinary research unit with a mission to explore the impact of arthritis on individuals, their families, communities and on the population at large, in order to further the development of targeted policies and effective interventions. ACREU is the primary source for reliable data on the burden and impact of arthritis in Canada. To learn more abour our work with ACREU, visit our Arthritis Facts and Figures page.

Registry in Arthritis in Canadian Children (ReACCh)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Lori Tucker, University of British Columbia
 
Arthritis Society Canada stepped in to maintain a vital childhood arthritis registry in Canada called Registry in Arthritis in Canadian Children (ReACCh) with a three-year commitment of $300,000. Launched in 2005, ReACCh is one of the largest registries on juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in the world. It has enrolled 1,500 Canadian children with JIA to track the disease’s impact and progress and involves the collaboration of 16 pediatric rheumatology centres across Canada. With the support of Arthritis Society Canada, ReACCh was able to maintain its registry, conduct, studies and develop a sustainability plan.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA)

The CIHR-IMHA is partnering with Arthritis Society Canada on the 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 Stars Career Development Award competitions. The Stars Career Development Award was created to establish the career of early investigators and mid-career investigators. The program is intenteded to promote creativity in all domains of arthritis-related research responsive to Arthritis Society Canada's strategic priorities. Arthritis Society Canada and CIHR-IMHA are co-funding multiple awards in 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 for three-years, with three additional years of funding committed by the investigators host institution. 

Canadian Dupuytren Society

Current treatments for Dupuytren Disease include a variety of surgical interventions, corticosteroids, radiotherapy, and various physical therapies. To date, none of these approaches have been demonstrated to consistently prevent the recurrence of debilitating hand and finger contractures. Medical researchers, noting the success of targeted anti-inflammatory therapies for rheumatoid arthritis, have recently proposed the “cross-purposing” of these drugs for the treatment of the earliest stage of Dupuytren Disease, palmar nodules.  Novel approaches, biologic or nonbiologic, that can reveal new avenues of therapeutic intervention and provide more effective and long-lasting treatments for Dupuytren Disease, are desperately needed.

The average age of the Canadian population is increasing, and the numbers of people affected by arthritis and/or Dupuytren Disease are predicted to increase as our population ages. We do not know exactly how many people currently suffer from Dupuytren Disease in Canada, nor the percentage of people who suffer from both Dupuytren Disease and arthritis. We do know that these debilitating and chronic diseases affect millions of Canadians and that they will have an increasingly negative impact on our healthcare resources. The goal of this research funding opportunity is to encourage new and innovative research with the potential to mitigate the impacts of arthritis and Dupuytren Disease.

Stop Childhood Arthritis Initiative

Arthritis Society Canada has made a $5 million investment (2018-2023) to fund ground-breaking research in childhood arthritis including personalized therapies, earlier detection, prevention and quality of life supports. As many as 25,000 Canadian children and adolescents seek healthcare for arthritis, which makes it more common than most chronic childhood diseases. 

Stop childhood arthritis will accelerate the vital and talented work of the Canadian pediatric clinical research community, who are close to taking a quntum leap forward in the ability to test for, target and treat childhood arthritis earlier, with greater accuracy and fewer side effects. 

Combining forces with research partners to accelerate this work

We are very proud to partner with Genome Canada and other institutions to support UCAN CURE - a transformational research project Canada is leading as part of an international network. 

Canadian Arthritis Research Conference

Arthritis Society Canada, Canadian Rheumatology Association, and CIHR-IMHA co-host the Canadian Arthritis Research Conference (CARC) The annual conference features a range of presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities with experts, researchers, patient partners, and emerging leaders from the arthritis community. You can read more about CARC on the conference website