Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose and Manitoba Health Minister Erin Selby were joined by Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Dr. Digvir Jayas, Vice-President Research, University of Manitoba, to announce the launch of the Manitoba SUPPORT Unit for patient-oriented research.
SUPPORT (Support for People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials) Units are provincial or regional centres that connect patients, researchers, policy makers, funders, and health care professionals to help attract, train, and mentor health care professionals and patient-oriented researchers.
Ultimately, the SUPPORT Units are about improving health outcomes for patients. They will provide the infrastructure needed to improve health care practices, therapies, and policies. They will ensure new and innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are applied when and where needed, for the benefit of Canadian patients.
Following the announcement, Minister Ambrose attended the official opening of the JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Research Centre. This state-of-the-art laboratory will strengthen Canada's capacity to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. It will also be a hub of HIV/AIDS laboratory research in Canada.
Quick Facts
SPOR is a national coalition of federal, provincial and territorial partners (patient advocates, provincial health authorities, academic health centres, charities, philanthropic organizations, pharmaceutical sector) dedicated to the integration of research into care.
SPOR is about ensuring that the right patient receives the right treatment at the right time.
The Manitoba SUPPORT Unit will receive $22.4 million which will go towards improving health care practices, therapies, and policies to better improve patient care.
SUPPORT Units help lead system changes to respond to locally-driven health care needs, and also support the development of new and innovative research methods.
Data systems will be put in place by each SUPPORT Unit to accelerate the conduct of clinical and health services research.
All provinces and territories are working collaboratively on this cross-Canada initiative, with SUPPORT Units to be established in regions throughout the country.
The Government of Canada is the largest single investor in health research in Canada. Currently, CIHR is supporting more than 12,600 health researchers and trainees across Canada.