PSI Launches the 2023 PSI Research Trainee Award

PSI Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the 2023 PSI Research Trainee Award. The primary aim of this award is to provide highly qualified candidates with clinically applicable research training opportunities and support.

Please note: this funding opportunity is not an additional PSI operating grant. Research training must be the fundamental purpose of this award and must be demonstrated in the application.

Eligibility of Candidate

The candidate for the award must be:

• An M.D. licensed by College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in a Ph.D or MSc. program at an Ontario university

OR

• A trainee in a combined M.D./Ph.D or MSc. program at an Ontario university

OR

• A trainee in the Clinician Investigator Program (CIP) at an Ontario university

Amount and Duration of Funding

A maximum of $25,000 per year for two (2) years is available from PSI.

Please note: sponsoring institutions are required to co-fund 50% of the amount requested from PSI. For example, if the fellow requests $20,000 per year from PSI, then the sponsoring institution must provide $10,000 per year.

Important Information in Funding Guidelines

The Funding Guidelines contain important information regarding the award. Please review this document before applying.

How to Apply

Similar to previous years, each of Ontario’s six medical universities may submit up to two candidates; therefore, all applications must be submitted through the medical university. The deadline for medical universities to submit their applications to PSI is July 25th, 2022 at 5pm EST.

Please contact the medical university research office regarding internal application process/deadlines. Medical universities must submit their applications to PSI via PSI online grants management system. Please see Tips & Resources – PSI Foundation for instruction manual on how to navigate the system.

PSI acknowledges that mid-career can be a challenging time for physician researchers. During this phase, there are often additional academic roles and responsibilities including committee work, leadership positions, and mentoring of junior investigators, while clinical work continues. PSI recognizes the importance in supporting this phase of an investigator’s trajectory.

PSI Foundation is very pleased to announce a new funding opportunity: 2023 PSI Mid-Career Knowledge Translation (KT) Fellowship. This Fellowship is intended to provide salary support for a mid-career physician researcher in Ontario who has demonstrated the ability to successfully complete high-impact knowledge translation research. The Fellowship funds, dedicated to salary support, must protect at least 50% of the Fellow’s time to conduct such research.

Amount and Duration of Funding

Total Support

This program offers two options for a funding timeline for salary support:

A maximum of $400,000 over two years;

OR

A maximum of $400,000 over three years.

The award is intended to protect at least 50% of the fellow’s time to undertake research, regardless of whether the award is taken over two or three years.

Matching Funding Requirements

The sponsoring institution is required to fund 50% of the total award.

For example, if the fellow requests a total support of $400,000 over two years, then PSI will fund $200,000 over two years ($100,000 per year) and the institution is required to co-fund $200,000 over two years ($100,000 per year).

Eligibility

For this competition, the candidate for the Fellowship must be:

• A practicing physician in Ontario with a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario licensed M.D. having direct patient care responsibilities and an academic appointment, thus eligible to apply for their own research grants as an independent investigator
• Within five (5) to fifteen (15) years of their first academic appointment and have demonstrated potential for high impact research work
• Dedicating at least 50% of a full-time schedule to the Fellowship

Important Information in Funding Guidelines

The Funding Guidelines contain important information regarding the award, including PSI’s definition of knowledge translation, matching funding requirements, and funding criteria. Please review this document before applying.

Please note: Knowledge translation must be the fundamental purpose of this Fellowship and must be demonstrated in the application. This is funding opportunity is not an additional PSI operating grant.

How to Apply

PSI is launching this competition through a Letter of Intent (LOI) process. Applicants are required to submit their applications directly to PSI.

We require all applicants to submit the completed LOI directly to PSI via the PSI Online Grants Management System by June 1st, 2022 at 5pm EST. LOIs will be reviewed by the PSI Grants Committee in July 2022.

PSI will invite successful applicants to submit full applications, which will undergo internal review for a final funding decision in December 2022.

Questions?

Please contact the PSI Office to discuss any questions you may have about submitting an application for funding.

Knowledge translation research aims at transitioning research discoveries to the real world to improve health outcomes. The PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship – valued at $300,000 for over two or three years – helps protect a promising clinician’s research time, allowing the Fellow to undertake high-impact translational research in Ontario.

5 Clinician Researchers Awarded with the 2022 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship

PSI Foundation is pleased to name five clinician researchers as the 2022 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship recipients:

Dr. Imaan Bayoumi – Queen’s University (Recipient Biography)

Dr. Andrea Gershon – Sunnybrook Research Institute (Recipient Biography)

Dr. Shawn Mondoux – McMaster University (Recipient Biography)

Dr. Brodie Nolan – St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto (Recipient Biography)

Dr. Derek Roberts – University of Ottawa (Recipient Biography)

Please visit their recipient biographies for more information on each of these Fellows and how they will be using PSI funds to conduct high-impact knowledge translation research. We thank all stakeholders for supporting PSI with the 2022 competition.

About the 2022 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship Competition

In May 2021, PSI launched the 2022 competition through a Letter of Intent (LOI) process. This was PSI’s first time launching this award through such process, which opened up the competition to more stakeholders by allowing candidates to directly apply to PSI.

The LOIs were reviewed by an internal sub-committee in late August 2021; successful applicants were invited to submit their full applications to PSI. Full applications were reviewed by the PSI Grants Committee in early December 2021.

The Committee approved $1.5 million in new funding for the 2022 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Fellowship. Samuel Moore, Executive Director of PSI Foundation, comments: “This investment of $1.5 million in five Ontario clinician-researchers represents PSI’s largest commitment to any new program in decades. This is the largest amount that PSI has ever funded for this award in a single competition.”

One of the major enhancements made to this award for this competition was the stronger emphasis on knowledge translation. Throughout announcements, guidelines, and application forms for this award, PSI had repeatedly stated that knowledge translation must be the fundamental purpose of this Fellowship and must be demonstrated in the application.

PSI Foundation’s Commitment to Funding Knowledge Translation Research

Since the launch of this award in 2012, PSI invested $5.7 million in funding the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship. Together with other awards including the 2020 Mental Health Knowledge Translation Fellowship, PSI has invested a total of $6.3 million in knowledge translation research, providing salary support and protecting the research time of 21 clinician researchers in Ontario.

This funding portfolio demonstrates PSI’s strong commitment to support the physician of Ontario to advance translational research in Ontario.

“I am so proud of PSI’s commitment to knowledge translation by supporting the research programs of physicians in Ontario,” says Samuel Moore. “I look forward to seeing the tremendous impact these clinician-researchers make on the health care system and for all of us through their research.”

PSI has funded research in many surgical and medical areas resulting in changes to clinical bedside practice. PSI’s investment in knowledge translation research is one of the pillars in achieving its mission of improving the health of all Ontarians.

PSI Launches the 2022 Competition for the PSI Research Trainee Award

PSI Foundation is very excited to announce the 2022 competition for the PSI Research Trainee Award. The primary aim of this fellowship is to provide highly qualified Medical Doctors (M.D.) with clinically applicable research training opportunities and support.

Please note: This funding opportunity is not an additional PSI operating grant. PSI encourages candidates to apply for PSI’s operating grants, such as Resident Research and New Investigator Research grants.

Eligibility

Applicants must either:

• Be an M.D. in a Ph.D or MSc. program at an Ontario university

OR

• In a combined M.D./Ph.D or MSc. program at an Ontario university

OR

• In the Clinician Investigator Program (CIP)

Amount and Duration of Funding

A maximum of $25,000 per year for two (2) years is available from PSI.

Please note: sponsoring institutions are required to co-fund 50% of the amount requested from PSI. For example, if the fellow requests $20,000 per year from PSI, then the sponsoring institution must provide $10,000 per year.

Important Information in Funding Guidelines

The Funding Guidelines contain important information regarding the award. Please review this document before applying.

How to Apply

Similar to previous years, each of Ontario’s six medical universities may submit up to two candidates; therefore, all applications must be submitted through the medical university. The deadline for medical universities to submit their applications to PSI is August 9th, 2021 at 5pm EST.

Please contact the medical university research office regarding internal application process/deadlines. Medical universities must submit their applications to PSI via PSI online grants management system.

PSI Launches the 2022 Competition for the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship

PSI Foundation is very pleased to announce the 2022 competition for the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship. This Fellowship is intended to provide salary support for a new/mid-career investigator who has demonstrated the ability to successfully complete high impact knowledge translation research. The Fellowship funds, dedicated to salary support, must protect at least 50% of the Fellow’s time to conduct such research.

Please note: Knowledge translation must be the fundamental purpose of this Fellowship and must be demonstrated in the application.

Amount and Duration of Funding

This program offers two options for a funding timeline for salary support: A maximum of $150,000 per year for two years; OR a maximum of $100,000 per year for three years.

Please note: the award is intended to protect at least 50% of the fellow’s time to undertake research, regardless of whether the award is taken over two or three years.

Eligibility

For the 2022 competition, PSI has modified the eligibility criteria as follows:

The candidate for the Fellowship must be either:

• Within fifteen (15) years of their first academic appointment and have demonstrated potential for high impact research work
• dedicating at least 50% of a full-time schedule to the Fellowship
• a practising physician having direct patient care responsibilities and an academic appointment, thus eligible to apply for her/his own research grants as an independent investigator.

OR

• a fellow who is a practising physician having direct patient care responsibilities, with a supervisor who has an academic appointment and that can provide the necessary research supervision and infrastructure (including administering the grant at the sponsoring institution).  A letter of support from this supervisor must be included in the application.

Important Information in Funding Guidelines

The Funding Guidelines contain important information regarding the award, including PSI’s definition of knowledge translation, sponsoring institution requirements, and funding criteria. Please review this document before applying.

How to Apply

PSI is launching the 2022 competition through a Letter of Intent (LOI) process. Please note that for the 2022 competition, applicants are required to submit their applications directly to PSI, not through the institution.

We require all applicants to submit the completed LOI directly to PSI via the PSI Online Grants Management System (https://psifoundation.smartsimple.ca/) by July 16th, 2021 at 5pm EST.

LOIs will be reviewed by the PSI Grants Committee in August 2021. PSI will invite successful applicants to submit full applications by November 8th, 2021 5pm EST, which will undergo internal review for a final funding decision in December 2021.

Questions?

Please contact the PSI Office to discuss any questions you may have about submitting an application for funding.

PSI Foundation provides quarterly updates to keep Ontario’s physicians and the general public informed about our activities and achievements. If you have any feedback about these updates, please email the PSI Foundation office.

More than $1,000,000 in New Funding Approved

More than 11 applications totaling $1,139,000 were approved at the December 2020 Grants Committee meeting. At this meeting, the Grants Committee reviewed the standard funding streams (New Investigator Grant, Health Research Grant, Healthcare Research by Community Physicians, Resident Research, etc.), as well as applications for the 2021 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship.

More information about the funded studies is available on PSI’s Funded Research page.

We thank all of the applicants for their submissions, external peer reviewers for enhancing the scientific rigour of our granting program, and Ontario institutions for supporting PSI with the award process.

Changes to Application Form Guidelines – CV Requirements

PSI has revised the CV requirements on our application forms (excluding PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship). For new applications, please ensure all CV follow the following guidelines:

“Each CV is to be made up of two components. The first component should include all relevant information such as education, hospital/academic appointments, committees, etc. The second component is to be a list of major accomplishments (e.g. publications, presentations, grants received, awards, etc.) that directly apply to this application. Maximum 5 pages.”

Holiday Office Closure

PSI Foundation head office will be closed from Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020 to Sunday, January 3rd, 2021 (inclusive). We wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

Stay Connected

For more information about any of these topics, please contact the PSI Foundation office, and follow us on Twitter (@PSIFoundation) for updates.

PSI Foundation provides quarterly updates to keep Ontario’s physicians and the general public informed about our activities and achievements. If you have any feedback about these updates, please email the PSI Foundation office.

More than $700,000 in New Funding Approved in September

More than 15 applications totalling $744,000 were approved at the September Grants Committee meeting. At this meeting, the Grants Committee reviewed the standard funding streams (New Investigator Grant, Health Research Grant, Resident Research, etc.), as well as applications for the 2020 Research Trainee Fellowship.

More information about the funded studies is available on PSI’s Funded Research page. We look forward to featuring these studies and the grant recipients on the PSI website in the coming months.

We thank all of the applicants for their submissions, external peer reviewers for enhancing the scientific rigour of our granting program, and Ontario institutions for supporting PSI with the award process.

Enhancements to New Investigator Funding Stream

PSI Foundation is committed to supporting the research efforts of new investigators. We are pleased to announce that the maximum amount for New Investigator research grant has been increased to $300,000 over three years, with a maximum of $100,000 for any year.

Funding guidelines have been updated accordingly.

Stay Connected

For more information about any of these topics, please contact the PSI Foundation office, and follow us on Twitter (@PSIFoundation) for updates.

PSI Foundation provides quarterly updates to keep Ontario’s physicians and the general public informed about our activities and achievements. If you have any feedback about these updates, please email the PSI Foundation office.

More than $2 Million in New Funding Approved

In early 2020, PSI launched an expedited COVID-19 funding opportunity. This was the first specific request for proposals that PSI engaged in over the last 40 years. The PSI Grants Committee reviewed over 100 meritorious applications focused on COVID-19. PSI is pleased to announce that 6 applications were approved totaling $1,108,000.

In addition to the COVID-19 grants, PSI has approved 13 grants totaling $1,234,000. These new grants are examining a range of topics, including transition in care activities across rural hospitals in Ontario, virtual reality as a tool to reduce pre-procedure anxiety, and qualitative analysis of the experiences of non-insured individuals in Toronto’s emergency departments.

More information about the funded studies is available on PSI’s Funded Research page. We look forward to featuring these studies and the grant recipients on the PSI website in the coming months.

We thank all of the applicants for their submissions, external peer reviewers for enhancing the scientific rigour of our granting program, and Ontario institutions for supporting PSI with the award process.

Supporting our Award Holders During COVID-19

We understand that COVID-19 may have an impact on research-related activities supported through the PSI awards. Please review the separate post on how PSI is supporting our award holders during COVID-19 pandemic.

Stay Connected

For more information about any of these topics, please contact the PSI Foundation office, and follow us on Twitter (@PSIFoundation) for updates.

As a physician-centered organization, we would like to thank all our stakeholders during this challenging and uncertain time. We are most appreciative of your commitment to improving the health of Ontarians during this pandemic.

Supporting Our Award Holders

We understand that COVID-19 may have an impact on research-related activities supported through the PSI awards. We are implementing several changes to address some of the challenges:

• PSI will extend all current award funding periods by 6 months.
• PSI will accept reasonable budget reallocations that are required due to reasons related to COVID-19 (e.g. cancelled conferences).
• PSI understands there may be delays to the start of your study. Please contact us when your institution allows nonessential research to begin and you know your start date.
• PSI will accept delays in submitting reports (e.g. interim/final reports) for reasons related to COVID-19. Please let us know if you are expecting such delays.
• PSI will review protocol changes resulting from COVID-19 on a case-by-case basis. If there are any significant changes to your research protocol, please submit a PDF package outlining your request, changes, and supporting details to the PSI Team via email for review.

PSI Team Working Remotely

PSI team remains fully operational and will continue to work remotely. We are happy to continue assisting you via email and other virtual tools for the foreseeable future.

Stay Connected

If you have any questions or concerns about how PSI is supporting our award holders, please do not hesitate to contact us. We also encourage you to follow us on Twitter (@PSIFoundation) for updates.