Internal Grant Opportunities

Island Health’s research grant program aims to encourage new researchers, support current research, and raise awareness about research and knowledge translation across Island Health.

Current Funding Opportunities

KPMG Foundation Research Seed Grants (open)

    OBJECTIVES

    These annual grants aim to funds research teams and projects that:

    1. Align with Island Health’s priorities and goals to improve care and services in our communities, and achieve our vision of “Excellent health and care for everyone, everywhere, every time.”
    2. Engage people in research to gain experience, foster strong teams, and increase competitiveness for future funding opportunities.

    AWARDS

    • 2 general seed grants of up to $12,500 each; 

    • 2 seed grants of up to $12,500 each for health equity projects that aim to advance health equity and eliminate health disparities by improving outcomes and/or access to health care and services for equity-deserving groups.  

    Funding for this competition has been generously provided by the Victoria Hospitals Foundation through support from the KPMG Foundation.

    ELIGIBILITY

    • The project must create new health knowledge or evidence, and/or apply existing knowledge or evidence in a new way (or context). Projects may also engage people in planning research. 

    • The Lead Applicant may be from Island Health or from another organization. If the Lead Applicant is from another organization, an Island Health employee or affiliated health professional must be co-lead.

    TIMELINE

    Information Sessions

    • Thurs. September 26 (11 - 12 pm): view a recording.

    • Wed. October 9 (12 - 1 pm): register on Zoom

    • Tues. October 29 (12 - 1 pm): How to Build a Research Budget (register on Zoom)

    Application Deadline

    December 16, 2024 by 4 pm PDT

    Application Review

    January - February 2025

    Notification of Results

    March 2025

    Award Start-date

    May 1, 2025

    Award End-date

    April 30, 2026

    COMPETITION DOCUMENTS

    Evidence-into-Practice Awards (open)

    This annual competition aims to celebrate and promote knowledge translation initiatives that successfully move evidence into practice at Island Health, and to inspire new ones by showcasing their successes and lessons learned.

    AWARDS

    • Three awards of $1,250 (gold), $750 (silver), and $500 (bronze) each are available.

      ELIGIBILITY

      • The lead applicant must be an Island Health employee or affiliated health professional with privileges. Teams may include people from other organizations.

      • Applications are welcome from any area of health service delivery.

      • Applications will be accepted from completed or ongoing projects; ongoing projects must demonstrate some measurable impact as a result of their initiative.

      • Evidence can include data, information, results, or recommendations used to make a change in a process or practices related to care or service delivery. It can be evidence that you generated, or it can come from another source.

      TIMELINE

      October 7, 2024 by 4 pm PDT

      Application Deadline

      By or before November 8, 2024

      Notification of Results

      Fri. November 29, 2024 (12 - 1:30 p.m,)

      Virtual Awards Ceremony and Presentation (Zoom)

      February 28, 2025

      Award end-date – funds must be spent

      March 15, 2025

      Final award report due

      DOCUMENTS

        Recent Winners

        Congratulations to the recent winners of our internal granting competitions! For a complete list of past awards, please email research@islandhealth.ca

        Evidence-into-Practice Awards

        2023 Competition

        Evidence-into-Practice Presentations and Award Ceremony 2023 from Research at Island Health on Vimeo.

        2022 Competition

        Gold Award

        Alison Ritchie, Laurel Steed, and Kyle Hillman (Occupational Therapists, Comox Valley Geriatric Specialty Services Team) - "The Effectiveness of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy in the Comox Valley"

        Silver Award

        Tamara Young (Clinical Nurse Educator, Simulation) - "Code Blue Extravaganza"

        Bronze Award

        Lina Al-Sakran (Evaluation Consultant) and Donna Jouan-Tapp (Project Director, Cowichan Health and Care Plan) - “Outreach Services for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Cowichan."

        2021 Competition

        Gold Award

        Brenda Beath, Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy, Continence - "Preventing diabetic foot amputations through total contact casting in Nanaimo, BC"

        Silver Award

        Dr. Paul Winston, Medical Director of Rehabilitation and Transitions - “Ultrasound Guided Diagnostic Nerve Blocks: Uniting and Revolutionizing the global landscape for spasticity management"

        Bronze Award

        Karen Baker, Occupational Therapist; Emily Becker, Recreation Therapist; Shannon Ellis, Occupational Therapist, Outpatient Neurorehabilitation - "Mindful sensory regulation in neuro rehabilitation"

        Catalyst Awards

        2022 Competition

        • Drs. Michael Chen (Medical Biochemistry) and David Goodlett (UVic), "Rapid pathogen identification using lipidomics in ventilated patients with pneumonia."
        • Drs. Markus Sikkel (Cardiology) and Joshua Giles (UVic), "Prevention of Prometheus-Like Punishment: First in Human Use of a Converter to Downgrade Implantable Defibrillators to Pacemakers in the Elderly and Frail."
        • Drs. Paul Winston (Rehabilitation and Transitions) and Ève Boissonnault, "Cryoneurolysis as drug free novel treatment of knee and shoulder pain impairing inpatient neuro-rehabilitation."
        • Jessica Huston (MHSU) and Dr. Bruce Wallace (UVic), "Drug user knowledge & drug checking evidence: Knowledge synthesis actions to reduce overdose in Island Health."
        • Drs. Michael Berger and John Kramer (UBC), "Understanding 'breakthrough' neuropathic pain episodes in peripheral neuropathy: A community study of patient and healthcare impacts."

        Funding for this competition was made available through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s Emerge Stronger campaign. This $10 million campaign provided $500,000 to fund research projects that support the provision and delivery of care in the South Island and/or Island-wide.

        We are grateful to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation and their very generous donors for ongoing support of health research on Vancouver Island.

        To learn more about these projects and others, or to donate, visit the Foundation's website.

        Seed Grants

        Fall 2022 Competition

        • Lina Alsakran (Evaluation Consultant, Cowichan Health & Wellness Plan), "Understanding frailty in the Cowichan Valley: a patient-centered approach"
        • Meara Brown (Speech Language Pathologist), "Laryngectomy Pre-Operative Patient Journey Mapping"
        • Jennifer MacKenzie (MHSU Nurse Clinician), Andrea Mellor (UVic) and Cecelia Benoit (UVic), "Planting the Seeds for a Culturally-Centred Intervention for Indigenous Youth with Substance Use Challenges: Adapting the Native Wellness Assessment Tool to the Cowichan Valley"

        Spring 2022 Competition

        • Dr. Katherine Blood (Medical Genetics) and Dr. Caitlin Chang (BC Children's), "Beyond Genomics: Assessing the Improvement in Diagnosis of Rare Diseases using Clinical Epigenomics in Canada (EpiSign-CAN) - Participating Centre."
        • Dr. Elizabeth Plant (MHSU) and Professor Shannon Dames (VIU), "Combining Western and Indigenous Ways of Knowing in the Treatment of Depression and Substance Use Disorder: Piloting a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach in a Resilience-Focused Community of Practice Program."
        • Dr. Samuel Brophy and Dr. Maxwell Moor-Smith, "Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) for Acute Back Pain in the Emergency Department."

        Funding for this competition was made available through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s Emerge Stronger campaign. This $10 million campaign provided $500,000 to fund research projects that support the provision and delivery of care in the South Island and/or Island-wide.

        We are grateful to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation and their very generous donors for ongoing support of health research on Vancouver Island.

        To learn more about these projects and others, or to donate, visit the Foundation's website.