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

    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 (closed)

    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. The competition opens in mid-August.

      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

      2024 Competition

      Gold Award

      Jae Yon Jones, Reimagining Long-Term Care: the Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics Initiative

      Silver Award

      Marie-Noelle Trottier-Boucher, Inpatient Pediatric Asthma Pathway

      Bronze Award

      Zoe Light, Mental Health Standards for Schizophrenia

      2023 Competition

      Gold Award

      Dr. Paul Winston, Cryoneurolysis for children and adults with pediatric onset of neurologic disability: Improving function and mobility & reducing dependence and pain

      Silver Award

      Lina Alsakran, Cowichan's Enhanced Palliative Services

      Bronze Award

      Palliative Outreach Resource Team, Using Evidence to Guide Practice in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for People who Experience Homelessness and other Structural Inequities

      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."

      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

      2023 Competition

      Health Equity Grants

      • Preventing seclusion for young adults in inpatient mental health; Allie Slemon (University of Victoria) and Tasha Mckelvey (Island Health) 
      • Integrating Mental Health and Substance Use Supports for Residents in Long-term Care; Amy Salmon (University of British Columbia) and Amanda Leddy (Island Health) 

      KPMG Foundation Research Seed Grants

      • Safety Interventions: Are they helping healthcare workers feel safer? Frances Jorgensen (Royal Roads University) and Michael Morrison (Island Health) 
      • Recharging the Charge Nurse: developing the next generation of nurse leaders; Lenora Marcellus (University of Victoria) and Kent Soltys (Island Health) 
      • Catalyzing action to reduce preterm birth among Indigenous people in BC; Jennifer Murray (University of British Columbia) and Shannon Waters (Island Health) 
      • Improving quality of life and reducing pain for children with spasticity; Dr. Paul Winston

      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"
      • 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.