The strength of the Canadian
Arthritis Network is in its partnerships
with consumers, academics, clinicians,
voluntary agencies, industry and government.
These partnerships are an essential
element in achieving the Network's
vision of a world free of arthritis.
Alliance for the Canadian Arthritis Program
The success of the inaugural OA Consensus Conference in 2002, along with the need to lobby the federal
government to take action on arthritis, prompted the Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN),
The Arthritis Society and
the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis to join forces and
create the Alliance for the Canadian Arthritis Program (ACAP).
Today, ACAP is a coalition of over 20 stakeholder groups dedicated to fighting the burden of arthritis,
encouraging government to dedicate resources to arthritis research and care, and supporting those living
with the disease. ACAP offers a forum for arthritis stakeholders to collaborate and strategize on arthritis
issues and speak with one voice when addressing public policy makers. Together, the members of ACAP are
committed to improving arthritis prevention and care across the country.
CAN continues to provide financial and administrative support to ACAP as it works towards defining a
national arthritis strategy for Canada.
Please click here to learn more about ACAP's recent initiatives.
Training
The Network is preparing the next generation
of arthritis scientists. The
Arthritis Society provides a generous
contribution of $500,000 per year
for the Network's training programs.
The program funds graduate students,
postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty
who are establishing their research
careers, and innovative training programs
including national and international
training rotations in academia and
industry. Trainees also receive support
to attend the Network's annual scientific
conference and other high profile
scientific meetings where they can
present their work to audiences of
leading scientists in their field.
Disability in
the Workplace
Arthritis is a leading cause of disability in Canada. The
number of working-age people with arthritis will double
by 2020. CAN has created a partnership with the Institute
for Work & Health (IWH) to reduce illness and disability
in the workplace for individuals with arthritis. IWH is
an independent, not-for-profit research organization whose
mission is to conduct and share research with workers, labour,
employers, clinicians and policy-makers to promote, protect
and improve the health of working people.
This initiative will examine the burden
of osteoarthritis and inflammatory
joint diseases on the workplace. It
will also offer an opportunity for
cross-training. CAN trainees will
be introduced to the methods for studying
the economic and social impact of
arthritis while IWH students, most
of whom are not clinicians, will benefit
from contact with clinical sites.
North American
Arthritis Research Consortium
CAN has initiated and is leading the
establishment of a North American
Arthritis Research Consortium to integrate
arthritis R&D in Canada and the
United States. This initiative involves
a partnership with participants in
the U.S. including the National Institute
of Health, the National Institute
of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and
Skin Diseases, the Food and Drug Administration,
the Arthritis Foundation and industry.
The Canadian participants are The
Arthritis Society, the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research, the Institute
of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis,
Health Canada and provincial health
ministries.
Strategic Research
Initiative in Osteoarthritis
Three million Canadians have osteoarthritis
(OA) and the number is increasing.
The Canadian Arthritis Network, the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research's
(CIHR) Institute
of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
(IMHA) and The
Arthritis Society recognized the
urgency of finding the cause and a
cure for OA. They organized the Osteoarthritis
Consensus conference in the spring
of 2002 that brought together leading
arthritis researchers, consumers,
the pharmaceutical industry, government
and international partners, to identify
areas where research would be most
valuable.
CAN entered into a partnership with
IMHA to make $5.5 million available
for research under CIHR's New Emerging
Team (NET) program in the area of
osteoarthritis. The program is building
research capacity in OA, building
new research teams and giving researchers
a building block for applying for
research funding in the future.
Three grants were awarded under this program through a
peer-review process:
- Dr. John Esdaile of the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
in Vancouver is developing tools to detect OA at an earlier
stage than it is currently diagnosed. This will make early
intervention possible, which limits the consequences of
the disease.
- Dr. Gillian Hawker of Sunnybrook and Women's
College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto is looking at
the determinants and consequences of pain and fatigue in
OA using a biopsychosocial approach.
- Dr. James Henry of
McMaster University in Hamilton is looking at the molecular
mechanisms of pain and fatigue in OA in the nervous system
and joints.
Strategic Research
Initiative in Inflammatory Joint Diseases
Rheumatoid arthritis strikes one Canadian
in 100, affecting twice as many women
as men. The cause is unknown and it
is a disabling disease, characterized
by inflammation in the lining of the
joints. In May, 2004, a consensus
conference called Frontiers in Inflammatory
Joint Diseases defined the frontiers
of research in inflammatory joint
disease (IJD). The outcome of the
conference was the establishment of
research priorities for IJD.
CAN formed a partnership with The
Arthritis Society and the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research's Institute
of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
and its Institute
of Infection and Immunity to make
$5.75 million available for research
through the National Research Partnership
in IJD. Research proposals under this
program require a cash contribution
of at least 25 per cent per annum
from an outside partner. Funding of
successful applications for research
proposals will begin in June, 2006.
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