CCFC Research Report Card

Executive Summary

The first report paints a very positive picture of the contribution CCFC is making to enable IBD-related research to grow in Canada in pursuit of its mission to find the cure.  The report includes six dimensions. Some of the highlights of each are:

1. Administrative and Process Indicators

• From 2004 to 2008, there has been significant growth both in terms of dollars and numbers of research projects funded by the CCFC. Most project funding, 84% of it, goes to basic science/ biomedical research.
  
  
• Regionally, the majority of project funding during the same five year period has been concentrated in Ontario ($8.9m) and Alberta ($7.6m). Quebec funding ($3.4m) was less than half of Alberta’s during this time period.

2. Advancing Knowledge

• Canada punches above its weight internationally in terms of number of publications and citations. The majority of this contribution is from CCFC-affiliated researchers.
  
  
• 8 CCFC-affiliated researchers are in the top 100 of the world’s most published authors of IBD-related papers.
  
  
• Out of the top 100 most cited papers on IBD, 58 have at least one co-author who has been funded by CCFC and/or is a member of the IBDRI.

3. Capacity Building

• CCFC funds a trainee cohort of Research project staff through GIA funding that represents about 90 people early in their research careers. Members of this group compete in subsequent national and provincial competitions where, in some cases, CCFC co-funds successful applicants through matching-dollar partnerships.
  
  
• In dollar terms totaled for all IBD-related research projects, CCFC spends more than does CIHR.
  
  
• As a percentage of gross revenue spent on research, CCFC outperforms other benchmarked Canadian foundations.
  
  
• Internationally, CCFC is the largest non-governmental funder of IBD-related research on a per-capita basis.
  
  
• In terms of research dollars spent for each afflicted person in Canada, CCFC is in the top half of funders.

4. Informed Decision Making

• The “Burden of IBD in Canada” (BIBDC) report attracted specific requests for information used to inform policy decisions.
  
  
• The PR campaign launched during Crohn’s and Colitis awareness month generated a significant number – over 30 million – of media “impressions.”

5. Health Impacts

• The BIBDC report included updated prevalence and incidence rates for IBD in Canada which re-confirm that these are among the highest in the world.
  
  
• Wait times for diagnostic procedures important to making IBD diagnoses are excessive: more than half of a recent sample of patients had to wait longer than 120 days for endoscopic services when 14 days is the target wait time.

6. Economic & Social Impact

• The BIBDC report included estimates of direct and indirect costs of IBD which totaled $1.8 billion in 2008.

Download: Research Report Card 2008 / 2009
Download: Executive Summary

To download a free copy of Acrobat Reader, please click here.