December 10, 2001
SickKids welcomes research funding in budget
Today's budget announcement that the federal government will increase health research funding and plans to expand the funding formula to recognize the indirect costs of research is a welcome boost to the Canadian health research community.
Dr. Manuel Buchwald, Chief of Research, SickKids, said, "The irony is that the success of our researchers in accessing federal funds has created a burden for the hospital. Every time a researcher receives a project grant, the institution has had to subsidize up to 40 per cent of the related costs. This announcement recognizes that direct project costs reflect only a part of the full costs of research."
In 2001/02, The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation will provide a grant of $44.8 million to SickKids; $29 million of the total grant will support indirect research costs. Dianne Lister, President and CEO of the Foundation, says, "We are pleased that the government listened. We believe strongly that world class research at Canada's premiere children's hospital cannot be funded primarily by individual supporters and golf tournaments."
Health research has a profound impact on Canada: Canadian children benefit immediately from new discoveries; we build a trained work force with unparalleled expertise and credentials; by building our capacity in the new knowledge-based economy, the country's long-term economic prosperity is ensured; and Canada remains a major player in the new frontiers of science able to help answer the complex and difficult questions that still remain.
Indirect research costs include portions of principal investigators' salaries, staff support, facilities' costs such as electricity, heating and cooling, computer technology, laboratory, diagnostic & therapeutic equipment, and other research support such as libraries, grants' reporting, contract administration, etc.
The Hospital for Sick Children is the largest hospital-based research institution in Canada with 1,600 staff, including 700 trainees. It is the premiere paediatric research facility in the country and one of the top three in the world.
The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation is the largest hospital foundation in Canada with more than $400 million in endowments and a revenue goal this year of $70 million. In addition to its grants to SickKids, the Foundation also runs a national grants program available to researchers across the country.
For more information, please contact:
Public Affairs
The Hospital for Sick Children
555 University Avenue
Suite 1742, Public Affairs, First floor Atrium
Toronto,
ON
M5G 1X8
Canada
Phone: 416-813-5058
Fax: 416-813-5328