Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

This annual meeting will focus on bringing together basic science and clinical trainees (graduate and medical students, PhD and MD postdoctoral fellows) with interests in gastrointestinal health and disease and related disciplines, along with a select panel of Canadian experts and possibly an internationally renowned leader in gastroenterology research. The underlying philosophy is that if Canada is to maintain its' position at the leading edge of gastroenterological research, then trainees must be afforded the opportunity to mix with their peers and opinion leaders at an early stage, gain experience in presenting data and critiquing that of their peers, and have their efforts highlighted and appreciated for moving the respective disciplines forward. It is deemed critical that high caliber trainees be supported and encouraged to assess the value of a research-oriented career. The meeting may ultimately result in research collaborations amongst the participants; often collaborative projects are initiated at this meeting and continue to flourish between researchers and laboratories. CIHR has supported this meeting for several years. This meeting is held in advance of Canadian Digestive Diseases Week™, which trainees are also required to attend. Students are required to submit an abstract and this is done using the CDDW™ meeting's on-line abstract system. Abstracts are reviewed, ranked, and selected by the Research Topics co-chairs & postdoc faculty. The abstracts that are accepted to the Research Topics Meeting are also considered for presentation at the CDDW™ meeting.