Grant: Planning Grants - Priority Announcement: Circulatory and Respiratory Health

Resuscitation science is concerned with saving the lives of people who suffer cardiac arrest, shock and other life-threatening and time-sensitive emergencies. More than 45,000 Canadians suffer a cardiac arrest each year. Rates of survival are still very low, despite advances in medicine. Resuscitation science is a continually changing field of study, across disciplines, level of research and practice. Yet, there are only three senior and two young clinician scientists with dedicated research programs in Canada. It is important to advance the science by improving the spread of knowledge and developing more highly skilled resuscitation researchers. These are people who can, for example, conduct large clinical trials to develop solid evidence. To this end, the Collaborative Program in Resuscitation Sciences (CPRS) was launched at University of Toronto in 2011. The program contributes to improving health systems, resuscitation strategies and care in prehospital and in-hospital settings. It trains graduate students and supports young investigators to conduct quality research in respect of these outcomes.The CPRS held its first scientific meeting, Resuscitation in Motion (RiM), in May 2012 at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute in Toronto. The one-day gathering was attended by 85 delegates from Canada, the US and Australia. These included clinician scientists, research fellows, young investigators, graduate students, and public and private stakeholders. A persistant challenge identified by participants was the lack of networks of excellence to make resuscitation science competitive for large operating grants. The CPRS intends to make this the main focus of the next RiM meeting, planned for May 2014. About 100 participants from a variety of sectors and disciplines will attend the meeting. The aim is to develop productive networks of excellence that can identify and take forward resuscitation research projects with strong potential for success.