Background on the Canadian Framework for Brain Health Research
Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL) is a high profile, high priority multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral program located at McGill University made possible with support from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund () and the Fonds de recherche du Quebec (, and ).
The Canadian Framework for Brain Health Research (CFBHR) is an HBHL initiative that aims to improve the applicability of brain health research findings by developing guidance on the appropriate inclusion of social factors across various areas of neuroscience.
There are three phases to this program as well as a Preliminary Pilot Project Phase:
- Project Coordination Workshop
- Social Determinants of Health in Neuroscience Team Grants
- Knowledge Exchange Grant
Please note: Phase Three is still in development and will be refined in consultation with those funded for Phase Two.
Program Objectives
- All Phases: To improve the appropriate and meaningful integration of social factors into neuroscience research
- Phase One (Workshop): Provide an opportunity for information sharing and discussion on the latest thinking and advances in SDoH research, particularly as relates to neuroscience
- Phase One (Workshop): Support the creation of interdisciplinary teams with expertise in both the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and neuroscience, which will go on to submit high-quality, relevant phase-two applications
- Phase Two (Team Grants): Support the development of guidance on the appropriate integration of the SDoH into neuroscience research
- Phase Three (KE Grants): Promote the dissemination and uptake of guidance developed in Phase Two through knowledge mobilization and exchange activities
The Public Health Agency of Canada defines SDoH as “the broad range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors that determine individual and population health.” Examples of SDoH include, but are not limited to, place of residence, race, ethnicity, culture, occupation, sex, gender, religion, education, socioeconomic status and social capital. For more information on the SDoH, see the website.
Preliminary Pilot Project Phase
Teams composed of PIs and trainees were funded to gather information on what data already exists to support neuroscience researchers to integrate SDoH. Funding has been awarded to three teams and preliminary findings were presented at the project coordination workshop:
1.
CO-PIs: Robert-Paul Juster, Boris Bernhardt
Trainee: Enzo Cipriani
2. Intersectional approaches in neuroimaging
CO-PIs: Robert-Paul Juster, Boris Bernhardt
Trainees: Ella Sahlas, Jessica Royer
3.
CO-PIs: Laurence Kirmayer, Jean-Baptiste Poline, Jai Shah
Trainees: Mathilda Ryon, Sophie Luo
Phase One Program Overview: Project Coordination Workshop
Phase One of this program is now complete. Phase One consisted of a project coordination workshop, which took place on March 22, 2024. Neuroscience and SDoH researchers and trainees met, discussed the CFBHR program and began to form teams to apply for Phase Two.
Phase Two Program Overview: Social Determinants of Health in Neuroscience Team Grant
The Interdisciplinary Teams Pool funds projects with the goal of researching and developing guidance on integrating the SDoH into specific areas of neuroscience research primarily carried out in human participants.
Interdisciplinary teams receive support to:
- Develop specific advice on how to appropriately integrate the SDoH into one particular area of neuroscience per team;
- Develop guidance that is multi-tiered, providing users with a sliding scale of options for SDoH integration to facilitate uptake (e.g., bronze, silver and gold levels of SDoH integration); and
Work collaboratively with other funded teams and the Umbrella Team to share knowledge and ensure complementarity across guidance materials being produced. Guidance could include, but is not limited to:
- Promising practices for SDoH integration in specific areas such as neuroinformatics, computational neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, behavioural neuroscience, and neuropsychology, or in specific methodologies such as computer simulations, mathematical modelling, electrophysiology, or neuroimaging
- Promising practices for data analysis
- Guidance on use of existing clinical data to add social variables to studies
- Guidance on collection of new SDoH data
- Example protocols
- Survey templates
- Case studies
- Checklists
- Standardized data collection and sharing methods
- Ethical considerations for collecting and sharing data
Guidance for SDoH integration should be modular so that neuroscientists have entry-level guidance to start integrating the SDoH, but also have higher-level guidance that could require more complex or time-intensive research methods. For example, this could be done through creating bronze, silver and gold standards for SDoH integration.
Given the one-year grant time period, teams are encouraged to do a review of existing research to develop guidance. In addition, teams may choose to test promising practices from the literature on a specific use case to facilitate the creation of the most practical advice.
Funding has been awarded to seven teams for the Interdisciplinary Teams Pool:
1) Harnessing social determinants of health in digital phenotyping
Co-PIs: David Benrimoh, Jai Shah, Laurence Kirmayer, Sara Jalali, Deven Parekh
Trainees: Ashley Choucroun, Ivy Guo, Parnia Akhavansaffar, Matthew Raymond
2)Tracking social determinants of health in lifespan neuroimaging among diverse populations
Co-PIs: Boris Bernhardt, Robert-Paul Juster, Anna MacKinnon
Trainees: Judy Chen, Mina Guérin
3) Developing guidance for representative recruitment and the integration of social determinants of health in research on aging and Alzheimer’s disease
Co-PIs: Maiya Geddes, Nancy Mayo, Martin Guhn
Collaborators: Laurence Kirmayer, Sylvia Villeneuve, Neil Andersson, Pedro Rosa-Neto
Trainees: Vasvi Dhir, Ezinne Ekediegwu, Arnima Singh, Juhi Tulsi, Stéfanie Tremblay
4) Towards a better integration of social determinants of health in the measurement of cognition in aging
Co-PIs: Maxime Montembeault, Annette Leibing
Collaborators: Machelle Wichelsky, Isabelle Royal
Trainees: Enqi Wang, Parsa Afrooz, Cynthia Lazzaroni, Anna Marier
5) The role of social determinants of health in the neuroscience and progression of psychotic illness: From mobilizing knowledge to improving next-generation research
Co-PIs: Jai Shah, Martin Lepage, David Benrimoh, Geneviève Sauvé, Mallar Chakravarty, Jean-Baptiste Poline, Srividya Iyer, Laurence Kirmayer, Amal Abdel-Baki
Trainees: Vincent Paquin, Matthew Danyluik, Giuseppe D'Andrea, Ashley Toombs Heavisides, Christina Ghaleb
6) Social determinants of health in pediatric neuroimaging
Co-PIs: Tasmia Hai, Jacob Burack, Rachel Kronick, Laurence Kirmayer
Trainees: Amy Jolin, Karen Arias, Sarah Caimano, Christina Ghaleb, Ashley Toombs-heavisides
7) Social determinants of health in psychedelic research: A three-phase exploration of barriers, shaping of reporting guidelines, and convening experts for consensus
Co-PIs: Phoebe Friesen, Kyle Greenway, Ana Gomez-Carrillo, Michael Lifshitz, Alexandre Lehmann
Trainees: Sara de la Salle, Lena Adel, Sara Gloeckler, Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Nathan Fisher
The Umbrella Team Pool funds one team to develop overarching, general guidance and considerations for integrating SDoH into neuroscience research. They also work with the Interdisciplinary Teams and provide recommendations to them through meetings, workshops or other types of collaborations.
The umbrella team receives support to:
- Research and develop guidance on the integration of ethical considerations, data standardization, the integration of diversity and representativeness, including a specific focus on Indigenous issues regarding the integration of SDoH into neuroscience research;
- Develop (and eventually disseiminate) a perspective on the overall importance of the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) to neuroscience research with human participants and the current state of integration of SDoH across various areas of neuroscience;
- Develop overarching, general guidance and considerations for integrating SDoH into neuroscience research, which will be developed in consultation with the funded interdisciplinary teams; and
- Work with the Interdisciplinary Teams Pool and provide recommendations to them through meetings, workshops or other types of collaborations.
Funding has been awarded to one team:
1) Umbrella team: Social determinants of health in neuroscience research
Co-PIs: Laurence J. Kirmayer, Robert-Paul Juster, Jai Shah, Amy Bombay, Maiya Geddes, Ana Gomez- Carrillo, Tasmai Hai, Vincent Laliberté, Christopher Mushquash, J.B. Poline, Vivian Welch
Trainees: Enzo Cipriani, Mahdi Mahdavi, Eli Oda Sheiner
Additional Information
Throughout the one-year grant, HBHL will organize regular coordination workshops, particularly aimed at trainees (though PIs are also welcome to attend) across both pools. The goal of these workshops will be to share information and knowledge across teams, provide support to trainees, promote complementarity and reduce overlap across projects. At least one team member must attend each workshop.
Phase Three Program Overview: Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) Grant
Eligibility: Only teams funded in phase two will be eligible for phase three funding.
IMPORTANT: Phase Three will be developed further and more details regarding the grant and application process will be posted closer to the application date.
- Total envelope: $180,000
- Value per grant: TBD
- Duration: Eight months
- Number of grants to be awarded: TBD
A Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) grant will follow the Social Determinants of Health in Neuroscience Team Grants to support funded teams in turning their guidance into identifying the most effective means of translating the knowledge produced in phase two into action. Additional communications support will be provided by HBHL to disseminate the outputs of funded research.
Program Timeline
Phase One: Project Coordination Workshop
- Feb. 8, 2024: Registration opens (complete)
- Mar. 17, 2024: Registration deadline (complete)
- Mar. 22, 2024: Project Coordination Workshop (complete)
Phase Two: Social Determinants of Health in Neuroscience Grants
- Apr. 8, 2024: Competition opens (complete)
- May 6, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.: Application deadline (complete)
- May 15-May 31, 2024: Review (complete)
- Jun. 2024: Start of funding (complete)
- Jun. 2025: End of funding
Phase Three: Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) Grant (dates to be confirmed)
IMPORTANT: Only teams funded in phase two will be eligible for phase-three funding.
- Feb. 2025: Competition opens
- Mar. 2025: Submission deadline
- April-May 2025: Review
- Jun. 2025: Start of funding
- Jun. 2025: KE strengthening workshop
- Jan. 2026: End of funding
For any questions, please contact HBHL [at] mcgill.ca.
