Considering multi-regional research for your CIHR Spring Project Grant application? DASH can help!
Researchers interested in using multi-regional health data in their CIHR Spring Project Grant applications can find tools and support through HDRN Canada’s Data Access Support Hub (DASH).
DASH is an invaluable resource for studies looking to compare results across multiple provinces or territories, said Jordan Hunt, DASH Co-Chair based at the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI), an HDRN Canada member organization. “We know that accessing data from multiple regions can feel daunting. That’s why we want to make sure that researchers who are considering multi-regional research know just what kind of supports are available to help them apply for funding through the CIHR Spring Project Grant.”
Hunt continued, “In particular, DASH can provide feasibility confirmation, cost estimates, and Letters of Support, all free of charge, to support applications proposing multi-regional research. All researchers have to do is submit an online intake form, and DASH will take it from there.”
Once a study receives funding, researchers can request data from more than one province or territory through the Data Access Support Hub’s centralized online data access request form. The DASH team, made up of HDRN Canada members from provincial and territorial data centres as well as pan-Canadian organizations like CIHI and Statistics Canada, provides coordinated support throughout the data access process. “The goal is to make it easier for researchers to access health and health-related data from multiple provinces and territories,” Hunt added. “DASH staff do this by bringing data centres together to make the data request and access process as streamlined and simplified as possible for researchers and research teams.”
Other free DASH tools that support researchers conducting multi-regional research include a Data Assets Inventory, searchable by keyword, category or region, and an Algorithms Inventory, an online collection of published algorithms measuring population health, health service use, and the determinants of health that have been validated or tested for feasibility of implementation in two or more Canadian territories or provinces, or nationally.
Researchers interested in receiving DASH support for their CIHR Spring Project Grant applications must submit an online intake form by February 19, 2025. Questions? Email DASH at dash@hdrn.ca.
Did you miss our webinar on how to use DASH and get support from our data experts across the country? Check out the video!