Message from the Scientific Director: Introducing the Reimagining Acute Care Initiative and New Partnerships
Across my work as a clinician, researcher, and as Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH), I've seen our health care system from many perspectives. Whether at the bedside, in the classroom, or leading research teams and funding opportunities, one thing has become increasingly clear: acute care is rarely confined to a single moment. It unfolds across the lifespan and along a continuum that extends well before and long after an acute event. What happens before an acute event, how care is delivered in that moment, and how people are supported afterward are tightly connected. Yet research, like care itself, is often organized in silos, separating these different phases. This reveals an opportunity to reimagine acute care through research that bridges gaps between knowledge and care, and across the phases of the care continuum, to positively impact patients' health and lifespan.
Building on this opportunity, I am proud to highlight ICRH's new Reimagining Acute Care Initiative. It supports work that connects the phases of the care continuum, builds capacity, brings together teams working across research areas, and leverages data, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies to strengthen decision‑making and real‑world implementation. The initiative is intentionally of a broad scope, reflecting the reality that many of the most pressing challenges in acute care are shared across different settings.
Reimagining Acute Care is also about creating the conditions for collaboration at a larger scale. Rather than working in parallel, it brings together researchers, communities, and partners around shared questions and shared goals, recognizing that improving acute care requires combined expertise and coordinated effort.
As part of this work, I am proud to announce that Heart & Stroke has joined the Reimagining Acute Care Initiative as a partner, contributing to the Reimagining Acute Care – Catalyst Grant Funding Opportunity to support research aligned with its mandate and the initiative's goals.
Quote from Heart & Stroke
We are pleased to partner on the CIHR‑ICRH Reimagining Acute Care Catalyst Grant. This partnership is an important opportunity to advance shared priorities by using data and AI to reveal new insights across heart and stroke conditions and, ultimately, improve patient outcomes.
– Dr. Ryan Perry, Vice-President, Research and Science, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Together, these efforts mark an important step toward advancing research that better reflects the realities of patients across the full continuum of care, with the goal of improving health outcomes for all people living in Canada.
To learn more about the initiative, partnerships, funding opportunities, and supporting resources, including a new Questions and Answers section, visit the Reimagining Acute Care webpage and follow us on social medias for the latest updates.
Dr. Ariane Marelli
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
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