Regulations / Applications for Researchers

Review process

1. Prior to peer review, The Society’s Review Panel will review anonymous summaries of applications and Statements of Relevance. The Society’s Panel will determine which proposals have the most relevance to, and impact on, arthritis. These recommendations will then be forwarded to CIHR. Guidance on completing the Statement of Relevance can be found with the Call for Applications on the CIHR link above.
2. Full applications will be peer reviewed by CIHR and ranked in order of scientific merit.
3. Those applications deemed relevant by The Society but not funded by CIHR will be considered for funding by The Society.

Relevance Adjudication Process:

1. Reviewers are provided with a package of applications consisting of an anonymous research description page and Statement of Relevance.
   
   
2. Although anonymous, reviewers are asked to flag any real or potential conflict of interest.
   
   
3. Each application is reviewed by multiple expert reviewers.
   
   
4. Each reviewer is asked to rank all the applications they receive and, based on their expertise and experience, rank the applications in 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th quartile.  The 1st quartile has strongest relevance to the Mission of The Arthritis Society while the 4th quartile has the weakest relevance.
   
   The mission of The Arthritis Society is to search for the underlying causes and subsequent cures for arthritis, and to promote the best possible care and treatment for people with arthritis.
   
   
5. Without conferring with others, each reviewer submits their ranks on the ranking spreadsheet compiled by The Arthritis Society and emails this spreadsheet to The Society office by the deadline date established.
   
   
6. The Arthritis Society office will compile and sort the list.
   
   
7. Applications with widely differing ranks among reviewers will be discussed by the panel to achieve consensus in ranking all applications.
   
   
8. Due to the structure of the partnership agreement with CIHR, The Society can only recommend that applications be judged as relevant or not relevant.  The criteria that The Society will use to determine a cut-off will be the boundary between the third and fourth quartiles, i.e., applications falling in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quartile will be deemed relevant to, and fundable by The Arthritis Society as funds allow.
   
   
9. The order of funding of applications that fall in the first 3 quartiles will be determined by the CIHR’s scientific merit score.
   
   

Clinician Teacher Award

The activities and responsibilities of rheumatologists working within the Arthritis Centres include clinical care, teaching and research. The effective delivery of teaching programs at both an undergraduate and postgraduate level is essential to ensure the entry of new recruits into the specialty and their eventual placement within academic arthritis and in community practice. The Clinician Teacher program was established to support and enhance the activities of clinician teachers within the Arthritis Centres. More

• Clinician Teacher Application Form

UCB Pharma/Canadian Rheumatology Association/The Arthritis Society Postgraduate Rheumatology Fellowship:

For the third year, UCB Pharma Canada is offering funding for post graduate rheumatology training for the 2010-11 academic year. This fellowship award will be administered under the auspices of the Canadian Rheumatology Association and The Arthritis Society. The purpose of this scholarship is to bring increased rheumatology expertise to the Canadian Rheumatology Community. More

Geoff Carr Lupus Fellowship:

Members of Lupus Ontario (formerly known as the Ontario Lupus Association) have established an annual Fellowship in memory of their colleague, the late Geoff Carr. The Fellowship is designed to train a rheumatologist to be an expert in the management of patients with lupus. The Lupus Fellow will follow patients at an accredited lupus clinic, supervise patient care and education, and become involved in clinical research. The stipend attached to the Geoff Carr Lupus Fellowship will be $65,000 Cdn. per annum. Candidates must arrange their own place of training in Ontario. More

• Geoff Carr Lupus Fellowship Application Form