Winter 2015 (Volume 25, Number 4)

CIORA Summation: 2015

By Boulos Haraoui, MD, FRCPC

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The CRA Research Committee has been busy in 2015. CIORA held its eighth grant competition and this year broadened funding criteria to support projects related to all rheumatic diseases. CIORA awarded three one-year grants and six two-year grants for a total of just over $740,000! CIORA also sponsored the second CRA (CIORA) TAS Clinician Investigator Award which funds a young investigator with $60,000 per annum for two years which will allow them the opportunity to initiate and pursue independent research of clear relevance to arthritis. This year’s recipient is Dr. Bindee Kuriya from the University of Toronto.

CIORA’s contribution to the advancement of rheumatology research in Canada is made possible by the unrestricted financial contributions of many industry partners. Over the years, they have realized the importance of supporting such initiatives, thus making CIORA the third-largest funding agency of rheumatology research in Canada. We would like to acknowledge their continuous support.

A special thank you to Dr. John Esdaile for his contribution to CIORA as the Review Panel Chair. Dr. Esdaile has served as Chair since 2006 and has provided valuable guidance and direction to the review process. We would like to welcome Dr. Paul Fortin as our new Review Panel Chair.

CIORA-funded research is being presented worldwide, with several poster and oral presentations made at recent meetings of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). For example, at EULAR 2015, CIORA support aided:

• Using Patient Relevant Variables to Describe the Disease Course in Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Results from the REACCH-OUT Cohort (Poster); and
• Creating New Rheumatologists: The Canadian Experience (Poster).

Similarly, at ACR 2014, CIORA was involved with:
• A Novel Approach to Assess Wait-Times to Rheumatologists (Poster);
• Creating New Rheumatologists: The Canadian Experience (Oral); and
• Increasing Access to Inflammatory Arthritis Education in Rural and Remote Communities using Telemedicine (Oral).

Boulos Haraoui, MD, FRCPC
Associate Professor of Medicine,
Université de Montréal
Head,
Clinical Research Unit in Rheumatology,
Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)
Chair, CIORA
Montreal, Quebec