Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for inviting me to participate in the committee's important work on the capstone.
I would like to open my remarks by informing your committee that on January 2, 2025, CIHR will welcome its new permanent president, Dr. Paul Hébert, a clinician scientist and health leader with extensive experience within Canada's health research ecosystem. Dr. Hébert is eager to start his new role and work with our partners to make the new capstone organization a success for all Canadians.
Madam Chair, over the last few months, CIHR has had the privilege of engaging closely with its federal partners, including our tri-council colleagues, Health Canada and ISED, to articulate the foundational elements of the new capstone organization, including those that will create opportunities for researchers to work on international, mission-driven and interdisciplinary research. In addition, CIHR has also consulted with partners spanning Canada's health research community. They have contributed invaluable feedback and insight to inform the creation of this new capstone organization.
Overall, the community expressed optimism that a capstone organization will enhance coordination of initiatives among the granting councils, invest in critical areas of importance to the country and provide a unified approach to international opportunities for Canadian researchers. The community also offered key considerations, values and guiding principles upon which the modernization should take place, for example, ensuring academic freedom, research excellence, peer review and domain-specific research.
Another opportunity identified through our recent engagements has been to leverage the extensive experience and expertise of CIHR and of Canada's diverse health research community. In particular, the health community was pleased to learn that CIHR's institute model would be preserved within the new capstone organization. For almost 25 years, CIHR's 13 scientific institutes, which are based at universities and health institutions across the country, have been leaders in their domain. They have excelled in delivering strategic research in response to the vast and ever-changing needs of Canadians.
Our institutes also collaborate among themselves and with domestic and international partners in complex health areas that require an interdisciplinary approach, such as indigenous health and non-communicable diseases.
Within capstone, the CIHR institutes will be poised to contribute their expertise and leverage their networks in exciting new ways. The health research community, and our health partners at large, have also spoken about the importance of maintaining CIHR's strong and direct linkages to the health portfolio, as was noted in the budget 2024 announcement. This ongoing interaction, as you heard from my colleague, Ms. Boudreau, earlier on, will no doubt ensure that health research continues to improve the health of Canadians into the future. This is a key consideration, particularly in light of the complex challenges facing Canadians, the need to be prepared to address health emergencies, and the need for the translation of research into actionable health solutions.
CIHR's continued collaboration with health portfolio partners enables it to rapidly mobilize strategic research across many priorities in support of federal initiatives, as well as to generate evidence to inform policy and decision-making. This includes, for example, close collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada on the pan-Canadian action plan on antimicrobial resistance and also in support of the research goals of Canada's national dementia research strategy.
We are pleased that the new capstone organization will preserve these vital linkages so that research continues to drive health system innovation and efficiency, and, of course, better health for all Canadians.
In closing, I would add that the Canadian Institutes of Health Research remain committed to working with our federal partners and the research community to set up a new organization that builds on our strengths and provides the necessary guidance so that we can continue to meet the complex challenges that are arising.
I look forward to your questions.