Abstract Details

To assess the impact of establishing a national program for research on dementia in Canada.

The Canadian federal government, through its national research funding agency, established the CCNA as an investigator-initiated consortium running from 2014-2019(Phase 1). The CCNA has now been refunded to 2024(Phase 2). In Phase 1,  relatively modest funding of $31 million (2/3 from federal government, 1/3 from partners) funded over 300 Canadian researchers to work together in teams in order to catalyze research on dementia from basic science to clinical and health systems delivery analysis. The goal was to add a layer of synergy on and above individual research grants.

Biannual reports by CCNA to government, along with an outside evaluation and peer review results, were analyzed to assess the impact of CCNA. A qualitative and quantitative analysis is reported.

The CCNA has met many of its goals in five years of operations. Synergy between researchers has increased by 50%. A national research community has come into existence. 162 new publications have come out of the 20 teams that were established. CCNA has created a vehicle for knowledge translation, for lobbying of policy-makers, and for bringing the “sex and gender lens” to bear on all aspects of dementia research,and provided a focus for research on dementia in Indigenous populations. A shared data platform from a cohort of 2210 subjects with various dementias is being recruited (1/2 collected as of 2019)  and will enhance the research of many scientists. This inclusive approach to neurodegeneration in aging at a national level can be a model for future consortia.

While investigator-driven research grants remain the mainstay of discovery from basic science to clinical, the success of CCNA points to the advantages of additional "targetted" research planned to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration. This adds value to a country's expertise in dementia.