The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has announced the return of a funding opportunity intended to catalyze and support Canadian researchers in using the available data within the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) research platform.

A total of $925,000 in funding is available to support approximately 13 grants. The maximum amount per grant is $70,000 for up to one year.

Support for the Catalyst Grant: Analysis of Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) Data Funding Opportunity is provided by the CIHR Institute of Aging, Institute of Population and Public Health, Institute of Gender and Health, and the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health in partnership with the Quebec Network for Research on Aging.

Researchers may propose research projects using CLSA data alone, or CLSA data in combination with other data sets/cohorts to enhance the scope of research questions that can be addressed. However, as per the CLSA’s Privacy Policy, no identifiable information on CLSA participants can be released to researchers. In addition, researchers who propose to use supplementary datasets with the CLSA will have to demonstrate that the data they want to use will be available and accessible at the time of application.

Funding is available to support projects that are relevant to the mandates of the Institute of Aging, Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, Institute of Gender and Health and the Institute of Population and Public Health. An additional $15,000 is available as top-up funding from the Quebec Network for Research on Aging to the highest ranked fundable application from Quebec.

More details on the funds available, eligibility and guidelines can be found on ResearchNet.

Researchers can review the CLSA Data Availability Table, which includes recent COVID-19 Questionnaire Study and COVID-19 Seroprevalence Study data, as well as the following data:

• Follow-up 1 bone density and body composition (derived from whole body DXA)
• New baseline medications variables
• Baseline cognitive normative data
• Follow-up 1 environmental indicators (linked data)
• Follow-up 1 chemistry report (blood biomarkers)
• First release of Follow-up 2 data (including alphanumeric data from questionnaires; excluding cognition, medications and physical measures)

Researchers with questions about data availability can contact the CLSA at access@clsa-elcv.ca.

The registration deadline for the 2022 CLSA catalyst grant funding opportunity is August 16, 2022. The full application deadline is September 8, 2022.