Comments - Louise Brisbois

Dear Secretariat,

I am writing to provide some feedback on this important work which was forwarded to employees of UHN by Katie Roposa.
First and foremost I believe this to be extremely important and I look forward to seeing my institution, Kite Research Institute, which is part of UHN implement these principles.

I do have a couple of comments to share:
Principle #3 – I agree with the spirit of this principle however, I would like to better understand how the larger funding model of research – Grant competitions which are very competitive and only a small % receive funding – encourages researchers to share data openly? I think the entire system is flawed and in order to truly evaluate researchers on open source, open data, and transparent data sharing, the funding model for research will have to change. If a researcher receives funding what incentive is there to share that data so another researcher who was not funded can use it? Can this principle address this fundamental tension in the system? Have there been any discussions about how data from funded research can then be used by unfunded researchers, and the implications of this? Institutions reward funded researchers with promotions, what about those who do not get funded but use data from others to do research?

Responsibility of Supervisors

• At UHN-KITE Research Institute I have seen that this is very inconsistent and needs to become a requirement that PIs are evaluated on and tied to performance and pay, so that trainees/staff are properly and consistently trained across the board
• What if any ability does the CIHR Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research have to enforce these principles/policies with supervisors within institutions?

Responsibility of Institutions

• This is an important update related to training and fair treatment of its people – is this an enforceable requirement? How will it be monitored?
• Will institutions be evaluated by some sort of external body to encourage or ensure these are being followed?

I appreciate the work that has been done and I look forward to hearing more about the finalized framework and how it will be implemented.

Regards,

Louise

L.M Brisbois
Research Manager
University Health Network - Toronto Rehab - KITE
520 Sutherland Drive, Toronto, ON M4G 3V9
416-597-3422 x6225
Craven Lab
Kite Research Institute

Date modified:

2021-08-20