Canadians are making significant contributions to the global efforts against COVID-19 and we at Science Rendezvous want to celebrate and spotlight the important work they are doing. 

Following Canada’s announcement of a COVID-19 rapid research funding competition on February 10, there was a flood of hundreds of applications in less than a week. Many researchers have also volunteered to speed up the process by peer-reviewing applications. By early March, the $27M investment was funding 47 projects ranging from medical to social and policy countermeasures against COVID-19.  

An additional 49 new research projects received funding after a rollout of another $25M, rapidly doubling the number of funded COVID-19 countermeasures. This rollout is part of the $275M investment to enhance Canada’s capacity in COVID-19 research and development. Canadian researchers across the country are working on projects focused on developing and implementing measures to quickly detect, manage, and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

So what exactly are these countermeasures researchers are looking at? Medical countermeasures research involves investigating tools and methods for detecting, monitoring and treating cases. Researchers are also studying how the virus is spread and working to develop vaccines. Social and policy countermeasures research involves studying the response to the virus on an individual and community level, and developing strategies that combat misinformation, stigma and fear. 

The funds from Canada are provided and distributed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) through the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and Genome Canada (GC).