Impact of a national dementia research consortium: The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)

Abstract

The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) was created by the Canadian federal government through its health research funding agency, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), in 2014, as a response to the G7 initiative to fight dementia. Two five-year funding cycles (2014-2019; 2019-2024) have occurred following peer review, and a third cycle (Phase 3) has just begun. A unique construct was mandated, consisting of 20 national teams in Phase I and 19 teams in Phase II (with research topics spanning from basic to clinical science to health resource systems) along with cross-cutting programs to support them. Responding to the needs of researchers within the CCNA teams, a unique sample of 1173 deeply phenotyped patients with various forms of dementia was accrued and studied over eight years (COMPASS-ND). In the second phase of funding (2019-2024), a national dementia prevention program (CAN-THUMBS UP) was set up. In a short time, this prevention program became a member of the World Wide FINGERS prevention consortium. In this article, the challenges, successes, and impacts of CCNA in Canada and internationally are discussed. Short-term deliverables have occurred, along with considerable promise of impacts in the longer term. The creation of synergy, networking, capacity building, engagement of people with lived experience, and economies of scale have contributed to the considerable success of CCNA by all measures. CCNA is evidence that an organized “centrally-organized” approach to dementia research can catalyze important progress nationally and yield significant and measurable results.

Plain Language Summary

This paper reviewed the challenges, successes, and impacts of a national network of dementia researchers in Canada. The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging was established in 2014 to advance dementia research in Canada. This consortium is an effort to connect researchers who study different aspects of dementia across the country. The idea is that doing research together will improve knowledge, skills, and impacts of all researchers and trainees involved. The result is a well-connected network with a wide range of research projects, as well as large-scale studies. Researchers have gained new connections, and opportunities to learn new skills like working with people with lived experience of dementia. These studies and new skills would not have been easily achieved without the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging. A national research network is beneficial for improving research and research impact.