For researchers

Heart & Stroke and Brain Canada are excited to announce the third year of the Personnel Awards for Black Scholars. These awards aim to promote strategic growth in heart and brain health science with Black communities by supporting Black students pursue their post graduate studies.

Competition closes March 20, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Applications are to be submitted via Heart & Stroke’s online grants management system, CIRCUlink.

• Doctoral awards guidelines
• Master’s award guidelines 

Heart & Stroke and Brain Canada are excited to announce the second year of the Personnel Awards for Indigenous Scholars. These awards aim to promote strategic growth in heart and brain health science with Indigenous communities by supporting Indigenous students pursue their post graduate studies. 

Competition closes March 20, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. ET

• Doctoral award guidelines
• Master's award guidelines

A Chair/Professorship supports a leading investigator to focus on heart disease and/or stroke, often building a network or centre of excellence at the institution. These initiatives are typically designated endowments or done in partnership with like-minded organizations. They provide salary and infrastructure support to enable a leading researcher to develop a specific heart disease and stroke research focus at a Canadian university.

Meet our Heart & Stroke Chairs and Professors

Heart & Stroke, together with Brain Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health and Institute of Genetics, are excited to announce the three successful research teams of the Congenital Heart Disease Team Grants competition. Researchers will focus on congenital heart disease (CHD) throughout the lifespan and in the context of physical as well as mental health, with considerations for sex and gender, Indigenous health and wellness, and health equity.

Congratulations are extended to the following winning teams:

1. Dr. Luc Mertens, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)
2. Dr. Thalia Field, University of British Columbia
3. Dr. Andrew Mackie, University of Alberta

• Read more about the winning projects
• Read the competition guidelines

To learn about our partnership in the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum, please click here.

The Grant-in-Aid (GIA) program provides operating funds to support important, pertinent, novel research in the areas of heart disease and stroke. GIA funding promotes research discovery, exploration and innovation across all health research themes. Knowledge gained from scientific findings contributes to the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health of Canadians through prevention, treatment and recovery.

Research is supported across the four health research themes:

• Basic biomedical
• Clinical
• Health services/systems
• Social, cultural, environmental and population health.

Researchers at all career stages are encouraged to apply to the GIA program. Principal Investigators (and co-PIs) must have a full-time academic or faculty appointment (i.e., at minimum, at the assistant or clinical assistant professor level) in Canada at the time of application.

• Grant-in-Aid Program Guidelines

2025/26 Heart & Stroke Research Competitions are now OPEN!

Heart & Stroke is pleased to announce that we are launching the 2025/26 Research Competition. This year, we will be funding FIVE competitions:

• Grants-in-Aid    
• New Investigator
• NEW Postdoctoral Fellowships 
• Women’s Personnel Award
  • Doctoral Awards
  • Postdoctoral Awards 

Grants-in-Aid
Application for a GIA must be submitted online using CIRCUlink by 16:00 EDT Thursday 29 AUGUST 2024. CIRCUlink will not accept submissions after this deadline (date and time).

• Grant-in-aid Submission Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions
• CIRCUlink Applicant User Guide 

Please note:

• GIA 2025/26 Application Deadline Support Notice:
  Heart & Stroke will attempt to provide support to all applicants requiring assistance leading up to the deadline of 16:00 EDT on Thursday, 29 August 2024. Please be advised that due to limited resources the Heart & Stroke cannot provide any assurances of available support after 15:00 EDT Thursday 29 August 2024. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that a completed application is submitted prior to the deadline. Heart & Stroke strongly recommends that applications be submitted well before the 16:00 EDT deadline.
• Common CV Support:
  Please note that CCV support is now provided through the CCV centralized help desk: Email: support@cihr-irsc.gc.ca / Telephone: 613-954-1968 / Toll free: 1-888-603-4178

New Investigator Award
Application for a New Investigator Award must be submitted online using CIRCUlink by 16:00 EDT Thursday 05 September 2024. CIRCUlink will not accept submissions after this deadline (date and time).

• New Investigator Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions
• CIRCUlink Applicant User Guide 

Please note:

• 2025/26 Application Deadline Support Notice:
  Heart & Stroke will attempt to provide support to all applicants requiring assistance leading up to the deadline of 16:00 EDT on Thursday, 05 September 2024. Please be advised that due to limited resources the Heart & Stroke cannot provide any assurances of available support after 15:00 EDT Thursday 05 September 2024. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that a completed application is submitted prior to the deadline. Heart & Stroke strongly recommends that applications be submitted well before the 16:00 EDT deadline.
• Common CV Support:
  Please note that CCV support is now provided through the CCV centralized help desk: Email: support@cihr-irsc.gc.ca / Telephone: 613-954-1968 / Toll free: 1-888-603-4178

Postdoctoral Fellowships Awards
Application for a Postdoctoral Fellowship Award must be submitted online using CIRCUlink by 16:00 EDT Thursday 05 September 2024. CIRCUlink will not accept submissions after this deadline (date and time).

Women’s Personnel Awards:
Application for a Women’s Junior Personnel Awards must be submitted online using CIRCUlink by 16:00 EDT Tuesday 10 September 2024. CIRCUlink will not accept submissions after this deadline (date and time).

• Women’s Doctoral Research Award Guidelines
• Women's Post-Doctoral Research Award Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions
• CIRCUlink Applicant User Guide

Please note:

• 2025/26 Application Deadline Support Notice:
  Heart & Stroke will attempt to provide support to all applicants requiring assistance leading up to the deadline of 16:00 EDT on Tuesday, 10 September 2024. Please be advised that due to limited resources the Heart & Stroke cannot provide any assurances of available support after 15:00 EDT Tuesday 10 September 2024. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that a completed application is submitted prior to the deadline. Heart & Stroke strongly recommends that applications be submitted well before the 15:00 EDT deadline.
• Common CV Support:
  Please note that CCV support is now provided through the CCV centralized help desk: Email: support@cihr-irsc.gc.ca / Telephone: 613-954-1968 / Toll free: 1-888-603-4178

After rigorous international peer review, the recipients of the Brain Canada and Heart & Stroke Heart-Brain Connection IMPACT Award are:

Douglas S. Lee, MD, PhD, FRCPC
University Health Network

Peter Liu, MD, FRCPC
University of Ottawa Heart Institute 

The multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional competition awards these two teams grants of up to $2.9 million each. Read more about the winning projects.  

With its unique competition guidelines, the Heart-Brain Connection IMPACT Award will enable breakthroughs in research aimed at generating new knowledge and accelerating its translation into action for people living with conditions that impact the heart and brain, such as heart disease, stroke and vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). 

Watch this space for information or sign up for our quarterly Research e-newsletter for updates.

This award provides salary support to individuals who have clearly demonstrated excellence during their doctoral and post-doctoral training in cardiovascular or cerebrovascular research. New Investigator awards are tenable in Canada only.

• New Investigator Guidelines

Our new Women’s Personnel Awards will support young scholars invested in women’s heart and brain health early in their training stage (Doctoral) and during their transition (post-doctoral) to becoming independent researchers. These awards aim to jump start careers, sparking interest in women’s heart and brain health research. 

• Guidelines for Doctoral Awards
• Guidelines for Post-Doctoral Awards

Heart & Stroke’s personnel award programs provide salary support to Canada’s top researchers across the career continuum. This support helps ensure the training, retention and success of Canada’s cardiovascular and cerebrovascular researchers. Heart & Stroke is pleased to launch the Postdoctoral Personnel Awards for the 2025/26 funding year. The objective of the competition is to increase the number of researchers and clinician-scientists in Canadian universities and research institutions devoted specifically to cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular health. The stipends awarded will enable Postdoctoral Fellows to pursue their program of research and engage with mentors as part of their training.

• Guidelines

Heart & Stroke, along with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Gender and Health (CIHR-IGH), is excited to announce the winners of the Research Networks of Excellence in Women’s Heart and/or Brain Health. The researchers will focus on creating a better understanding of women’s risk factors for heart conditions during pregnancy and improving diagnosis and treatment of women living with the effects of stroke.

Congratulations are extended to the following two teams that will each receive $5M in funding over five years, led by:

1. Dr. Rohan D'Souza, McMaster University
2. Dr. Amy Yu, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto

• Read more about the winning projects
• Read the competition guidelines

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada - McDonald Scholarships

The McDonald Scholarship was established in honour of Ewing (Mac) McDonald, executive director of Heart & Stroke from 1968 to 1987. Each year, the scholarship is awarded to the highest-rated applicant in the New Investigator competition. Recent winners:

• 2021-22: Dr. Emilie Belley-Cote (McMaster University) Beyond the Scalpel: Optimizing outcomes after cardiac surgery
• 2020-21: Dr. Scott B. Widenmaier  (University of Saskatchewan) — Investigating the molecular interface underlying immunometabolic homeostasis in obesity-linked cardiovascular disease
• 2019-2020: Dr. Marie-Annick Clavel (Universite Laval) - Sex-dependent differences in pathophysiological mechanisms, presentation, outcome, and treatment of aortic valve stenosis
• 2018 – 2019: Dr. Gopinath Sutendra (University of Alberta) — Metabolic modulation as a novel therapy for chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity.
• 2017 – 2018: Dr. Wenbin Liang (University of Ottawa Heart Institute) — Role of Wnt signaling in cardiac arrhythmogenesis.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada - Henry J. M. Barnett Scholarships

The Henry J. M. Barnett Scholarship is presented annually to a highly rated investigator working in the area of cerebrovascular research. This prestigious award was established to honour Dr. Barnett’s exceptional contributions to stroke research, education, and patient care in Canada.

• 2021-22: Dr. Maria Ioannou  (University of Alberta) The mechanisms and function of neuronal lipid particle release during ischemic stroke
• 2020-21: Dr. Amy Yu (Sunnybrook Research Institute) — Determining sex disparities In Stroke Care and Outcomes to optimize recoVERy (DISCOVER) 
• 2019 - 2020: Dr. Ashkan Shoamanesh (McMaster University) - Preventing hemorrhagic stroke and improving the lives of hemorrhagic stroke survivors
• 2018 – 2019: Dr. Thalia Field (University of British Columbia) — SECRET: Safety of rivaroxaban for CeREbral venous Thrombosis.
• 2017 – 2018: Dr. Glen C. Jickling (University of Alberta) — Genomics of high risk transient ischemic attacks.

Together with our esteemed partners Brain Canada and the Canadian Stroke Consortium, we are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022 Stroke Clinical Research Catalyst Grants. The purpose of this program is to increase capacity for clinical stroke research within Canada, with an aim to reduce the burden of stroke, prevent recurrence, and improve patient outcomes through clinical research that will improve our understanding of stroke and advance stroke care.

This exciting program provides ten leading stroke researchers with the initial seed funding they need to develop new lines of research and to generate preliminary data. The goal is that this initial investment will support successful applications to larger grants.

The ten projects receiving $100,000 grants include:

Dr. Sean Dukelow, University of Calgary: The TeleTaCAS Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial.

Dr. Aravind Ganesh, University of Calgary: Development and testing of a system for remote ischemic conditioning in preparation for clinical trials in cerebral small vessel disease and pre-hospital stroke care.

Dr. Raed Joundi, McMaster University: Incidence, Trends, Determinants, and Prognosis of Post-Stroke Dementia (INTREPID): A 20-year registry and population-based cohort study.

Dr. Aristeidis Katsanos, McMaster University: blooD prEssure management in sTroke following EndovasCular Treatment (DETECT).

Dr. Ethan MacDonald, University of Calgary: Developing a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) based pH Mapping Tool for Clinical Stroke Assessment.

Dr. Michelle Ploughman, Memorial University: Verifying aerobic training protocols to benefit both heart and brain in subacute stroke.

Dr. Alexandre Poppe, Université de Montréal: A multi-centre, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint (PROBE) controlled trial comparing acute cervical internal carotid artery stenting to no stenting during endovascular thrombectomy for anterior circulation stroke due to acute tandem occlusion: Endovascular Acute Stroke Intervention – Tandem OCclusion trial (EASI-TOC).

Dr. Deborah Siegal, University of Ottawa: Intensive Cancer Screening for Cryptogenic Stroke (INCOGNITO) Pilot Randomized Trial.

Dr. Nishita Singh, University of Manitoba: Adaptive Platform Trial to Investigate VArious ThErapies in Carotid-Associated Stroke (ACTIVATE-CAS)- Pilot Phase.

Dr. Luciano Sposato, Lawson Health Research Institute:  STARGATE (Sweet spoT for cArdiac Rhythm monitorinG After sTrokE) Pilot Trial: A pilot-feasibility randomized controlled trial.

Heart & Stroke is honoured to fund the best and brightest researchers across Canada. Our awardees will lead us to ground-breaking discoveries that will help people affected by heart disease and stroke live longer, healthier lives.

Our researchers and their projects represent innovative work within their respective disciplines, as determined by a rigorous peer review process by our Scientific Review Committee (SRC).

We are proud to support the following researchers (listed by research program):

• Personnel Awards for Black Scholars 2024/25 and 2023/24
• Personnel Awards for Indigenous Scholars 2023/24
• Grant-In-Aid recipients 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25
• National New Investigators 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25
• Personnel Awards for Women’s Heart & Brain Health (2024/25)
• Women’s Heart and Brain Health Initiative recipients

The Grant Management Guidelines outline the administration and management of funded applications during the course of the grant. 

• 2024/25 Grant Management Guidelines (for new grants + awards beginning July 1, 2024)
• 2023/24 Grant Management Guidelines (for new grants + awards beginning July 1, 2023)
• 2022/23 Grant Management Guidelines (for new grants + awards beginning July 1, 2022)
• 2021/22 Grant Management Guidelines (for new grants + awards beginning July 1, 2021)
• 2020/2021 Grant Management Guidelines (for new grants beginning July 1, 2020)

All reporting templates for Grants-in-Aid (GIA) are available on CIRCUlink, Heart & Stroke’s online grants management system. Submissions should adhere to the following schedule:

• Progress reports: A satisfactory progress report must be filed with Heart & Stroke on an annual basis no later than 30 days following the one-year anniversary date.
• Final reports: Following completion/termination of the award, a satisfactory final report must be filed with Heart & Stroke within 30 days (this may be the approved carry forward year which extends beyond the normal term of the grant).
• Close-out reports: A satisfactory close‐out‐report must be filed with Heart & Stroke before the first anniversary of the project completion date.

Guidelines

GIA Financial Report

All reporting templates for Personnel awards are available for download below. Completed reports must be emailed to research@heartandstroke.ca.

• Progress reports: A satisfactory progress report must be filed with Heart & Stroke on an annual basis no later than 30 days following the one-year anniversary date.
• Final Reports: Following completion/termination of the award, a satisfactory final report must be filed with Heart & Stroke within 30 days.
• Additional Funding Spreadsheet

All reporting templates for Strategic Research Awards are available for download below. Completed reports must be emailed to research@heartandstroke.ca.

Progress Report Template (Word Version)

Progress Report Template (PDF Version)

Final Report Template

Research Fund Initiatives Financial Report

Heart & Stroke strives to showcase our amazing research and highlight the outcomes of our funding to our donors and volunteers. 

To facilitate transparency and promote our research, Heart & Stroke must be notified in advance of the publication date of any major publications and/or news releases arising from research funded by Heart & Stroke. Ideally, papers accepted for publication should be forwarded to Heart & Stroke when you send your revisions back to the journal. This ensures that we have appropriate time to review and identify potential opportunities for promotion. 

Important: Please send all research publications to research@heartandstroke.ca.

Should Heart & Stroke decide to promote your research, we will work closely with you to draft any relevant materials. While we can't issue a news release for every paper that we receive, we can communicate it via channels including our website and social media.

GIA

Only updates to the six (6) representative publications attached as part of the proposal and progress sections of the application will be accepted.

Please click to download the Publication Update form and send the completed form with the publication update to research@heartandstroke.ca. Heart & Stroke staff will notify the applicant on acceptance of the publication update.

Heart & Stroke will not accept letters indicating confirmation of acceptance for publication of a paper after 02 December 2024.

New Investigator

Only updates to the three (3) representative publications attached as part of section 13 of the New Investigator application will be accepted.

Please click to download the Publication Update form and send the completed form with the publication update to research@heartandstroke.ca. Heart & Stroke staff will notify the applicant on acceptance of the publication update.

Heart & Stroke will not accept letters indicating confirmation of acceptance for publication of a paper after 02 December 2024..

Peer review at Heart & Stroke is conducted through the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). The SRC’s primary purpose is to ensure transparency, integrity and impact of the resources available for research. In addition to application peer review and program development, the SRC is also responsible for the scientific post-grant administration of funded grants, including scientific monitoring of grants on behalf of multiple funders. The SRC also works with other advisory volunteer bodies within Heart & Stroke.

The SRC peer reviews well over 500 applications on an annual basis. Membership spans all four themes of health research. SRC members donate an estimated 45,000 volunteer hours every year. 

The overall peer review system is led by the SRC executive chair and vice -chair along with approximately 26 members of the Executive Committee composed of SRC sub-panel chairs and deputy chairs.

The SRC oversees the peer review of all research led by Heart & Stroke; SRC panels are formed based on funding opportunities and applications submitted for Grants-in-Aid, Personnel Awards and Impact Awards.

Explore the steps and stages of peer review.

Heart & Stroke can promote research studies and clinical trials in Canada and help researchers recruit participants. We post short descriptions of studies on our website and in a monthly newsletter and circulate to our extensive e-registry of people with lived experience, both caregivers and survivors. 

Heart & Stroke prioritizes studies that have ethics approval, include gender and sex-based analysis and reporting and offer accessible participation (e.g., accommodate for linguistic, financial, medical/physical restrictions). 

If you are interested in having your study included, please complete the application form.

Heart & Stroke will review and respond within 10 business days after receipt of a completed application. Any questions about this process or the application form should be directed to kthp@heartandstroke.ca.

View current requests for research volunteers.

Clinical Trials Ontario: Decision Aids for Patient Partner Engagement with Clinical Trials

If you are applying for financial grants and awards at another funding organization (e.g., CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, provincial health funding agencies, or other) and would like a letter of support from Heart & Stroke to accompany your application, please include the following information and email us at research@heartandstroke.ca. Please provide at least four (4) weeks turnaround time to process your request. 

• your name and contact information
• names and institutions of all Co-Principal Investigators and Co-Applicants
• the name and institution of the award you are applying for, including the funding agency or agencies, and deadline for application
• details on the role and goals for Heart & Stroke involvement
• a draft letter of support, that will be edited/signed by Heart & Stroke, indicating the core objectives/impacts of the proposed activities 
• a copy of the lay and scientific summary
• timeline for response from Heart & Stroke

Women's Research Network 2016-2021

Through a contribution agreement with Health Canada, Heart & Stroke was funded to undertake foundational work to begin correcting historic disparities in access to care faced by women in Canada. Through several key activities, the project contributed to new knowledge to change policy and practice as well as adoption of sex/gender-based analysis and reporting. 

Funding for Heart & Stroke’s Advancing Women’s Heart & Brain Health initiative was announced in the 2016 Federal Budget, with $5 million over five years to:

• Support targeted research on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke in women.
• Promote collaboration between research institutions across the country.
• Invest in female and Indigenous researchers to build capacity amongst Canadian scientists engaged in research focused on women’s vascular health. 

The initiative was completed in 2021. Heart & Stroke has accomplished the following:

• Developed a Research Network comprised of 200 individuals to share evidence, tools and best practices to build capacity. (no longer active)
• Funded 26 research projects across Canada working on diverse areas affecting women’s heart and brain health including four women’s research chairs (one focused on maternal health and two on Indigenous women, and one on increased risk of heart disease for breast cancer patients).
• Now requires sex- and gender-based analysis as a component of all research applications submitted to Heart & Stroke

Women’s Research Network 2.0

We are now in the second phase of our women’s research initiative. In March 2024, we launched a public campaign on women’s unique risk factors. Please visit our digital hub here to learn more.

Heart & Stroke is also a funder of the following current research initiatives for women’s health:

• Personnel Awards for Women’s Heart and Brain Health
• Research Networks of Excellence in Women’s Heart and/or Brain Health
• International Research Challenge on Women’s Cardiovascular Health

For more information, please contact us: research@heartandstroke.ca

If you have any questions regarding Heart & Stroke research programs, please contact us at research@heartandstroke.ca.

Sign up to get the latest news regarding Heart & Stroke’s research programs and funding opportunities.

The following policies apply to all researchers funded by Heart & Stroke:

• Open Access to Research Outputs Policy
• Research Integrity Policy
• Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research
• FAQs 
• Research Classification List
• SGBAR and EDI E-Learning and Resources for Researchers
• Glossary of SGBAR & EDI Terminology

If you have questions about the above policies, please contact research@heartandstroke.ca.