Dimensions of Health Research: The Four CIHR Sectors - Perspectives and Synergies

A key goal of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is to have an integrated health research agenda across sectors, regions and research disciplines. This discussion paper describes health issues and areas of research that fall within the four intersecting research approaches taken by CIHR. These four perspectives are Basic Biomedical research; Applied Clinical research; research on Society, Culture, and Population Health; and research on Health Related Services and Systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of how research on health issues from any one approach has impacts on the others (for example, clinical research can have impacts on larger population health). Challenges remain, however, in devising effective strategies to promote a truly integrated health research agenda while maintaining the unique strengths of each of the four approaches.