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The Canadian Respiratory Research Network (CRRN): Past, present and future

There was fantastic respiratory disease research going on in Canada before 2013, but it was happening in localized silos, with minimal communication or collaboration between different academic centers, and even less between different disciplines. Enter the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Lung Association, who announced in 2013 a new funding initiative to support an Emerging Network in respiratory research. Spurred on by this opportunity, the Canadian respiratory research community set out to develop a plan to attract partners and generate funding for a cohesive respiratory research network in Canada. The new network, led by Dr. Shawn Aaron, and co-led by Dr. James Martin, was named The Canadian Respiratory Research Network (CRRN), and was ultimately funded by CIHR, The Canadian Lung Association, The BC Lung Association, and by industry partners GlaxoSmithKline, BoehringerIngelheim, AstraZeneca and Novartis. The CRRN’s goal—even back then—was to improve patient care and outcomes for patients with chronic respiratory disease. The network has been a great success. It has achieved its goal through the creation of an enduring national network of investigators and research platforms that enable innovative, collaborative respiratory health research that has influenced both clinical and policy decision making. Furthermore, the CRRN has provided high quality training and career development to new generations of respiratory disease investigators. While its main focus has been asthma1,2 and COPD,3,4 the two most important chronic airway diseases in Canada, the CRRN has also advanced our understanding of COVID-19, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency5 and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.6 In the early days of the CRRN, there were 11 research platforms designed to study and facilitate Canadian research in airway disease. These platforms ran the gamut from laboratory sciences, such as physiology, airway imaging, biomarkers, pollution exposure and basic sciences to applied clinical science platforms in health economics, health services research, pharmaco-epidemiology, population health, environmental health and the Canadian Cohort of Obstructive Lung Disease (CanCOLD) cohort. Later, platforms for behavioral science and knowledge translation were added. In more recent years, patient engagement and equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives were started that crossed all platforms. From the beginning, the CRRN has had a focus on training the next generation of Canadian respiratory researchers, spearheaded by a Training Committee chaired by Dr. Andrew Halayko. The Emerging Research Leaders Initiative supported the careers of many young new investigators as they began independent research careers. The CRRN fellowship program enabled many trainees to pursue post-doctoral training in Canadian research labs, and its studentship program permitted PhD students to be financially supported to pursue respiratory disease research. The CRRN, however, does not simply fund budding researchers, it supports them in practical ways as well. The CRRN Practical Education Program (PREP) offers mentorship and education in scholarship, leadership and communication. The annual CRRN/Lung Association Respiratory National Scientist Core Education (RENASCENT) Training Workshop provides trainees with practical advice, career development advice, crisis management, work life balance and many other topics. CRRN’s support of researchers and trainees through networking, collaboration and funding has paid off. CRRN investigators have published over 200 highly collaborative peer reviewed publications, many in the highest impact medical journals, with the CRRN network directly acknowledged in the publications’ author bylines.7–10 Many more publications have been indirectly supported or inspired by the CRRN. CRRN investigators have been able to use their CRRN support to promote their own collaborative research programs. Five CRRN investigators were able to leverage their CRRN work to obtain CIHR Foundation Grants. Many CRRN investigators were able to use CRRN’s powerful research platforms to develop strong collaborative operating grants that were successfully funded by CIHR. From evaluating electronic medical record expansion to machine learning, the CRRN has stayed on the cutting edge of innovation. Sadly, the CIHR decided to curtail funding for the Emerging Network Grants, and this has left CRRN without an identifiable funding path to continue operations at the same pace it maintained from 2013 to 2019. However, the future remains bright for the CRRN as it continues to build Canadian respiratory research capacity. We have leveraged funding from industry to continue to support Canadian PhD studentships and post-doctoral fellowships on an annual basis. We have continued national CRRN meetings and as soon as the pandemic passes, the highly anticipated in-person annual CRRN Scientific Meetings will resume. We are pursuing new strategic planning processes to map out our future. Building on our nine-year foundation of strong, collaborative research links established across the country, we continue to grow in number and pursue collaborative Canada-wide research projects and initiatives. As a network, we will build on our impressive record of achievement to continue our shared commitment to strengthen Canada’s respiratory