Academic Recruitment Program

The objective of the BHI Academic Recruitment Support Program is to support uOttawa faculties, affiliated research institutes and partner institutions – McGill University and University of Saskatchewan – to recruit top talent in brain-heart research aligned with priorities of the Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI). The program provides supplemental start-up funding and short-term salary support to new academic recruits to uOttawa, affiliated research institutes and BHI partner institutions.  

The Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI) program is the first dedicated research program that aims to bring together multiple, diverse disciplines to catalyze a new transdisciplinary approach to studying, preventing and treating brain-heart (B-H) disorders. The BHI program was made possible with support from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF), a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research(CIHR). Consistent with CFREF objectives, BHI supports the full range of research, from fundamental to applied, and encourages transformative collaborations among researchers from health sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering and natural sciences. It fosters community, provincial, national and international partnerships across academic, private and not for profit sectors to deliver research leading to important social and economic benefits for Canada.  The BHI vision is for uOttawa and its partners to become the global leaders in advancing mission-driven integrated B-H research including research focused on biomedical discoveries, clinical interventions, service delivery models, community prevention approaches and understanding and addressing the systemic and unequal distribution of B-H disease burden among populations to improve health equity.  

Please see the BHI website for further information on the BHI and its Foundations, Themes and Cross-Cutting Themes.  

The objective of the BHI Academic Recruitment Support Program is to support uOttawa faculties, affiliated research institutes and partner institutions – McGill University and University of Saskatchewan – to recruit top talent in brain-heart research aligned with priorities of the Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI). 

The BHI anticipates investing over $7 million over seven years to support the recruitment of approximately 25 academic experts in brain-heart research into the BHI network. The BHI will provide supplemental start-up funding to complement start-up packages provided by the hiring institution(s) as well as short-term salary support for eligible candidates. BHI funding available per new academic recruit includes:

Supplemental Start-up Funds: 
•    Up to $200,000 over 2 years for new PhD recruits
•    Up to $100,000 over 2 years for new clinical recruits

Salary:
•    Up to 1 year of salary support (maximum of $120,000 plus 26% benefits) for new tenured or tenure-track faculty (see Eligible Expenses for further details). 

•    Eligible institutions include: all University of Ottawa faculties, University of Ottawa affiliated research institutes; McGill University and University of Saskatchewan. 
•    The hiring institution(s) must make a long-term commitment to the new recruit (minimum of 5 years) to be eligible for BHI funding. 
•    The research program of the candidate must: include a significant focus on the interconnections between brain and heart health; be relevant to one or more of the identified research areas; and incorporate the principles of research co-production (including Indigenous and patient engagement) and IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Social Justice), as appropriate.

Mechanistic interaction between brain-heart and early detection innovations
•    Cardiovascular links to neurodegenerative diseases with a focus on cognitive health & dementia, microvasculature mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and/or neurodevelopment. 
•    Mechanistic interactions between the brain and the heart through the lens of neuroimmunology or mental health, for example.
•    Technology innovation for the early detection of heart and brain conditions through biomarker discovery, predictive modeling, and novel screening tools.
•    Advancing mental health research with a focus on the role of youth mental health as a predictor of cardiovascular disease later in life and engaging expertise from psychiatry and psychology.
•    Addressing modifiable risk factors including social determinants of health and interpersonal and behavioural factors that influence interconnected brain-heart health outcomes. 

Health Policy and Health System Innovation
•    Health, economic and/or social policies at the local, provincial, national and/or international level to accelerate the advancement of brain-heart technologies or improve health and quality of live for people living with or at risk of interconnected brain-heart conditions. 
•    Innovations in health or social systems and programs to address priorities of communities, governments and other service providers and the spread and scale-up of these innovations.

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
•    Computational neuroscience and neuro-AI to model and predict the evolution of brain-heart conditions.
•    Identifying, assessing and addressing modifiable risk factors for brain-heart conditions, including social-determinants of health, using big data analysis.
•    Analysis and integration of genomics, proteomics and multi-omics data. 

1. The BHI must be contacted early in the recruitment process and have the opportunity to provide feedback on the job posting.
2. The BHI must have the opportunity for representation on the recruitment committee.
3. BHI start-up funding must be supplemental to the start-up package provided by the hiring institution(s).
4. Good practice in relation to equity, diversity and inclusion in academic recruitment must be followed to ensure an open, transparent and unbiased process and a diverse and high-caliber pool of candidates.   
5. The candidate must be willing to be a Core Academic Member of the BHI and to complete the associated training requirements.
6. The candidate and hiring institution(s) must contribute to performance and financial reporting as requested by the BHI. 

All expenses must adhere to the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) Administration Guide.

Supplemental Start-up Funds: Eligible expenses include direct research costs, such as salary and benefits for research personnel, compensation of patient and knowledge user partners, supplies, travel, small equipment, computers, and services. Ineligible expenses include but are not limited to capital equipment, renovation/construction of lab facilities and immigration-related fees.

Salary: Tenured or tenure-track faculty members recruited in the context of BHI are only eligible for salary support if they do not hold a federal research funding agency operating grant as Nominated Principal Investigator. Should a faculty member whose salary is paid by BHI funds become the grant holder on a federal research funding agency operating grant, they are no longer eligible for salary support from BHI. 

Recruitment is led by the relevant Dean or institutional official in close collaboration with the BHI. The BHI Senior Director, in consultation with the Co-Scientific Directors, approves the recruitment process and job posting on behalf of the BHI. 
Candidate selection criteria may vary based on the hiring institution. The BHI Executive Committee will review applications for recommended candidates and make the final decision on BHI funding based on the following criteria: 
•    Relevance of research program to joint brain-heart research and the BHI scientific strategy 
•    Commitment to research co-production and IDEAS 
•    Budget justification

For information on the application process or other inquiries, please contact: icc-bhi@uottawa.ca.