It’s people who create and use knowledge – but the talent that underpins health research is changing.
In 2001, I was finishing my PhD at Memorial University in Newfoundland. Back then, the research talent pathway looked traditional and static: a graduate program led to a postdoctoral fellowship then to a faculty position and then to an independent research program. That pathway wasn’t limited to Memorial University but was consistent across many post-secondary institutions in Canada – British Columbia included. The other constant at this time was the competitive nature of funding. Provinces competed not only for individual talent but also for the federal government’s pool of health research investments.
Into this environment, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, now operating as Health Research BC, was established with a $110 million provincial grant. The mandate was to address a specific and urgent need: improve BC’s ability to attract federal health research investment. And to do that by supporting the talent in this province. Named after Dr. Michael Smith, Nobel Laureate and one of BC’s most celebrated scientists, the approach followed his belief that impactful science required investment in people, their ideas, their time, and their ability to contribute to society.
Twenty-five years ago, BC was underperforming. Researchers were leaving the province in part for better resourced research environments. The province’s share of federal funding did not reflect its population or scientific capacity. The founding strategy for Health Research BC was to invest in people. By providing researchers with protected time and supportive environments, we would position them to compete nationally.
This strategy worked.
In the first five years, BC researchers grew their share of federal CIHR funding from $25 to $83 million. While capturing an expanded share relative to other provinces, BC finally received its per capita share of federal health research funding. The focused provincial investment achieved its goal.
That competitive position has held. Over the past 25 years, Health Research BC has supported over 3,000 careers and enabled partnerships across government, health authorities, industry, and community organizations. This sustained investment enabled the province to build and retain talent, many of whom now serve in leadership positions across health, research, and the life sciences. By that original measure, the investment strategy also succeeded.
Now, 25 years later, BC is in a different place. There are new challenges, but also new opportunities – most notably a very different outlook for health research career pathways.
What hasn’t changed is our focus. Talent still leads to health research, discovery, and health improvement. Our organization is transitioning as well, learning from the system and the needs of researchers, to evolve our support to meet the needs of today’s health research talent.
We’ve heard key questions about the current state of that talent. Do researchers have the transferable skills to address both mission-driven and investigator-led research? Do researchers possess the engagement skills and tools to work with policymakers, patients, people-centred care solutions, and industry collaborators? Do researchers have the training and skills to successfully engage with communities and ensure accessibility and inclusion?
And for an organization like Health Research BC, we must also ask whether we, as a funder, are able to incorporate sustainable and cost-effective strategies into our support for talent.
While we’ve supported talent to achieve success nationally – our original mandate – it’s time to address our new health research talent environment. Three truths that got us to where we are today continue framing our work:
- research is driven by the talent created in post-secondary;
- innovation adoption is really people making decisions to move evidence into use; and
- research talent is a continuum requiring varying support in varying ways at various points along the way.
Health Research BC is embracing the challenge of reimagining how we support BC’s research talent through how we fund and how we partner. Over the coming months, we will engage researchers, supervisors, institutions, and partners across the health research sector to shape tangible plans for 2027. Our approach to talent support is evolving; our commitment to BC’s research community remains strong.
Forward Thinking is an insight series sharing experienced perspectives on the future of health research. We invite leaders and practitioners from across the sector to share their vision, lessons learned, and perspectives for what comes next.
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