Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Report - "Making an Impact: A Preferred Framework and Indicators to Measure Returns on Investment in Health Research"

A report by an international panel of experts is providing a new framework to help answer the question: What is the value of medical research?

The expert panel, chaired by Dr. Cyril Frank of the University of Calgary, was convened by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) and sponsored by 23 Canadian organizations, including government agencies, health charities, professional organizations and the private sector.  

The report, “Making an Impact: A Preferred Framework and Indicators to Measure Returns on Investment in Health Research,” sets out a series of suggestions on how organizations can measure and report the return on their research investments in a consistent fashion despite differing missions.

It identifies five dimensions through which health research impacts should be measured: advancing knowledge, building research capacity, informing decision-making, improving health and the health system, and creating social and economic benefits.

The report can be found on the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences web site in both the full and summarized versions.