Red tape traps McMaster scientist

April 10, 2009

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Joanna Smith

OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA–Biochemist David Andrews and his small team of researchers were screening for molecules that would potentially be useful in developing a drug to treat cancer when they made an exciting discovery.

"We got some very, very interesting compounds out of the screen," said Andrews, a professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster University.

"Unfortunately, they are completely useless for cancer work, but they might be very, very useful if you're having a stroke.

"So what do I have to do? I have to lay off all the people, shut down the project, wait until the fall, apply for money to do heart and stroke research – because I'm paid to do cancer research – and then about this time next year I might have funding and we could start the project again."

Andrews says the situation points to a trend in research financing that sees money targeted to specific results instead of to basic, curiosity-driven work that can lead to accidental discoveries and the fundamental knowledge of tomorrow.

After receiving basic research money for the early stages of the project from a federal granting council, Andrews applied for cancer-specific financing from a government-funded research centre in Ontario in a bid to leave the basic research pot available for others.

When his project yielded unexpected results, however, he was left with no way to finance the new direction.

The biochemist said he shared his story with Gary Goodyear, the federal minister of state for science and technology, last month when he visited McMaster to announce $14.8 million for the university to develop and commercialize surgical robotic systems.

He said Goodyear expressed surprise at the turn of events but then had little to say (although accompanying officials "took a lot of notes") when he suggested the Conservative government's push for more money targeted to government-set priorities had created the atmosphere that put him in this bind.

"You can't tell which direction research is going to take you and (that) you're going to get an exciting result in a particular direction," Andrews said.

In its new national science and technology strategy introduced in May 2007, the federal government said it would "continue to play an important role in supporting basic research across a broad spectrum of science."

Andrews said he did use money intended for basic research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, or CIHR, one of the three granting councils run by the federal government, when he was at the stage of finding how the proteins he was studying worked.

He applied for directed cancer-specific money from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research when it looked like the proteins could be useful for cancer. He said he could have applied for more CIHR support in the open competition but since he was eligible for directed funding he wanted to leave room for scientists who could only apply to that category because they were still at the basic research stage.

Andrews stressed that neither the Canadian Institutes of Health Research nor the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research deserve blame for his situation.

But he says that like many scientists, he wishes the CIHR had more money for the open competition so that more people could enjoy its flexibility.

The growth in targeted funding has far outpaced open competition funding since the granting council was founded a decade ago, according to a chart provided by CIHR spokesperson Andrew McColgan.

In fiscal 1999/2000, the CIHR issued 4,229 grants and awards worth $251 million in the open competition and 602 grants and awards worth $24 million for strategic initiatives. In fiscal 2007/08, the CIHR gave 6,067 grants and awards worth $510 million in the open competition and 2,408 grants and awards worth $229 million for strategic initiatives.

That means a 300 per cent increase in grants and awards and an 854 per cent increase in money for strategic initiatives. That compares with a 43 per cent increase in grants and awards and a 103 per cent increase in money for the open competition.

Toronto Star

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