The Canadian Network on Hepatitis C
CanHepC is a national collaborative research and training network on hepatitis C virus funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). CanHepC brings together over 100 members including researchers and student trainees from different disciplines (Biomedical, Clinical, Health Services, and Social, Cultural, Environmental, and Population Health) and knowledge-users from across Canada, as well as international partners.
Research program:
Our overarching goal is to improve health outcomes for people living with hepatitis C at all stages of the cascade of care, closing the gap between knowledge and practices while training and building capacity in research. An important part of our work is providing evidence to inform the hepatitis C elimination agenda in Canada and globally.
Our research is organized into two main areas (1) optimizing prevention and treatment programs to eliminate hepatitis C and (2) long-term consequences and health implications of hepatititis C. Read more about each area below.
Cross-cutting platforms:
CanHepC is committed to working in a good way with Indigenous communities. The network's Indigenous platform guides efforts to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing and doing across network research and training activities. The platform works closely with a Community Guiding Circle comprised of people with lived/ living experience of hepatitis C, Elders, government and policy advisors, clinicians and other stakeholders from across regions. The Indigenous platform has also contributed to shaping CanHepC's vision and scope of work related to Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Justice (EDIA&J). Find out more about our Indigenous platform and Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Justice (EDIA&J) platform below.
CanHepC also works in partnership with many organizations involved as knowledge-users to discuss and exchange on new hepatitis C research and programming knowledge. Some of our main knowledge translation and exchange platforms include the Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus (CSHCV), the Blueprint to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in Canada, and our Regional Hepatitis C Elimination Roadmap project.
Training program:
Another important goal of CanHepC is to train the next generation of investigators across all disciplines. Over 144 graduate trainees and 97 summer students have gone through the CanHepC Training, Education and Mentorship Program which started in 2003 as the National CIHR Research Training Program in Hepatitis C. Since 2015, the program has continued to expand in accordance with the scientific direction and mission of the network providing a more transdisciplinary approach. As part of this program, CanHepC recruits and provides stipend support and training to graduate, post-doctoral students and fellows. Find out more on our training program here.
