Our Vision
To catalyze and sustain innovative, high-quality, patient-relevant research that improves the skin health of Canadians.
The Skin Investigation Network of Canada (SkIN Canada) was launched in July 2020 to bring together the diverse community of researchers, patients, and clinicians and catalyze innovative, high-quality research that improves the skin health of Canadians. We are funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis).
Our Mission
To advance skin research in Canada by creating a national forum, guided by patients and knowledge users, to strengthen collaborations and capacity in the skin research community.
SkIN Canada has three strategic aims that will build capacity, foster new collaborations, and promote cross-fertilization of groundbreaking research ideas:
Aim 1: To expand and implement national infrastructure that will empower multicentre research teams to engage diverse communities across the country with greater scale and efficiency;
Aim 2: To prioritize research questions relevant to patients and catalyze interdisciplinary teams of researchers, patients, and knowledge users to address them;
Aim 3: To grow the community of successful skin researchers and patient research partners by developing talent across academic ranks and training levels.
We aim to develop national infrastructure, identify research priorities relevant to patients, create new interdisciplinary collaborations, and expand the critical mass of skin research expertise. By breaking down barriers and engaging patients and partner organizations, the Network has achieved early successes with mapping the skin research landscape in Canada; developing national data infrastructure and research platforms; completing a landmark Priority Setting Initiative involving over 500 patients, care providers, and researchers; catalyzing over a dozen interdisciplinary collaborations; and providing educational sessions for hundreds of trainees and early career researchers.
