Evidence Support Network for Canada (ESN-CA) - Evidence synthesis hub

The Evidence synthesis hub of the Evidence Support Network for Canada (ESN-CA) provides timely, demand-driven, high-quality evidence syntheses that address pressing health and social system issues faced by decision-makers.

We are driven by a collective-impact approach that prioritizes working collaboratively to meet the pressing evidence needs of decision-makers. This hub leverages our experience providing leadership and support for large domestic (e.g., COVID-END) and international networks (Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenge and the Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative). It also builds on our track record of producing policy-relevant evidence syntheses across many domains and for key federal departments and agencies, provincial ministries of health and other interest holders (see our contextualized evidence synthesis page)

Funding from a $2 million research grant awarded to the Forum and its partners as part of the $20 million invested by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through its Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies, has allowed the  network to continue championing its efforts from the last five years to inform pressing decisions about emerging public health threats such as mpox and avian influenza, emergencies such as wildfires, and areas that require continued planning and responses, with timely, demand-driven and high-quality evidence syntheses.

The hub is structured into three groups:

  1. demand-side: Federal and provincial government policymakers, as well as leaders of systems, organizations and professions who collectively work to identify and refine questions related to pandemic preparedness and health emergencies that need to be informed by timely and contextualized evidence syntheses (what we call our demand-side partner network)
  2. supply-side: 24 evidence-synthesis teams from across Canada that collectively bring world-class expertise in rapid evidence syntheses in timelines ranging from days to weeks to months, using a range of methods and across many subject areas
  3. network hub secretariat: Led by the McMaster Health Forum which coordinates the work of the network, including its governance, scoping all requests made to the network and flowing funds to teams to conduct evidence syntheses in a timely way.

The network hub also includes:

  1. a steering committee comprised of leaders from each of the three groups above and from across Canada who collectively review the progress and priorities of the network to ensure transparency and a commitment to collective impact
  2. a nascent international network of groups committed to enhancing coordination, collaboration and a collective-impact approach for evidence syntheses related to pandemics and health emergencies
  3. leading subject-matter experts in pandemic preparedness and health emergencies (including those working in pandemics, zoonosis and on equity-related issues)
  4. the Forum’s Citizen Panel for Evidence Synthesis led by Maureen Smith (Citizen Strategy and Engagement Partner at the Forum)
  5. Indigenous advisors (led by the Forum’s Indigenous Advisor, Clifford Mushquash).

There are many potential topics that could be addressed by the evidence-synthesis network through our CIHR grant about pandemic preparedness and health emergencies. We prioritize those that meet the following criteria to ensure the investments made in our network are leveraged to ensure impact:

  • demand driven (e.g., has a clear requestor and has been prioritized by them)
  • clear link to it being able to inform up to advisory and decision-making process and/or out to a learning and improvement process (or in other words, responds to a ‘window of opportunity’)
  • alignment with strategic priorities of the funding received (pandemic preparedness and health emergencies)
  • the request is non-duplicative of existing work
  • feasibility and match to a supply-side partner. 

If you’re interested in reaching out with a question that needs evidence support, please contact us here.