Charitable Trust Research Advisory Committee

Overview

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) is appointed annually by the Trustee (NCA Board) on the recommendation of the NCA Charitable Trust Management Board (CTMB) and is accountable directly to the NCA Charitable Trust Management Board (CTMB). The RAC works in close contact with, but is independent of, the NCA Trust’s Newfoundland Health Challenge and the NCA’s Health and Longevity Committee. The RAC comprises the NCA’s scientific resources and is instrumental in providing review and feedback regarding potential and active research projects supported by the NCA Trust, as well as opening and maintaining lines of communications within the research community.

Duties and Responsibilities
1. Review research proposals for relevance to Newfoundland health priorities.
2. Advise and make recommendations to the CTMB regarding the merits of proposals.
3. For research projects funded independently by the NCA Trust (not via large funding organizations such as the Morris Animal Foundation and the Canine Health Foundation), evaluate progress reports submitted to the CTMB to ascertain whether research progresses satisfactorily.
4. Describe funded studies and report progress of ongoing studies to membership by means of timely, regular articles in Newf Tide and on the CTMB website.
5. Prepare an annual report for the CTMB to be published in Newf Tide.
6. Prepare and submit an annual budget to the CTMB Treasurer.

Operating Procedures
Each year, the CTMB will forward to the RAC summaries of research proposals that have been received from such organizations as the Canine Health Foundation and the Morris Animal Foundation and that have been judged by those organizations to be worthy of support. The timing for submission of proposals differs among organizations so that the RAC may not receive proposal summaries from all organizations at once. The RAC will review the proposal summaries in time to report to the CTMB before its 2nd subsequent monthly meeting. The report should explain which proposals the RAC wishes to consider further and why. If the RAC wishes to have the CTMB request any full proposals for more detailed review, it should do so by this time at the latest. RAC will keep notes on proposals given serious consideration. By the next meeting of the CTMB, the RAC will recommend which proposals the CTMB should consider further for potential funding. If a recommendation is not unanimous, the RAC will report to the CTMB the diverse positions within the committee.
Under rare conditions, a researcher may submit a preproposal or proposal directly to the CTMB for consideration for funding. If the CTMB chooses to consider such a preproposal or proposal, the CTMB will request review by the RAC. For preproposals, the RAC will recommend to the CTMB by its next meeting whether a full proposal should be requested or not. For proposals within its expertise, the RAC will provide peer review; for proposals outside its expertise, the RAC will solicit appropriate peer review. For a proposal receiving internal peer review, the RAC will recommend to the CTMB by its next meeting whether the CTMB should consider the proposal further for potential funding. For external peer review, the RAC will report to the CTMB as soon as reviews are received and evaluated.
For projects funded directly by the NCA Trust, the RAC will evaluate progress reports and report to the CTMB whether research progresses satisfactorily. The RAC will report such evaluations via its annual report and periodic reports submitted to CTMB for distribution to membership.
It is the responsibility of the Chairperson of the RAC to inform other members of the RAC in a timely manner when proposals are to be reviewed, to make reports and other appropriate materials available to other members of the RAC, and to conduct committee meetings to evaluate proposals for possible funding by the NCA Trust.

23 November 2005

31 March 2009

20 November 2010

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