Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

This page provides responses to some frequently asked questions about the UAEM University Report Card. If you do not find an answer to your question here, please use the form below to contact us.

FAQs

WHO PRODUCED THIS CANADIAN REPORT CARD?

This project was conceived, developed and produced by Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), an international nonprofit organization of graduate and undergraduate students in medicine, research, law, and related fields. Students from a wide range of Canadian institutions, including many of those evaluated by the Report Card, contributed to the project. The dataset used to produce this Canadian iteration primarily targeted over the “past two calendar years” (January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020).

The UAEM 2023 Report Card Team:

Max Crosby

 Currently an undergraduate student at McGill University, Max has led the 2023 Canadian Report Card since the project was restarted in Fall of 2020. Max has focused on the intersection of university biomedical R&D policy with regard to access to medicines with his work in UAEM. Max is currently a member of UAEM McGill and previously interned for UAEM. Celine Huang  Celine is currently in her second year at McGill University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science. She first got involved with the report card in January 2022 during the data collection period and continued to work on the Report Card through a UAEM internship and at UAEM McGill. Since then, her work on the report card has primarily been focused on writing the 2023 Canadian Report Card White Paper.

Amanda Frederiksen Leloup

Amanda is an undergraduate student at McGill University studying Political Science and International Development Studies. She joined UAEM McGill in the Winter of 2022, and later interned with UAEM during the final stages of data collection. In the Report Card, her main focus has been coordinating outreach with allies, the press and on social media, as well as doing parliamentary work. Her interests lie at the intersection between science and politics, specifically in global health governance, and access to healthcare and medicines as a human right.

 

WHERE DOES THE DATA USED IN THE REPORT CARD COME FROM?

As detailed in the methodology, this evaluation is based on a combination of metrics derived from a.) publicly-available information, and b.) self-reported data from evaluated institutions.

To promote fair evaluation and methodological rigor, we used standardized, authoritative, publicly accessible data sources for as many metrics as possible. Self-reported data was only sought on metrics for which public information was limited or inconsistent. In cases of conflict between university self-reported and publicly-available sources, university self-reported responses were used. 

WHAT ARE THE MAIN PUBLICLY-AVAILABLE DATA SOURCES USED IN THE CANADIAN REPORT CARD?

The most significant sources of publicly-available data used in this evaluation are:

        • Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Funding Decisions Data
        • AllTrials/EBM DataLab – TrialsTracker
        • G-FINDER (Global Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases) Public Search Tool
      • University websites, technology transfer office websites
      • PubMed and PubMed Central

WHY DOES THE CANADIAN REPORT CARD USE PUBMED AS A PUBLICATION DATABASE?

We chose to use PubMed as it is a comprehensive resource that is commonly used by researchers in the health field, together with its ease of use and features which allow us to easily download large amounts of data. Using more than one publication database would have meant duplication of work and greater room for error. Comparing publication sets between PubMed and PubMed Central allowed us to easily analyse how much of a university’s health related research output is freely available online.

HOW DID THE REPORT CARD COLLECT DATA FROM UNIVERSITIES FOR METRICS THAT RELIED PARTIALLY OR WHOLLY ON SELF-REPORTED INFORMATION?

For the Access, Innovation, Empowerment, Transparency, and COVID-19 sections, an online questionnaire was developed with Alchemar and e-mailed to Technology Transfer Office (TTO) officials, Administrators, Faculty, and Staff best suited to provide the data. TTOs were contacted a minimum of 3 times by email and twice by telephone over a 6-month period beginning March 7th, 2022.

HOW HAS THE REPORT CARD DEFINED CERTAIN TERMS?

For the purposes of this iteration of the UAEM Report Card, “neglected diseases” (NDs) are defined as diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries. Our list of NDs and Emerging Infectious DIsease research areas was based on the criteria set by the GFINDER 2014 survey on global neglected disease innovation funding and the World Health Organization’s list of recognized neglected tropical diseases. The scope of the research areas included was further focused in adding terms of subject matter and application. These neglected diseases and emerging infectious diseases are aligned in that they disproportionately affect those in LMICs and have a lack of affordably and accessible therapeutics and treatments.

Notably, this definition of ND includes Ebola, Zika, Antimicrobial resistance, AIDS, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, diarrheal diseases, meningitis, and pneumoniaÍľ however, for several of the diseases there are substantial restrictions to include only aspects or subsets of these diseases that are truly neglected. For example, we did not include all research on HIV, only research pertaining to pediatric HIV, HIV diagnosis, diagnostics, microbicides, and vaccines.

In regard to “Alternative Research and Development (R&D)”, our working definition for this iteration of the UAEM Report Card is derived specifically from the inclusion criteria developed and used in the UAEM Re:Route Report. Alternative biomedical research initiatives must apply de-linkage plus one or more of the following innovative mechanisms:

  • a pull mechanism
  • a push mechanism
  • pooled funding and/or an IP pooling mechanism
  • broad collaboration
  • open approaches to R&D (open source, open data sharing, open innovation)

Perspectives:

“Canadian Universities play a critical role in addressing global challenges such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and other neglected diseases. It is imperative that we continue to give priority to the lives of millions through licensing practices that allow our world-class research to reach those that need it most. This Report Card helps us measure the impact our universities have on global health. It clearly shows Canadian Universities are falling short: students, faculty and related communities must jolt the Universities into sanity.”
–Stephen Lewis,
–Stephen Lewis,Co-Director of AIDS-Free World, Canada’s Former Ambassador to the United Nations
“The UAEM Canadian Global Equity in Biomedical Research Report highlights a worrying lack of transparency on publicly funded biomedical research carried out by Canadian Universities. With only a third of clinical trials data disclosed and only one university adopting global access licensing, this Report card proves once again that universities have a long way to go. It is time for universities to fulfill their responsibility to ensure that publicly funded biomedical research is available for the public good.”
–Rachel Kiddell-Monroe,
–Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, ISID Professor of Practice McGill University
“The UAEM Canadian Global Equity in Biomedical Research Report highlights a worrying lack of transparency on publicly funded biomedical research carried out by Canadian Universities. With only a third of clinical trials data disclosed and only one university adopting global access licensing, this Report card proves once again that universities have a long way to go. It is time for universities to fulfill their responsibility to ensure that publicly funded biomedical research is available for the public good.”
–Rachel Kiddell-Monroe,
–Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, ISID Professor of Practice McGill University
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