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CARE and LIFE Award

Background

The Creative Achievement in Reproductive Endocrinology (“CARE”) Award and the Laboratory Innovation in Fertility and Embryology (“LIFE”) Award were established in 1998 to recognize and reward outstanding accomplishments by a CFAS member who is a registered nurse or laboratory technician currently working in an ART clinic in Canada. In 2007, the award was expanded to include all CFAS Special Interest Groups (SIGs). The newly created CARE and LIFE Award is a patient-focused award and no longer reflects the original acronyms. It is intended to recognize distinguished, self-directed achievement as evidenced by commitment, initiative and innovation in either service or research. This award is given annually if a nominee of sufficient merit is presented.

Description of the Award

The award comprises $750.00 CAD cash and an invitation to attend the President’s Dinner at the Annual Meeting, where a trophy is presented to the recipient by the President of the Society and the recipient is invited to say a few words. Registration, airfare and two (2) nights of accommodation to attend the Annual Meeting are reimbursed.

Eligibility Criteria

The CARE and LIFE Award is intended to recognize and honour professionals who have had a positive impact on ART services in Canada. Hence the award was established to: 1) foster the tireless spirit of achievement demonstrated by the professionals of the CFAS Special Interest Groups who continue to advance the field of reproductive endocrinology; 2) recognize and reward ideas, innovations and insights; and 3) encourage individual efforts in furthering, defining and implementing standards of patient care.

  1. The nominee must be actively working in a fertility or reproductive endocrinology clinic, laboratory or practice in Canada.
  2. For a patient-focused service-based award, the nominee must have demonstrated an exemplary contribution to reproductive endocrinology and infertility practice. Even though such an award is service-based, there is an expectation of originality and innovation.
  3. For a patient-focused research-based award, the nominee must have initiated the idea for the project and conducted the largest part of the work.
  4. Projects which include the creation of a commercial entity from which the nominee does, might or will derive financial benefit beyond the normal expectations of an employee are not eligible for consideration.
  5. The nominator must document the significance of the contribution and define its relevance to reproductive endocrinology and infertility practice.
  6. Both the nominator and the candidate must be members of CFAS.

Nomination Process

There is a formal call for nominations every year, closing on May 12th, to assist the Awards Committees with formulating their recommendations in time for presentation of the awards at the Annual Meeting.

  • The nominator must a CFAS member in good standing and a colleague of the candidate (either a peer or a supervisor, within or outside their institution) who must know and fully understand the nominee’s role in the program or project and be able to give an adequately detailed description of the nominee’s contribution.
  • Candidates may also “self-nominate” with a letter of reference from their supervisor that attests to the work being substantively performed by the nominee, as well as describing the influence of the outcome of the work on the practice of those working within their ART clinic as well as on clinics nationally or internationally.
  • The nomination form must be fully completed and give a clear and accurate description of the activity or achievement for which the person is being nominated. It must be signed by both the nominator and the clinical or medical director of the institution.
  • There is no limit to the number of nominations that can be submitted by each institution or centre, or how often award recipients can come from one institution or centre, or how often an individual can be nominated.
  • Members of the CARE and LIFE Award Committee are not eligible for nomination. However, representation of an institution or centre on the CARE and LIFE Award Committee does not affect nominations coming from that institution or centre. But in those cases, the committee member shall abstain from participating in the discussions and the decision relating to a nominee from his/her own institution or centre.
  • All nominations must be addressed to the CFAS Office.

Selection Process

  • The CARE and LIFE Award Committee is comprised of the Chairpersons of the SIGs and have a minimum membership of four (4). One of the Chairpersons acts as the Committee Chair and liaison with the Board of Directors. The Committee is autonomous and shall make its decision independent of any external influence from the nominees or their nominators, or from any other personnel working in Canadian ART clinics or from the industry.
  • One committee member must hold an earned PhD degree. If none of the individuals fulfill this requirement then a suitable individual from the membership for the ART Lab SIG will be selected by the Committee and invited to join as a ‘Scientific Advisor’ for that year. This person is not eligible to serve as the Committee Chair.
  • The Committee must make its recommendation based on the following criteria:
    • For a patient-focused service-based award:
      • The program/idea must be original
      • The program/idea must be innovative
      • The achievement must be well-defined and measurable
      • The achievement must be relevant to the practice of ART across Canada
    • For a patient-focused research-based award:
      • The research must be initiated and conducted by the nominee
      • The research problem and anticipated outcome must be clearly defined, and the hypothesis stated
      • The study must answer the questions posed by the investigation
      • The appropriate data collection and statistically analysis methods must be used.
  • The Committee assigns a score of 0 to 10 to each of the criteria listed above in order to prepare a short list of the five (5) highest-scoring nominees, regardless of whether the nomination was service- or research-based, for more detailed consideration by the Committee.
  • Incomplete or incorrectly completed nominations are not evaluated by the Committee and are discarded.
  • The Committee meets (by teleconference) no later than July 15th of the given year to review the nominations and make their recommendation.
  • The Chair of the Committee submits the recommendation to the Board of Directors, whose decision must be unanimous in order for the award to be given. The decision of the Board is final, and the Board reserves the right to grant no award in a given year if no nominees of sufficient merit are presented.
  • The President of the Society informs the recipient(s) of their selection.

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