Get Engaged with CHILD - CHILD Cohort Study

GET ENGAGED

WITH CHILD

GET ENGAGED

WITH CHILD

RAISE YOUR VOICE

It is important to us that CHILD families have opportunities to provide us their input and to connect with their fellow participants.

That’s why CHILD has several advisory bodies with participant members, and why every round of data collection includes a feedback survey.

It’s why we organize special activities for CHILD participants, often involving interaction and prizes.

And it’s why we encourage you to reach out to CHILD any time with your questions, concerns or ideas.

Details about these opportunities follow below.

NATIONAL PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE

NATIONAL PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT COMMITEE (NPEC)

The National Participant Engagement Committee (NPEC) channels the voices of CHILD parents and youth into Study planning.

The Committee includes representatives from each of CHILD’s four sites.

Committee members bring family perspectives to the discussion of research priorties, study visit design, and the use of research findings.

Members are consulted virtually as needed, and occasionally take part in in-person meetings.

Meetings are facilitated by CHILD leaders and/or staff.

Meet the Committee

British Columbia

NPEC Family

Robert, Natasha (Tasha) and Maxime (Max) are based in Vancouver, BC. Read the 2024 profile for Tasha, and watch the 2024 video with Tasha and Max.

Photo is from 2021.

Alberta

NPEC Family

Tatiana (top), Sara (bottom), Lucas, Reuben are based in Edmonton, AB. Watch the 2019 video with Sara.

Photo is from 2021.

Manitoba

NPEC Family

Eric, Harmoni, and Lily are based in Winnipeg, MB.

Photo is from 2021.

Ontario

NPEC Family

Cara, Kat, Brynn, and Aaron are based in Toronto, ON. Read the 2024 profiles for Brynn and Aaron.

Photo is from 2021.

THE KMb ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The CHILD Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) Advisory Committee aims to ensure that CHILD research findings are effectively used to benefit society.

Committee members provide strategic guidance toward ensuring that the Study’s actionable findings are accessible to key stakeholders including parents, policymakers, healthcare providers, and community advocates.

Members represent a range of experience and expertise, and include CHILD participant parents.

The Committee meets online for 90 minutes once every 6 months.

Meetings are facilitated by CHILD leaders and staff.

KMb ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Meet the Committee

Study Participants

Chozanne Gryte

CHILD parent, Manitoba

Chozanne is a Business Expertise Advisor in the Program Delivery Branch of Service Canada and identifies as a non-status Aboriginal woman.

Cylena Stern

CHILD parent, British Columbia

Cylena is a Certified Human Resources Professional and a Training & Communications Specialist with Best Buy Canada.

Other Stakeholders

Raissa Amany

Committee Member

Raissa is the Executive Director of the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health. She is also an award-winning social activist, speaker, and consultant, known for her work on youth engagement in health spaces.

Megan Bale-Nick

Committee Member

Megan is the Program Manager for Transating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK), a not-for-profit network that aims to improve emergency care for children by co-designing and sharing resources with families and healthcare providers.

Zak Bhamani

Committee Member

Zak is the Director of Corporate Development for TELUS Health. He has also worked with Delisle Youth Services, the Asthma Society of Canada, and the Mental Health Working Group of the Sandbox Project.

Shelley Callaghan

Committee Member

Shelley is a Project Manager/Consultant with Canadian Institute of Child Health and the former director of development of Children Incorporated.

Rishma Chooniedass

Committee Member

Rishma is an Assistant Professor of Teaching and in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia, where she is also Advisor to the Dean on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Rishma was formerly a research coordinator for CHILD.

Andrew Desbarats

Committee Member

Andrew is the General Manager of ALK-Abello Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Canada.

Jennifer Gerdts

Committee Member

Jennifer is the Executive Director of Food Allergy Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Canadians with food allergy live with confidence.

Kyla Hildebrand

Committee Member

Dr. Hildebrand is a Clinical Associate Professor of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia.

Dalya Kablawi

Committee Member

Dayla is a community mental health engagement specialist and the Coordinator for Research Engagements at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto.

Kathy Mccoy

Committee Member

Dr. McCoy is a Professor of Physiology & Pharmacology at the University of Calgary and Scientific Director of the International Microbiome Centre (IMC).

Debbie McNeil

Committee Member

Dr. McNeil is an epidemiologist and qualitative researcher with a focus on maternal child health and implementation science. She is a consultant and Adjunct Professor with the University of Calgary and is former Scientific Director of Alberta Health Services.

Jenna Reynolds

Committee Member

Jenna is Director of Programs and Services with Asthma Canada.

Quincy Wiele

Committee Member

Quincy is Network Coordinator with the Sandbox Project.

Tricia Zakaria

Committee Member

Tricia is the Director of Programs and Education at Physical and Health Education Canada.

CHILD Facilitators

Meghan Azad

Chair

Dr. Azad is a CHILD researcher and member of CHILD’s Executive. A world-leading researcher of breastmilk and the microbiome, she is a professor of pediatrics and child health at the University of Manitoba; holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Early Nutrition and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease; and co-directs the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC).

Charisse Petersen

Chair

Dr. Petersen is the Deputy Director of CHILD. She has a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology and has long worked as a researcher with CHILD Co-Director Dr. Stuart Turvey, focusing on the microbiota and its role in allergic disease, metabolism, neurodevelopment, and lung health.

Anitha Ithayalingam

Co-Chair

A member of CHILD’s National Coordinating Centre (NCC) staff, Anitha is the Program Manager for Knowledge Mobilization & Patient Engagement within CHILD. She is leading acvitities to get parents and youths more involved in the Study.

YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL

The CHILD Youth Advisory Council is a space for youth participants in the Study to meet each other, share their ideas, and help with Study planning.

Any youth participant in the Study can apply to join. Youth from all four Study sites serve on the Council.

Council members meet online for an hour once every 3 months.

Meetings are facilitated by CHILD staff.

PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

We want some quality time with you. Not just as Study subjects, but as partners in research.

And we want your experience with CHILD to be not just about the science, but also to be fun.

That’s why we have organized past events and contests, and why are planning more—including Youth Conferences and Town Halls.

Details about up-coming activities will be posted here and announced in our newsletters, by email and on our social media channels.

Stay tuned!

WE'RE ALL EARS

Your opinions and ideas matter to us. Please reach out with your suggestions, concerns or questions.

Each round of data collection, one of the questionnaires is designed to collect feedback from you: on how we can improve the Study and your experience of it.

Please be sure to complete that questionnaire, even if it the only one you complete!

We also welcome any contact with you for any reason, any time. Below is contact information for each Study site and for CHILD’s national headquarters.

This is your Study, too!