CHILD is pleased to introduce the newest members of its team, and to bid a thankful farewell to one team member who is moving on.
Reflecting the Study’s maturation and growth as an international research resource, CHILD continues to expand and refine its core personnel.
Dr. Charisse Petersen, Deputy Director
CHILD is delighted to announce that longtime CHILD-affiliated researcher Dr. Petersen became Deputy Director of CHILD in February 2025.
In this role, she will provide scientific leadership, strategic oversight, and research direction to the Study; lead efforts to secure funding to sustain and expand the cohort; help ensure cohort sustainability through governance and infrastructure management; and support knowledge mobilization to maximize CHILD’s social and scientific impact.
Dr. Petersen received her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Utah, completed a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of British Columbia (UBC), and has since worked as a researcher with CHILD Study Co-Director Dr. Stuart Turvey.
Leveraging bioinformatics, her research focuses on the microbiota and its role in allergic disease, metabolism, neurodevelopment, and lung health.
“I first got involved with the CHILD Study during my postdoc with Dr. Brett Finlay, drawn in by the Study’s incredible depth, size, and diversity of data,” notes Dr. Petersen.
“But it was as a researcher in Dr. Stuart Turvey’s lab that my passion grew beyond the microbiota to include the amazing researchers, participant families, and staff who make the CHILD Study what it is. I quickly realized that we, as an organization, have a rare opportunity to drive meaningful change in childhood health.”
“Now, as Deputy Director, I’m dedicated to ensuring CHILD’s sustainability and maximizing its impact on pediatric precision health research to support the healthy development of all children in Canada and beyond.”
Dr. Petersen inherits the Deputy Director role from Dr. Meghan Azad, who remains a valuable member of CHILD’s Executive Committee and continues in her role as Chair of the Study’s Knowledge Mobilization Committee.
Ana Maria Ilicic, Research Coordinator
Ana Maria joined CHILD’s McMaster-based National Coordinating Centre (NCC) team on 3 March 2025 as Research Coordinator.
In this role, she will facilitate the ethical use of CHILD data by researchers seeking access to CHILDdb, most immediately by streamlining the way research proposals are submitted, reviewed and approved.
Ana Maria completed her BSc and MSc in Health Science at McMaster, with a research focus on chronic respiratory disease.
In her working life, she has designed, developed, and managed a variety of interdisciplinary research projects, most recently as a research coordinator in McMaster’s Department of Surgery.
“I am passionate about contributing to studies that have a tangible impact on improving public health outcomes,” comments Ana Maria.
“I am excited to join CHILD because of its tremendous potential to improve childhood health outcomes in the future. I am also very pleased that this role will allow me to return to my research interests in health trajectory and respiratory disease.”
A thankful farewell to Kristina Szabo
Having successfully completed her contract, Kristina Szabo, Research Coordinator with CHILD at McMaster University, will be leaving her position on 28 March 2025.
Kristina joined the CHILD team in March 2023. In collaboration with McMaster University and in consultation with other cohort studies, during her time with CHILD Kristina advanced and refined the Study’s data access processes and policies while efficiently attending to the data requests of researchers, all during a challenging period of leadership transition.
“Kristina has been tremendously thorough and attentive to detail in developing CHILD’s data policies,” notes CHILD Director Dr. Padmaja Subbarao.
“She has been consistently proactive, a team-builder, and superb in managing communications with researchers—both those within and external to the Study.”
“Kristina has been a vital member of our National Coordinating Centre and will be missed. We thank her and wish her all the best in her next career step!”
Other recent additions to CHILD HQ
In 2024, several others joined CHILD’s National Coordinating Centre (NCC) team. Folks close to CHILD may already have met these individuals and experienced some of their contributions to the Study, but to complete this summary of recent changes to the team:
Anitha Ithayalingam became Program Manager, Knowledge Mobilization & Patient Engagement, for the Study in June 2024, with the mandate of increasing the involvement in CHILD of participating youth and their families.
She is pursuing this goal in collaboration with Francine Buchanan, who simultaneously became CHILD’s Patient Engagement Lead; Francine brings her expertise as Senior Manager, Patient, Family & Community Engagement at The Hospital for Sick Children.
Leah Graystone joined CHILD in the summer of 2024 on a temporary contract as Data Analyst, with the primary task of helping develop a Data Management Plan for the Study, and Salma Jurewa was retained in 2024 as research assistant to support the work of CHILD’s Research Coordinator.
These most recent changes will ensure CHILD is even better positioned to: meet the growing demand for access to its vast datasets; keep participating families meaningfully engaged; share its findings with the world at large; and efficiently implement the next round of data collection beginning in Summer 2025, when participating youth will start reaching the 16-year age range.
All CHILD personnel—leaders and staff alike, at CHILD’s national headquarters and its four study sites—are listed elsewhere on the CHILD website.