OUR HISTORY
TOGETHER
OUR HISTORY
TOGETHER
COMMUNITY
It takes a village to raise a CHILD, they say.
A “village” really meaning a community – a collective with shared interests, whose members feel valued and connected.
Over the years, CHILD leaders and staff have done their best to nourish this sense of community, especially among Study participants.
This page celebrates the things we have done – beyond enabling research – together, as a village.
NATIONAL PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE
CONTESTS
To date, CHILD has held three national contests with its participants.
2019: CHILD’s Poster Competition challenged participants to create posters about the Study: its findings and/or their experience with it. There were 220 submissions, with 5 prizes awarded (one national, one for each Study site).
2021: CHILD’s Arts Contest invited works of artistic expression in any form about the Study. Over 85 submissions were received, spanning videos, recorded performances, 2D and 3D art, as well as creative writing. Again, 5 prizes were awarded (one national, one for each Study site).
2024: CHILD’s “Winter Giveaway” saw hundreds of Study participants (parents and youth) earn entries into a draw by fulfilling their clinic visits. Eight prizes were awarded at each Study site with one grand prize at the national level.
CONNECTIONS
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
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.
COMMUNICATIONS
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!
CHILD Headquarters
Anitha Ithayalingam
Program Manager, Knowledge Mobilization & Patient Engagement
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