Child Health Evaluative Sciences

Our multidisciplinary researchers are focused on four areas to support child health: methods development and data science, knowledge dissemination and implementation, training and education, and patient, family and citizen partnerships.

Filling a gap in paediatric health sciences research, Child Health Evaluative Sciences (CHES) has grown into the largest research program at SickKids Research Institute.

We conduct research and translate findings into clinical practice, systems, and policy to improve the health and well-being of children and their families.

Message from the Program Head

We are committed to being a research program that aims to think big. The CHES program innovates and collaborates with peers both locally and globally on cross-cutting research initiatives, while training the next generation of child health researchers.

Our program aims to improve the welfare of children by enabling health-care decisions to be based on the best possible evidence generated through the integration of research, clinical practice and training, and the development and application of innovative and effective research methods.

Together with our faculty and staff, we developed a strategic framework for the program (PDF) in 2020 that builds on our core expertise and supports the vision and priorities of the SickKids 2025 Strategic Plan. Our main objective continues to be to grow and sustain a high-quality research program, cultivating connections and collaborations among faculty and recruiting new members with expertise aligned with our mission, core research areas, themes, and values.

I believe there is tremendous opportunity within CHES to break new ground. We will continue to focus on our strengths and opportunities, and leveraging the best of CHES into the future.

Sincerely,
Dr. Eyal Cohen, CHES Program Head

Research team

The diverse talent on the CHES team plays a role in improving child health by continuously delivering high-impact research. We encourage collaboration and always welcome new trainees to get hands-on experience with researchers and leaders in kids health research, providing excellent opportunities to further their careers.

We're recognized as a leader among scientific research programs in Canada and internationally by consistently impacting health-care decisions through innovative methodologies. Research from CHES is regularly published in top-tier general medical journals (e.g. NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, BMJ, CMAJ) and paediatric journals (e.g. JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics). Several CHES members have been featured in top journals focusing on epidemiology, biostatistics, health economics, and more, as well as important media that guides health policy worldwide.

Dr. Gabrielle Freire
Dr. Julia Orkin
Dr. Devin Singh
Dr. Alene Toulany

Scientist - Status Only

Dr. Mark Stabile

Dr. Maru Barrera
Dr. Eric Bouffet
Dr. Helen Chan
Dr. Denis Daneman

Dr. Anna Taddio

Sharon Dell
Andrea Gershon
Tieghan Killackey
Cedric Manlhiot
Rulan Parekh
Jason Pole
Linda Rothman
Robyn Stremler
Paul Wales
James Wright

Antonia Antonopoulos, Research Program Manager
Keo Chey, Administrative Assistant
Andrea Chiaramida, Administrative Coordinator
Deana De Rango Aquino, Administrative Assistant
Poonam Dodia, Administrative Assistant
Nadine Francis, Administrative Coordinator
Cindy Groff, Administrative Coordinator
Navpreet Kaur, Administrative Assistant
Dhayo Khangsar, Administrative Assistant
Donna Whitely, Administrative Assistant

CHES Rounds

CHES Rounds are held in-person every Monday from noon to 1 p.m. unless otherwise specified.

The weekly CHES Rounds bring together scientists, research staff, graduate students, trainees, and clinical fellows and feature many local, national, and international guest speakers. Rounds are a great opportunity for trainees to learn about the types of research that their peers are involved in and how research approaches and technologies can be applied to research studies.

CHES Rounds are an accredited group learning activity as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program Of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

To request a copy of the CHES Rounds calendar or recordings of past rounds, please email us at ches.program@sickkids.ca.

Monday, May 27: Dr. Zahra Shakeri

Topic: CHES-Leong Centre Rounds - Advancing Precision Public Health for Equitable Outcomes in Canada

Research highlights

Keeping in Touch (KiT) - Dr. Rayzel Shulman

Many adolescents and young adults living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) feel overwhelmed and unprepared to move from paediatric to adult care. At those ages diabetes management worsens because diabetes self-care is impacted by changing relationships with parents and caregivers and by other competing priorities such as school, work, and social activities. Dr. Shulman’s research team is co-designing a text message-based digital tool with patients and providers to deliver just-in-time personalized transition education to young adults over a 12-month period starting from the time of their final paediatric visit. The personalized education resources will be based on patients’ self-reported confidence about transition skills and interests. The research team will then test the effectiveness of the intervention to improve patient reported outcome measures, such as diabetes self-efficacy, in a multi-site randomized control trial in Ontario and Quebec.

Improving Study Design with Value of Information - Dr. Anna Heath

Value of Information (VoI) is a method to design clinical trials that ensures that trials effectively and efficiently collect evidence to support decision making in health care. VoI is relatively complicated and can take a long time to compute, so it has rarely been used in practice. Recently, new research has reduced some of this complexity to make it easier to use VoI in practice to improve trial design. The Heath has been working towards implementing VoI in trial design by:

applying VoI to real-life clinical trials, e.g., trials investigating the best method to reduce distress during procedures in the emergency department,
using VoI to design flexible, adaptive clinical trials as these can reduce research burden, and
developing new methods so VoI can be used early in the research process.

The lab’s research and methods are freely available on the IMPaCT Lab website to help other researchers use VoI in their study design.

Transition to Long-term In Home Ventilator Engagement (TtLIVE) – Dr. Reshma Amin

Home mechanical ventilation (HMV) is one of the most advanced, highly specialized therapies offered to community-dwelling individuals. Unfortunately, there is a lack of care integration for this population and the initial transition home after the initiation of HMV can be stressful. The TtLIVE team is exploring how virtual care can improve this transition. Individuals transitioning home with HMV are an ideal population for virtual care because of its ability to overcome distance, cost and time by bringing the “Right People with the Right Expertise at the Right Time” into the homes of these complex patients.

The newly developed aTouchAway™ platform is a multi-component virtual care solution that enables:

virtual home visits
customizable care plans
clinical workflows that incorporate reminders, completion of symptom profiles and tele-monitoring;
secure communication via messaging, audio, and video calls; and
access to an education resource library.

Dr. Amin is leading a 12 month, 8-centre, pragmatic, parallel group, hybrid type 1, randomized controlled trial with individuals (children and adults) newly transitioning to home ventilation in Ontario. The team will assess the effect of the intervention, compared to usual care, on Emergency Department visits 6 and 12 months after transitioning home.

CHES labs

Browse a list of CHES labs to learn more about the exciting research taking place in our program.

Two staff members having a discussion while seated at a table with a laptop and notebook open

Awards & achievements

The Beverly Antle Trainee Award is a one-time award that recognizes excellence in research and knowledge translation for first-authored research conducted by trainees, such as

a first-authored published or submitted paper or
a first-authored conference presentation (poster or oral presentation).

2023 Winners:

Julia Brandenberger, MIH, MD, PhD
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Guttmann
Linke Li, MSc, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Heath
Madison Argo, MsC(c), MD
- Supervisor: Dr. B. McCrindle

2022 Winners

Karen O'Callaghan, PhD
- Supervisor: Dr. D. Roth
Giulia Mesaroli, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. J. Stinson
Rilla Eve Schneider MSc(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Griffiths

2021 Winners

Andi Camden, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Guttmann
Michelle Gould, M.Sc.(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. C. Walsh
Jia Lu "Lilian" Lil, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. E. Cohen

2020 Winners

Kuan Liu, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. E. Pullenayegum
Tiffany Fitzpatrick, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Guttmann
Brandon Maser, PhD(c)
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Denburg

Dr. Sumit Gupta received the Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research, celebrating an early-career paediatrician whose research will contribute to improving the health of children and adolescents.

Dr. Eric Bouffet was presented with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre Nationale du Mérite (Order of France).

Dr. Jennifer Stinson was awarded the 2023 Barer-Flood Prize in Health Services and Policy Research, recognizing research excellence among Canadian Senior-Career Investigators.

Dr. Samantha Anthony’s video on the iPeer2Peer program won a special commendation in the 2023 IHDCYH Talks video competition.

Seven CHES members currently hold prestigious Canada Research Chairs:

Dr. Teresa To (Asthma)
Dr. Wendy Ungar (Economic Evaluation and Technology Assessment in Child Health)
Dr. Lillian Sung (Paediatric Oncology Supportive Care)
Dr. Yaron Finkelstein (Paediatric Drug Safety and Efficacy)
Dr. Astrid Guttmann (Child Health Policy and Services)
Dr. Robin Hayeems (Genomics and Health Policy)
Dr. Anna Heath (Statistical Trial Design)

An adolescent sits in a medical room looking at a care provider.

June 26, 2024

Depression in adolescents linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Study calls for precision care approaches to address premature cardiovascular disease risk in adolescents with depression.

A close up of hands packing baby supplies including a blanket and a stuffed elephant toy.

March 14, 2024

SickKids program provides integrated, trauma-informed care for pregnant and parenting adolescents

The program helps address recent findings that teen pregnancy in Ontario is associated with a significantly increased risk of premature mortality for adolescent mothers.