IHDCYH Partnerships

Strong partnerships play a central role in achieving IHDCYH’s mission. In our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, we identified convene as a top priority to bring our vision of better beginnings, vibrant childhoods, and empowered youth to life. Our priority in convening means that we are committed to facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations and enabling purposeful partnerships to strengthen research, mobilize knowledge and shape policy.

How does IHDCYH support partnerships within the research community?

For research to have an impact, partnerships with the full breadth of our research community are needed. Our research community includes the many voices engaged with human development, child and youth health research, including researchers, research staff, children, youth, families, caregivers, clinicians and health professionals, associations, policymakers and others. Some examples of IHDCYH’s strategies to facilitate purposeful partnerships include:

• Partnering with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to co-host a webinar on Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Promoting Health Equity Among Children, Adolescents, and Families in Canada and the United States.
• Co-founding Inspiring Healthy Futures with UNICEF Canada, Children’s Healthcare Canada, and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada to develop a vision and priorities through broad community engagement, including over 1500 youth, parents, researchers, educators, advocates, policymakers, service providers, community and business leaders. The priorities, including impactful research and knowledge, provide a foundation for leaders, organizations and governments to create a healthier, stronger future for children, youth and families in Canada.
• Supporting interdisciplinary collaborations and integrated knowledge mobilization through strategic funding opportunities like the Mental Health in the Early Years Implementation Science Team Grants and the Understanding and mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, youth, and families in Canada Operating Grant.
• Co-funding Early Career Researchers to conduct impactful research and strengthen Canada’s capacity and knowledge to respond to children’s needs in partnership with the SickKids Foundation.

How does IHDCYH partner with federal agencies and departments?

Advancing the health and well-being of children, youth, and families requires collaboration and joint action across the federal government. Some examples of recent partnership activities include:

• Facilitating relationship building and evidence sharing between researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and community members through CIHR's Best Brains Exchanges program to inform community-level programs for children, youth, and families, delivered by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
• Supporting Canada's research response to mitigating the impact of the pandemic on children, youth, and families through catalyzing investments from the Government of Canada and other funders including New Brunswick Health Research Foundation, Health Research BC, and other CIHR institutes.
• Bringing evidence to Canada's Youth Policy by co-funding priority research to support the health of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Urban Indigenous youth in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada - First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, SPOR, and CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health.
• Collaborating with departments across the federal government to support the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Encouraging use for research of previously funded cohorts, administrative and survey data to inform improved patient, population and system outcomes by co-funding secondary analysis grants with other CIHR institutes.

How does IHDCYH partner with national organizations and networks?

We work closely with national organizations and networks to ensure knowledge is effectively mobilized and communicated with knowledge users. Some examples of collaboration are:

• Amplifying research on strategies to promote equitable child and youth health by supporting webinars delivered by national-level platforms including Children’s Healthcare Canada.
• Providing capacity building support to trainees and Early Career Researchers through partnerships with associations.
• Creating a catalogue of Child, Maternal and Family COVID-19 Studies in Canada with MICYRN to inform the Chief Science Advisor's Task Force on COVID-19 in Children of active research efforts as well as support networking and knowledge sharing within the research community.

Opportunities to partner with IHDCYH

We are always keen to discuss partnership possibilities. If our IHDCYH Strategic Plan 2022-2026, vision, and mission resonate with you, please contact Joanne Wincentak joanne.wincentak@cihr-irsc.gc.ca to explore potential collaboration opportunities including knowledge mobilization, supporting activities of mutual interest, and co-funding.

Date modified:

2023-11-14