A message from #ChildHealthCan2022 Sponsor: CIHR-IHDCYH

Message from Dr. Christine Chambers, Scientific Director of #CHILDHEALTHCAN2022 Sponsor, the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH)

As we look forward to the fantastic Children’s Healthcare Canada Annual Conference coming up next week, it is my great privilege to share our Institute’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, titled Better Beginnings, Vibrant Childhoods, Empowered Youth: Research that Makes a Difference, just launched to align with National Day of the Child. IHDCYH has a strong history of championing innovative and impactful research, and through this new plan we will continue to support our research community to play a central role in addressing the needs of children, youth and families by advancing evidence and equity.

Read our Strategic Plan on our website

Watch our quick overview of the Plan

Our Vision includes three areas of focus that exist within a complex and important context that includes families, communities and the systems that surround, support, impact and influence them:

Better Beginnings - We want to ensure the best start in life. We support the earliest years of life, from pre-conception through reproduction, pregnancy, infancy and early childhood, when we have the greatest ability to positively impact human development and trajectories.
Vibrant Childhoods - We want children to lead healthy, happy lives. We address the needs of children to improve health and help them thrive as they navigate the complex systems of our changing world.
Empowered Youth - We want to encourage youth to take charge of their lives. We engage youth and hear diverse perspectives to ensure health and equity continue from teenage years to maturity and adulthood.

Our Mission is to foster growth and equity across Canada’s human development, child and youth health research community to advance science, promote knowledge and ways of knowing, and address the needs of children, youth and families in Canada and globally.

We will focus on three key priorities:

Convene - We will facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and enable purposeful partnerships to strengthen research, mobilize knowledge and shape policy.
Champion - We will fuel existing strengths, catalyze emerging areas and embrace a lifecycle approach to advance knowledge, address health inequities and inspire support for science.
Capacity Build - We will support diverse career pathways and strengthen key infrastructure to improve efficiency, amplify impact and nurture a thriving health research environment.

Underlying this Strategic Plan is our shared commitment with CIHR to achieve the best health for all, powered by outstanding research. I thank CIHR and the Government of Canada for supporting our Institute and recognizing the critical need for the work underway within our research community.

This work is needed now more than ever. Together, we can foster a healthy future for Canada through research that promotes better beginnings, vibrant childhoods, and empowered youth.

Sincerely,

Christine Chambers, PhD FRSC FCAHS
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Human
Development, Child and Youth Health

Health Policies
Please note that all conference attendees must show proof that they have received 3 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during the onsite registration process at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. We are an inclusive organization and would like you to join the conference; if you are not vaccinated, we invite you to register to attend our conference virtually.

Children’s Healthcare Canada is requiring that all attendees wear a properly fitting mask while in the Children’s Healthcare Canada meeting space.

We need to continue to work together as a child and youth health community to manage risk and keep each other safe. Please visit our conference website to learn more about our Health Policies.