Thinking of You This Holiday Season…
We are approaching the end of an unprecedented year. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers, community agencies, children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and their families have faced increased difficulties researching, delivering, and accessing supports from a home base.
Despite these challenges, the Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) made significant strides in addressing these concerns and furthering neurodevelopmental research and implementation. In the past year alone, KBHN achieved the following successes:
- KBHN received a final three-year grant of $11.7 million from the Network Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program. As we move forward, a total of $12M commitments from at least 68 contributing partners will set the stage for future research, training, and KTEE initiatives.
- KBHN is funding 8 Cycle III research projects with over $1.4 million in funding and also created a pipeline of research programs under the Implementation Readiness Fund (IRF) competition with a combined total of nearly $500,000 in direct support.
- The KBHN-funded Family Engagement in Research (FER) Course saw its fifth cohort graduate in November 2020. Since its inception, the course has produced 132 graduates and 62 KT Tools. We look forward to continuing support for this innovative program and seeing the expansion of program delivery.
- KBHN hosted its first virtual conference under the theme “New and Emerging Ways of Connecting,” which focused on research to address the increased difficulties both families and service providers faced in the accessing and delivering support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- KBHN re-established a new and exciting partnership with MITACS, This initiative supports seven projects and nine internships with front-line, community-based agencies to address the challenges of access and delivery of supports to vulnerable children and their families.
- In partnership with CanChild and the CHILD-BRIGHT Network, KBHN also launched MyCOVIDDisabilityQ – a new Twitter Q&A hub for Canadian children and youth with disabilities as well as family members speaking on their behalf. The Network worked with some of Canada’s leading disability experts to obtain credible answers to our community’s growing concerns.
“These successes are a testament to the hard work KBHN researchers, partners and families, trainees and staff continue to exhibit, and we are thankful for their continued dedication throughout this year and as we look forward to 2021,” said Nicola Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of KBHN.
KBHN Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. James Reynolds, shared her sentiments while adding that:
“KBHN remains steadfast in its mission to stay a partner-driven and solution-focused organization. We will continue to support research initiatives and work with our partners to improve outcomes for Canadian children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families.”
As the holiday season approaches, we would like to take the opportunity to thank the KBHN Board, all our volunteer advisory committees, partners, families and stakeholders, researchers, trainees and network members for their commitment and collective action over the past year to propel KBHN forward into Cycle III and to support moving knowledge into practice.
We truly could not have arrived here without you.
Wishing you a safe and happy holiday.
