KBH+ is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025–2026 Outstanding Awards — a celebration of the people driving meaningful change in neurodisability research, mentorship, and inclusive family engagement.

This year’s winners reflect what KBH+ stands for: advancing innovative programs, amplifying lived experience, and transforming outcomes for children, youth, and families across Canada. Their work is helping shape a future where every child with a neurodisability can thrive.

Winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony during the KBH+ Gala on Tuesday, October 20. To celebrate your colleagues as they receive this honour, register today for our KBH+ Conference 2026.

Meet the KBH+ Outstanding Award 2025/2026 winners!

Outstanding Trainee Award

Sandrine Gagné-Trudel

Sandrine Gagné-Trudel, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at the SHIFT Collective at Dalhousie University in Halifax. An occupational therapist by training, her research uses participatory approaches to advance the inclusion of children with disabilities in outdoor play spaces across Canada — spaces she views as essential for movement, friendship, and a sense of belonging.

Sandrine’s work centres on inclusion, participation, and the rights of children with disabilities across three settings: rehabilitation services, community spaces, and research itself. She partners directly with children and families throughout the research process, drawing on flexible arts-based methods such as comics, drawing, writing, and puppets to help children express their perspectives in ways that feel natural to them. With the support of KBH+, Sandrine continues to advance the well-being, participation, and flourishing of children with disabilities and their families in Canada.

 

Inclusive Researcher/Innovator Award

Dr. Alan Santinele-Martino

Dr. Alan Santinele-Martino is an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary and founder of the Disability & Sexuality Lab. His research explores the intersections of disability, gender, and sexualities through qualitative and community-based approaches, challenging dominant assumptions about the sexual lives of disabled people.

His work has appeared in journals such as Disability Studies Quarterly, Sexuality and Disability, and Sexualities, as well as in edited volumes on disability and sexualities studies. In recognition of his contributions to the field, Dr. Santinele-Martino received the 2024 Early Investigator Award from the Canadian Sociological Association and the 2024 Early Career Award from the Sociology of Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association.

 

Outstanding Lived Experience Leader Award

Danijela Grahovac

Danijela Grahovac, M.Sc., is a Technical Support Specialist at McMaster University’s CanChild Centre for Childhood-Onset Disability Research and a recognized leader in lived experience–informed practice. As a parent of a child with a disability, she combines personal insight with technical expertise to lead the development of accessible digital platforms, websites, and learning environments for global initiatives including the F-words for Child Development, ENVISAGE, and Family Engagement in Research (FER). A graduate of the FER course and FER Leadership Academy, Danijela is a dedicated advocate for accessibility, working to ensure digital content is usable by individuals of all abilities, including those who rely on assistive technologies.

Beyond her professional role, Danijela serves on the board of All Abilities Allstars, where she supports inclusive recreational programming for children and youth. Her work exemplifies lived experience leadership — partnering with researchers, clinicians, and families to ensure that those with lived experience are active contributors in shaping the knowledge that affects them.

 

Promising Researcher Award

Tatiana Ogourtsova

Tatiana Ogourtsova is an occupational therapist, researcher, and Assistant Professor at McGill University’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, where she leads the RESI-ALLIANT KID Research Laboratory. Her work focuses on pediatric rehabilitation, using tools such as e-coaching, telerehabilitation, virtual reality, and AI to support children and youth with developmental disabilities, their families, and clinicians. Co-design is central to her process, ensuring the programs she develops are meaningful, relevant, and sustainable.

Tatiana is recognized for her leadership in knowledge translation, designing training programs and digital tools that bridge research and clinical practice across Canada and beyond. Alongside her research, she teaches occupational therapy students at McGill, supervises trainees, and serves on editorial boards of international journals — driven by a commitment to collaboration, innovation, and real-world impact for children, youth, and families.

 

Mentor/Supervisor Award

Wendy J. Ungar

Wendy J. Ungar, MSc, PhD, is a Senior Scientist in Child Health Evaluative Sciences at the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute and a Professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, where she has taught health economic evaluation methods since 1999. She holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Economic Evaluation and Technology Assessment in Child Health.

In 2007, Dr. Ungar founded TASK (Technology Assessment at Sick Kids), where her team applies health economic methods to child health with a focus on genomics and neurodevelopmental disorders. She also maintains the PEDE database, a searchable resource of pediatric economic evaluations used by HTA agencies worldwide. Dr. Ungar served as inaugural Chair of the Ontario Genetic Testing Advisory Committee and received the Dr. Jill M. Sanders Award of Excellence in 2020 for her contributions to health technology assessment in Canada. In 2010, Dr. Ungar published Economic Evaluation in Child Health through Oxford University Press.