(L to R: Dr. Julija Atanasova, Fatim Karim, Dr. Amanda Keller, and Alisha Stubbs)

Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN), the Canadian Neurodevelopmental Research Training (CanNRT) Platform and the Alliance for Disability Voices, Advocacy, and National Community Empowerment (ADVANCE) Network are pleased to welcome four new Fellows to the KBHN-CanNRT ADVANCE Network Policy Fellowship for 2026-2028. Selected through a national search, this second ADVANCE Network cohort brings together researchers and trainees committed to improving disability policy for children and youth with disabilities and their families across Canada.

“Each ADVANCE cohort reminds us that the best disability policy is created in partnership with people with lived experience,” says Dr. Jennifer Zwicker, Chief Scientist, KBHN and co-lead of the ADVANCE Network. “This second cohort brings remarkable depth: clinical, community, and lived expertise. With CanNRT joining us, we can offer Fellows even more of the training and connections they need to transform evidence into change for children, youth and families in Canada.”

The ADVANCE Fellowship was established as a joint initiative of KBHN and the Disability Policy Research Program (DiPo) at the University of Calgary to support early-career researchers working to improve disability policy through participatory research and community-led solutions. For the 2026–2028 cohort, KBHN and CanNRT have partnered to build on this established program and expand the training and professional development opportunities available to Fellows.

Through this partnership, ADVANCE Fellows will have access to CanNRT’s national learning community, with opportunities to connect with researchers and peers across disciplines and sectors. They will also have access to the CanNRT Summer School, a dedicated policy curriculum and an annual Training Passport to support their learning and career development.

Dr. Roberta Cardoso, Research Associate at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), will serve as Curriculum Coordinator, overseeing curriculum development and mentoring Fellows.

“Research has the greatest value when it helps improve people’s lives,” says Dr. Mayada Elsabbagh, Director, CanNRT. “But evidence doesn’t make its way into policy on its own. We need people who understand both research and the realities of the communities it is meant to serve. By joining forces with KBHN and building on the ADVANCE Network, we’re investing in researchers who can bridge that divide and help shape better policies and services, now and in the years ahead.”

The 2026–2028 KBHN-CanNRT ADVANCE Network Policy Fellowship gives trainees (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research associates) the chance to contribute to the ADVANCE Network’s work, with mentorship from ADVANCE leadership and opportunities to connect with researchers and partners across Canada, including those affiliated with KBHN, the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC), and CanNRT.

The ADVANCE Network brings together researchers, community partners and people with lived and living experience around a shared goal: improving access to provincial and territorial disability programs for Canadian children and youth with disabilities and their families through research and community-led knowledge sharing and action. It commits to Indigenous data sovereignty through OCAP principles where applicable, and to culturally safe practices that honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis understandings of disability.

Each Fellow’s project will fall under one of ADVANCE’s two Inquiry Pillars:

  • Access Trajectory: Identify and address barriers along the path to services, from early childhood through young adulthood.
  • Eligibility & Design: Better align eligibility criteria and assessment processes with the functional needs of children and youth.

Three analytic lenses run across both pillars:

  • Program Types and Governmental Efficiency: How programs are organized and delivered across ministries and jurisdictions.
  • Access and Exclusion: Who is not reaching or accessing the programs, and why.
  • Life Course: How needs and barriers change as children and youth grow up.

The ADVANCE Network also has an embedded Indigenous Parallel Path focused on supporting Indigenous-led definition and redesign of disability supports across jurisdictions. This work will proceed alongside research in the two pillars outlined above, respecting Indigenous self-determination while enabling integration at shared learning moments. ADVANCE Fellows will have the opportunity to work alongside and collaborate with our current ADVANCE Network Indigenous Policy Fellow, Sara Spence, throughout their term.

Meet the 2026–2028 KBHN-CanNRT ADVANCE Network Policy Fellows:

Dr. Julija Atanasova

Professional headshot of a smiling woman with shoulder-length light brown hair, wearing a black-and-white checkered blazer over a white blouse, against a neutral grey background.

Julija is completing her PhD at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Science. Based at Holland Bloorview, her research aims to improve community-based autism diagnostic assessment and build a shared approach to quality. An MD with an MHSc in Translational Research, she brings training in implementation science and Family Engagement in Research. Her lived experience as a parent of a child with a disability further reinforces the importance she places on involving people with lived experience and families as collaborators. Julija is driven by an interest in translating research into meaningful improvements in clinical practice and, increasingly, in understanding how research can inform disability policy and health systems.

“The fellowship offers an opportunity for collaboration and shared learning, and to explore how research and lived experience can come together to shape more responsive disability policy and support meaningful change.” – Julija Atanasova

 

Fatima Karim

Professional headshot of a smiling woman with long, dark wavy hair and black rectangular glasses, wearing a black top against a dark grey background.

Fatima Karim is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Carleton University and is based at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Her doctoral research focuses on developing a transdiagnostic computer vision approach that measures adaptive functioning through naturalistic play. Her work explores how children’s everyday abilities and support needs can be better understood beyond diagnostic labels. She holds an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, co-founded a national mental health coalition in Pakistan and has served on World Health Organization and government advisory groups. Across her work, she designs accessible, community-based solutions with, and for, the families who need them.

“I’m excited to work with communities, families, and people with lived experience to build bridges across our disability programs, so that support follows what a child needs, not which diagnosis, province, or ministry they fall under.” – Fatima Karim

 

Dr. Amanda Keller

Professional portrait of a smiling woman with shoulder-length dark brown hair and black rectangular glasses, wearing a black blazer and top, seated in front of a bookshelf.

Dr. Amanda Keller is a postdoctoral fellow supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec (Quebec Research Fund) at the Université de Montréal. She studies experiences across the lifespan of people involved in child welfare, including health and transitions to adulthood. A former youth in care and case manager, she brings lived experience, frontline practice and research expertise to questions of access and equity across health, social and disability systems. Dr. Keller’s community-engaged work centres lived experience in shaping more equitable policies and services.

“I hope the fellowship will help me strengthen the bridge between research, lived experience, and policy. I want to develop the skills and networks needed to ensure that research about the mental and physical health needs of people with care experience reaches beyond academic spaces and contributes to meaningful changes in child welfare and social service policy and practice.” – Dr. Amanda Keller

 

Alisha Stubbs

Professional headshot of a smiling woman with long, wavy auburn hair, wearing a sage green top against a softly blurred neutral background.

Alisha is a social worker, educator, and doctoral candidate at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her SSHRC-funded research uses mixed methods to examine the non-academic support needs of autistic students and school social worker competencies. Drawing on nearly 20 years of clinical, educational, community and leadership experience, as well as lived and living experience, Alisha’s work focuses on pragmatism and autism- and neuro-affirming practice, as well as systems change. She is committed to translating research and lived expertise into practical policy approaches that improve access, belonging, and outcomes of children and youth with disabilities and their families.

“I am tremendously honoured to be selected as an ADVANCE Fellow and join this community that is committed to improving disability policy and practice. The fellowship is meaningful to me because it creates an opportunity to contribute to change that can make a real difference in the lives of children, youth, and families.” – Alisha Stubbs

About the ADVANCE Network

The ADVANCE Fellows are part of the ADVANCE Network, a national collaboration of scholars, community partners, and people with lived and living experience, co-led by Dr. Jennifer Zwicker, Dr. Lucy Lach, Dr. Keiko Shikako, Dr. Michelle Phoenix, Dr. Grant Bruno, Genevieve Currie, Logan Wong, and Sharon McCarry. The ADVANCE Network aims to drive meaningful change for youth with disabilities and their families across Canada.

About CanNRT

The Canadian Neurodevelopmental Research Training (CanNRT) Platform supports research excellence and builds sustainable and equitable pathways for early-career researchers in neurodevelopment and associated conditions across Canada. Through multidisciplinary cross-sector learning, mentorship, and connectivity, CanNRT equips trainees to become the next generation of leaders.