IHDCYH Strategic Plan 2022–2026
IHDCYH Strategic Plan 2022–2026
Shareable content
Table of Contents
- A Message from the Scientific Director
- Land Acknowledgement
- Collaborating with our Community
- Guiding Our Work
- Areas of focus
- The Path Forward
- Making a Difference
- Acknowledgements
- Contact us
A Message from the Scientific Director
On behalf of the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH), it is my great privilege to share our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. IHDCYH has a strong history of leading 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.
The past Scientific Directors have shown tremendous leadership and made significant contributions that have advanced human development, child and youth health research in Canada and globally. I thank them, along with the incredible IHDCYH team and advisors, for their tireless passion and energy to deliver impact for children, youth and families through health research. We continue to build on this strong foundation, shaping a bold vision that puts children, youth and their families at the heart and centre of our Institute – from ideas to impact.
Underlying this Strategic Plan is our shared commitment with CIHR to achieve the best health for all, powered by outstanding research. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the other CIHR Institutes who each play an important role in helping us realize our vision through their own mandate areas. I thank CIHR and the Government of Canada for supporting this 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.
Christine T. Chambers, PhD FRSC FCAHS
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
Land Acknowledgement
IHDCYH is hosted at Dalhousie University. We respectfully acknowledge that the land on which we developed this Strategic Plan is Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq. As an institute with national reach, we honour all Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) from coast to coast to coast, for their past and ongoing contributions to society. We strive for respectful partnerships with Indigenous Peoples on a path towards healing, reconciliation, and self-determination. Members of our research community are invited to learn about and reflect upon the Indigenous Peoples whose traditional territories they reside on.
Key terms
- The term healthy reflects the best and most meaningful outcomes and experiences for children, youth, and families within their context.
- 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.
- The term children, youth and families encompasses infants, children, youth, reproduction and pregnancy, parent(s), caregivers and elders, as well as the communities that encircle and support them.
- A lifecycle approach recognizes and values that age, life stages, and intergenerational factors impact health.
Collaborating with our Community
This Strategic Plan was developed with input from a broad range of people and organizations across our research community, including through our most recent Institute Review, and in collaboration with CIHR to ensure alignment with the CIHR Strategic Plan 2021-2031.
Engaging with partners and the public
In 2020-2021, we co-founded Inspiring Healthy Futures to develop a vision and priorities through broad community engagement, including over 1500 youth, parents, researchers, educators, advocates, policymakers, service providers, and 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.
Hearing from researchers
Our 2021 researcher survey gathered perspectives from a diverse cross-section of respondents on challenges, opportunities, current funding programs and activities, and how IHDCYH can continue to enhance support for our research community.
Guidance from IHDCYH advisors
Our Institute Advisory Board and Youth Advisory Council played key roles throughout the development of the Plan. They engaged in Inspiring Healthy Futures consultations, informed the design of the researcher survey, and advised on priority development, partnerships and alignment with the CIHR strategic plan and research environment.
Guiding Our Work
Vision
Better beginnings, vibrant childhoods, empowered youth.
Mission
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.
Our commitment
- We engage with and address the needs of children, youth and families within a lifecycle context.
- We embed reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion across our activities.
- We ensure reliable communication and open dialogue about the work our Institute and our research community leads.
Our values
We embrace the values of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR):
- Excellence and Leadership
- Commitment to Collaboration
- Respect for People
- Integrity and Accountability
Areas of Focus
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.
These areas of focus exist within a complex and important context that includes families, communities and the systems that surround, support, impact and influence them.
The Path Forward
Priority: Convene
We will facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and enable purposeful partnerships to strengthen research, mobilize knowledge and shape policy.
| Strategies | Measures of success |
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The big picture
Children, youth and families experience the best possible health and well-being, informed by high-quality research that is interdisciplinary, built on strong partnerships and integrates their needs and voices.
Priority: 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.
| Strategies | Measures of success |
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The big picture
Children, youth and families see, feel and champion the value of science and research that addresses emerging needs, reconciliation and health inequities, advances care, and is inclusive of all stages in the lifecycle.
Priority: Capacity Build
We will support diverse career pathways and strengthen key infrastructure to improve efficiency, amplify impact and nurture a thriving health research environment.
| Strategies | Measures of success |
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The big picture
Children, youth and families benefit from a thriving health research environment that improves equitable access to evidence and knowledge, innovative therapies and treatments, and networks of care and support.
Making a Difference
Our vision – better beginnings, vibrant childhoods, empowered youth – requires an engaged research community. The path forward for IHDCYH is the result of input from partners and many others. I look forward to working with IHDCYH to support our researchers and to seeing the impact of our work together.
Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) represent the fastest growing and youngest demographic in Canada. As an emerging Indigenous scholar, I know IHDCYH's commitment to strengthening Indigenous-led health research will benefit our youth today and the generations to come.
As an aspiring researcher and healthcare professional, I am excited that IHDCYH is supporting diverse career pathways. Diverse backgrounds bring unique perspectives and lived experiences to health research to advocate and ensure that all communities are represented.
I truly appreciate IHDCYH's commitment to engage those of us with lived experience to bring a different perspective and create meaningful and impactful research.
I'm so pleased to see that this plan builds on IHDCYH's strength in supporting research on reproduction and human development. This focus ensures that we are continuing to lay the foundation for healthy starts to healthier lives.
I applaud IHDCYH's lifecycle approach. By encouraging research from pre-conception through to adolescence and beyond, we will ensure the health of both current and future generations.
See our Impact
Check out our one page Making A Difference reports highlighting our top successes and initiatives for each year of our Strategic plan:
Acknowledgements
IHDCYH IAB
- Fabiana Bacchini, Canadian Premature Babies Foundation
- Kristin Connor, Carleton University
- Peter Gill, University of Toronto
- Sara Kirk, Dalhousie University
- Peter C.K. Leung, University of British Columbia
- Stephen G. Matthews, University of Toronto
- Sarah McDonald, McMaster University
- Steven Miller, University of British Columbia
- Taylor Morriseau, University of Manitoba
- Anne Monique Nuyt, Université de Montréal
- Bukola (Oladunni) Salami, University of Alberta
- Prakeshkumar Shah, University of Toronto
- Keiko Shikako, McGill University
- Bernard Thébaud, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Cecilia Van Egmond, Health Canada
- Robert Viger, Université Laval
- Roberta Woodgate, University of Manitoba
IHDCYH YAC
- Nifemi Adeoye, ON
- Malvina Chhina, BC
- Robert Chin-See, ON
- Ping Du Mont, ON
- Eleanor Duffley, NB
- Jolie Gan, AB
- Vivek Gill, BC
- Wajih Jawhar, QC
- Ash Kolstad, AB
- Midhula Madhu, YK
- Alexandria Martin, MB
- Danica Matthews, SK
- Sarah Mooney, AB
- Danielle Nadin, QC
- Eki Okungbowa, ON
- Brett Recollet, ON
- Sarah Schwartz, NS
- Ahastan Surees, ON
- Vivian Tsang, BC
- Annika Waschke, QC
IHDCYH Staff
- Christine Chambers, Scientific Director
- Sarah De La Rue, Associate Director
- Ruth Warre, Assistant Director
- Emily Torr, Project Manager, Strategic Initiatives
- Lara Killian, Communications and Engagement Manager
- Joanne Wincentak, Lead, Partnerships and Knowledge Mobilization
- Shohi Prajapati, Analyst, Projects and Initiatives
- Cynthia Sriskandarajah, Project Coordinator
- Olivia Verge, Operations Lead
- Brenda Coupar, Operations Manager
- Nicole Jollimore, Administrative Coordinator
- Eleanor Friddell, Science Communications Assistant
- Tonya Darlington, Executive Assistant
- Tracey Prentice, Senior Lead, Strategic Initiatives
We thank the IHDCYH Integrated Institute team, our connectors in Ottawa, who support our alignment with CIHR priorities and provide immeasurable support in the delivery of all our activities.
We also give special thanks to the countless individuals in our research community who have generously given their time to share their insights and perspectives in support of this Strategic Plan.
Contact Us
CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
5793 University Avenue, Suite 523
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS B3H 1V7
Canada
ihdcyh-idsea@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
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