NOW AVAILABLE: 2026 CHILD-BRIGHT Conference Program

Peruse the full program

The 2026 CHILD-BRIGHT Conference Program is now available!

Taking place February 2–3, 2026 in Toronto, Canada on the theme of Strong Roots, Bright Futures: Cultivating Equitable Ecosystems in Childhood Disability Research, this unique gathering marks 10 years of patient-oriented research across CHILD-BRIGHT and beyond.

Experience inspiring keynotes, panel discussions, and research project showcases designed to sow the seeds of change: 

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

At the 2026 CHILD-BRIGHT conference, you can look forward to:

• Keynote remarks from Dr. De-Lawrence Lamptey, Holland Bloorview’s inaugural EMBARK  (Empowering Black Academics, Researchers and Knowledge creators) Scientist

• A dynamic knowledge exchange session, where you will be wowed by the creative & accessible ways in which researchers, trainees, and partners showcase their work

• Cutting-edge news from CHILD-BRIGHT implementation science research teams such as BRIGHT Coaching, the Prenatal Opioid Exposure project, Parent Voices and Jooay

• Leaders from Canadian child health and disability groups sharing their learnings and trajectories

• Plus, three days of free engaging virtual pre-conference presentations designed to give you a bird's-eye view of the innovative patient-oriented childhood disability research being done in Canada today.

Azrieli CHILD-BRIGHT Fellowship Program: Call for applicants!

Five new positions available!

CHILD-BRIGHT has launched a new call for postdoctoral researchers to work with our network in support of children with brain-based developmental disabilities!

Fellowships with the CHILD-BRIGHT Network represent a valuable opportunity to learn and apply patient-oriented research approaches to child health, with a focus on knowledge mobilization; implementation science; and equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, and Indigenization. Here is what one current postdoctoral fellow had to say about the program:

“Not only have my knowledge and skills in implementation research and patient- oriented research improved, but this support has allowed me to develop a true passion for this field of research. I hope to use these to improve the developmental care of children in Canada in my future career as a researcher.”

— Marie-Ève Bolduc, Postdoctoral Fellow, Care Pathways for CHD project

Thanks to the Azrieli Foundation’s generous and continued support in helping train the next generation of patient-oriented researchers and implementation scientists, we are looking to fill positions with the following teams:

CHILD-BRIGHT VR-EF: A hybrid Type 2 implementation validation trial of a virtual reality executive function intervention (Supervising PI: Jennifer Crosbie, SickKids)

Prenatal Opioid Exposure and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (POE-NAS): Addressing Prenatal Opioid Exposure in First Nations Communities (Supervising PI: Astrid Guttmann, ICES)

CHILD-BRIGHT Genome-wide sequencing Readiness and Implementation in Practice (GRIP) Study: A hybrid implementation-effectiveness observational study of clinical genome-wide sequencing in Ontario (Supervising PI: Robin Hayeems, SickKids)

CHILD-BRIGHT's Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization & Indigenization (EDI-DI) Program (Supervising PI: Nomazulu Dlamini, SickKids)

We are also accepting applications for the following position, funded thanks to the generous support of Research Manitoba:

CHILD-BRIGHT Coaching: Moving toward implementation of a virtual coaching program for caregivers of young children with suspected developmental delays (Supervising PI: Kristy Wittmeier, University of Manitoba)

Applications must be submitted by November 17, 2024.

Azrieli CHILD-BRIGHT Fellowship Program - Fourth Call

In collaboration with the Azrieli Foundation, CHILD-BRIGHT is launching a fourth call for postdoctoral researchers to work on our implementation science research projects in support of children with brain-based developmental disabilities. 

We are looking to fill three new positions for the following network teams:

Implementation Science Research Program (Supervising PI: Janet Curran, IWK Health Centre)

Prenatal Opioid Exposure and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (POE-NAS): Addressing Prenatal Opioid Exposure in First Nation Communities (Supervising PI: Astrid Guttmann, ICES)

CHILD-BRIGHT GRIP (Genome-wide sequencing Readiness and Implementation in Practice) Study: A hybrid implementation-effectiveness observational study of clinical genome-wide sequencing in Ontario (Supervising PI: Robin Hayeems, SickKids)

Applications must be submitted by December 1, 2023.

Don’t hesitate to contact pierre.zwiegers@child-bright.ca if you have any questions. We would also appreciate if you could share this opportunity within your networks to help us find our ideal candidates.

Thank you!

The CHILD-BRIGHT Network