The CHILD-BRIGHT Network is a pan-Canadian patient-oriented research network based at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Created in 2016, it works to create brighter futures for children and youth with brain-based developmental disabilities and their families. Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) and 15 funding partners across the country, our national network includes 500 researchers, clinicians, decision-makers, youth, and parents.
CHILD-BRIGHT’s extensive research program was developed based on research priorities identified by youth, parents, and other knowledge users such as frontline clinicians and health care administrators. From 2016 to 2022, CHILD-BRIGHT carried out 13 multi-centre projects focusing on three themes: early intervention to promote brain and child development; strategies to support the mental health of children and families; and service delivery redesign to address gaps in service. From 2022 to 2026, CHILD-BRIGHT will move its patient-oriented research into action through insight and methods grounded in implementation science and knowledge mobilization, and by embedding the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and Indigenization.
Our Mission
Our mission is to foster a movement for change: moving partners with lived and living experience (PWLEs) into research teams, moving research into improved practice and policy, and moving children and families towards brighter futures.
Our Target Population
The CHILD-BRIGHT Network works to make the present and the future brighter for infants, children, and youth with lifelong brain-based developmental disabilities and their families, including individuals with diagnoses of brain-based disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, intellectual or learning disabilities), and individuals at high risk for a brain-based disability (e.g., preterm birth, congenital heart disease, genetic anomaly).
Our promise
We will study how to bring novel, evidence-based interventions to health care, policy, and community settings. For this, we will select Phase 1 interventions that can be incorporated into health and community systems to serve the needs of people living with brain-based developmental disabilities and families.
We will co-build the infrastructure to spread relevant knowledge to users, such as children, youth, families, Indigenous and other equity-deserving groups, health professionals, and decision-makers in a targeted fashion, using tools such as podcasts, videos, policy briefings, dialogues, and champions.
We will train patient-oriented teams to plan for equitable and sustainable implementation, spread, and scale.
We will support the ongoing engagement of PWLEs in research and governance and amplify their voices in decision-making.
We will build relationships with individuals and communities and ensure that diverse, culturally appropriate strategies are embedded within the network.
our programs
Implementation Science Research
Our Implementation Science Research Program is co-developing and conducting novel implementation science projects to improve health processes and outcomes for children with brain-based developmental and their families. Read more…
Knowledge Mobilization
Our Knowledge Mobilization Program facilitates the movement of network-driven knowledge for rapid uptake by end-users, such as children/youth and families, health care providers, and policymakers. Read more…
Training & Capacity Building
Our Training & Capacity Building Program is facilitating training and capacity-building efforts for CHILD-BRIGHT members about knowledge mobilization, implementation science, and equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and Indigenization, so they can apply these principles and best practices to patient-oriented research projects. Read more…
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization and Indigenization (EDI-DI)
Our EDI-DI Program is working to establish and maintain equitable, accessible, and inclusive research and network environments, and to advance research excellence through health equity in patient-oriented research using an intersectional approach with other network collaborators across Canada. Read more…
Engagement
Our Engagement Program, with support from the CHILD-BRIGHT Engagement Council and National Youth Advocacy Council, embeds and supports PWLEs in all network projects and activities to ensure their authentic engagement. Read more…
Our work is made possible thanks to funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) and many generous funding partners from public and private sectors across Canada.