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Dr. Dana Anaby514-398-4400 ext. 00394 |
Dana is an Assistant Professor at the school of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University. She holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from the University of British Columbia and Post-Doctoral training at CanChild. Her research focuses on participation and well-being of children and youth with physical disabilities, in particular leisure participation. Her studies involve the effect of the environment (physical, social and institutional) on leisure participation, as well as the testing of intervention plans to enhance community engagement. She is also involved in Knowledge Translation activities promoting the notion of participation in the clinical setting. Dana's ultimate goal is to contribute to the inclusion of children and youth living with disabilities and to promote participation-based practices and communities. |
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Dr. Sheila Bennett(905) 688-5550 ext. 4584 |
Sheila Bennett is a Professor and former chair in the Teacher Education Department of the Faculty of Education at Brock University. Professionally, Sheila has worked as a classroom and special education teacher, school board resource person and faculty member. She has been active in the field of special education for many years and has been involved in policy and practical issues in the field. Co-chair of the Special Education Transformation Document as well as co-author of Special Education in Ontario Schools, Sheila has dedicated her career to working with educators and students in her chosen field. Her current research interests are inclusion, special education policy, acquired brain injury, aboriginal education. |
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Dr. Jamie Brehaut | Dr. Jamie Brehaut is a Scientist with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and a CIHR New Investigator in the area of Knowledge Translation. Dr. Brehaut holds a PhD in Cognitive Science from McMaster University. Trained in issues of human memory, attention, and cognition, Dr. Brehaut also has expertise in knowledge translation, psychological theory, decision support, caregiver health, and analysis of large datasets. Dr. Brehaut heads up a team of investigators studying the relationships between caring for children with special needs and the well-being of their caregivers and families. Analysis of data from large scale surveys and administrative health data sources allow such family health issues to be addressed on a broad scale, usually involving provincial or national populations. |
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Jan Burke Gaffney |
Jan has been a passionate advocate for people with disabilities for 26 years. She is a founder of the Hamilton Family Network, a parent-to-parent support group that seeks to implement innovative strategies to support and strengthen families to thrive in their local communities. Jan is also the Past President of the Family Alliance Ontario, a provincial advocacy organization. She has also held the position of Vice-Chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee for the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. Jan has been involved with numerous projects and articles at CanChild including the KIT, Youth KIT and Family-Centred Service Sheets. She holds a Professional Associate Appointment with the School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster. Jan and her husband have four wonderful children who have provided them with the inspiration that guides their work to support the self-determination and inclusion of people with disabilities. |
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Dr. Wenonah Campbell | Wenonah Campbell, Ph.D., Research Associate, CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University. Wenonah is Clinical Assistant Professor (status only) in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University and a former post-doctoral fellow with the McMaster Child Health Research Institute and CanChild. She has a Master's degree in speech-language pathology from Dalhousie University and a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Western Ontario. Her research focuses on two over-arching themes: (1) studying the peer relationships of children with disabilities, including issues related to bullying and (2) developing and evaluating collaborative models of service delivery in schools. |
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Dr. Darcy Fehlings416-425-6220 ext. 3586 | Darcy L. Fehlings MD MSc FRCP(C) - Dr. Fehlings is Head of the Division of Developmental Paediatrics, an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, at the University of Toronto, and is the inaugural holder of the University of Toronto/Bloorview Children's Hospital Foundation Chair in Developmental Paediatrics. Her current clinical position is Physician Director of the Child Development Program at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr. Fehlings is a Senior Scientist in the Bloorview Research Institute. The focus of her research is on the innovation and evaluation of interventions for children with cerebral palsy. She currently holds a Canadian Institutes for Health Research grant evaluating the long-term impact of paediatric spasticity interventions on function and participation. She is the lead investigator of an Ontario Brain Institute integrated neuroscience network focused on children with cerebral palsy - called CP-NET. Other areas of research include an evaluation of the impact of virtual reality therapy and constraint therapy on motor function and brain plasticity in children. |
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Dr. Robin Gaines613-737-7600 | Robin Gaines, PhD., CCC-SLP, SLP(c), Investigator, is a clinical researcher with the CHEO Research Institute. Robin has over 30 years of experience conducting research with preschool and school age children with speech/language and coordination disorders and led an innovative Ottawa-based KT project educating family physicians and pediatricians about DCD. |
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Dr. Barbara Gibson(416) 978-1819 | Barbara is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Canada. She is a physical therapist and bioethicist whose research examines the social and ethical dimensions of childhood disability and rehabilitation. Her work is particularly focused on examining the norms and assumptions embedded in rehabilitation practices and the effects on disabled children and youth. Barbara holds a career award from the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program. She is an Academic Fellow at the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research, and a Member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. |
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Dr. Gillian King | Gillian King is a Senior Scientist at Bloorview Research Institute in Toronto, with appointments at the University of Toronto (Physical Therapy), Western University (Nursing, Education, Psychology, Family Medicine), and McMaster University (Rehabilitation Sciences). She completed her PhD at Western in Social Psychology. Her primary interest is in the psychosocial aspects of pediatric services and child, youth, and parent well-being. Her research interests include the participation and social inclusion of children/youth with disabilities, youth transitions, parents’ wellness and resilience, client engagement, and the experiences of immigrant families raising children with disabling conditions. Her research also encompasses the delivery of health services, including models of service delivery and practice, service providers’ approaches and expertise, and interprofessional practice. |
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Dr. Dafna Kohen | Dr. Dafna Kohen is a Senior Research Analyst and Chief in the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada and adjunct professor at the Dept. of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa as well as in the Dept. of Psychology at Carleton University. Trained as a developmental psychologist she has degrees from McGill University, McMaster University, and Columbia University. Areas of research expertise include the use of population based data to examine policy relevant research in the area of healthy child development and examinations of social determinants of health for vulnerable populations. Research funding from government as well as non-government departments include CIHR grant funded projects examining the health of caregivers of children with disabilities as well as work on community and family influences on Aboriginal child and youth health and well-being. |
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Dr. Olaf Kraus De Camargo(905) 525-9140 ext. 74275 |
Dr. Olaf Kraus de Camargo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at McMaster University. He completed his medical education and paediatric training in Brazil, followed by a residency in Germany where he received training in developmental-behavioural paediatrics and child neurology. Prior to joining the faculty at McMaster, Dr. Kraus de Camargo held positions as a Professor of Social Medicine at the University of Applied Sciences Nordhausen and as CEO and Medical Director of Kinderzentrum Pelzerhaken gGmbH in Germany, an inpatient and outpatient facility for children with developmental behavioural disabilities and chronic neurologic disorders. The centre is also a teaching institute for professionals in developmental paediatrics. Dr. Kraus de Camargo's research interests include the assessment of needs of children with disabilities, and the implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in Developmental Paediatrics. |
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Dr. Lucyna Lach(514) 398-7050
| Lucyna Lach is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, McGill University and an Associate Member of the Departments of Paediatrics and Neurology/Neurosurgery in the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University. She has a special interest in health-related quality of life and parenting of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Lach is principal investigator for the Quebec subsample of the pan-Canadian study on Outcome Trajectories in Children with Epilepsy, a study examining determinants of health related quality of life in this population. She is also co-principal investigator of the CIHR Team in PARENTING MATTERS! The Biopsychosocial Context Of Parenting Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders In Canada, providing leadership and training to four concurrent projects that will contribute to developing and disseminating knowledge in this area of study. Working closely with parents, clinical and institutional leaders, and policy makers, Dr. Lach hopes to increase awareness of what constitutes parenting, what makes a difference to how parents parent their child, and what difference parenting makes to child outcomes. Dr. Lach is currently the Graduate Program Director (MSW) at McGill University. She teaches direct practice, ethics, theory and research courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. She has reviewed grants for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Fond de Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, and numerous peer-reviewed journals. Prior to joining the faculty at McGill University in 2001, she spent 17 years as a social worker at the Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. |
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Dr. Sanjay Mahant(416) 813-5280 |
Dr. Mahant is a Staff Pediatrician in the Division of Paediatric Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto and Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto. He completed his medical degree at the University of Toronto and pediatric residency at SickKids. He received his MSc in health research methods at McMaster University, Canada and is a member of the Paediatric Outcomes Research Team (PORT) in the Division of Paediatric Medicine at SickKids. Sanjay is an Executive Council Member of the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Setting (PRIS) network. His clinical focus is primarily in the care of hospitalized children and children with complex chronic conditions. His research and scholarly interests have focused on (1) the study of families and children with chronic complex conditions and specifically around feeding interventions in neurologically impaired children (2) the study of common conditions (diagnosis, treatment, outcomes) seen on the inpatient unit including urinary tract infections and complicated pneumonia (3) and quality improvement and clinical excellence. Sanjay is on the Scientific Oversight Committee for the IPASS study and a site collaborator for SickKids, Toronto. |
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Dr. Ronit Mesterman(905) 525-9140 ext. 74275
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Dr. Ronit Mesterman is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at McMaster University and the Division Head of Developmental Pediatrics. She is certified in pediatric neurology and developmental pediatrics. Following her medical training in Munich, Germany, she completed her postgraduate training in pediatrics, pediatric neurology and developmental pediatrics in Israel. She joined the faculty at McMaster University in 2004. Her dual training reflects her philosophy that developmental pediatrics and child neurology go together and as such she is working clinically in both divisions. Her main clinical and research interests are assessment and treatment of Cerebral Palsy. She has established a very busy multi-disciplinary spasticity clinic. Besides her active clinical and educational contributions, Dr. Mesterman is the Medical Director of Developmental Pediatric Rehabilitation and Autism Spectrum Disorders Services. |
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Dr. Gabriel Ronen905-525-9140 ext. 73392 |
Dr. Gabriel M. Ronen is a Professor of Pediatrics at McMaster University and a Pediatric Neurologist at McMaster Children's Hospital. He is certified in Neurology by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Following his graduation from University of Basel in Switzerland, Dr. Ronen received his post-graduate training in Switzerland. He then trained in Child Neurology at Dalhousie University and the University of Saskatchewan. His first faculty position (1984-1991) was at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Janeway Child Health Centre in St. John's, where he founded the pediatric neurology service. Dr. Ronen joined McMaster University in 1991. In addition to running a busy clinical pediatric neurology and epilepsy service, Dr. Ronen undertook a Masters degree in clinical research methodology at McMaster, and has since developed an internationally acclaimed research program in quality of life in children with epilepsy, familial newborn seizures as well as research into the epidemiology of newborn with seizures. "As a pediatric neurologist I have had a wide range of experience with children and youth with neurological conditions. I have been an active clinician, researcher, teacher and mentor with a particular interest in children with epilepsy. My overarching goal with many of these activities has been to integrate basic and clinical neurosciences with social sciences and health measurement theories to expand the evidence needed for a holistic child and family care." |
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Prof. Nancy Thomas-Stonell(416) 425-6220 | Professor Nancy Thomas-Stonell, B.Sc. D.S.P. SLP(C), CCC-Slp is a Speech-Language Pathologists and a Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. She is a Research Associate at CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research and an Assistant Professor (Status only) in the Graduate Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto. For the past 12 years, she has been conducting research on outcome measurement, specifically developing and evaluating the FOCUS outcome measure. She is interested in the application of the WHO ICF-Children and Youth health framework to the profession of speech-language pathology. |
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Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum(780) 735-8282 | Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum completed his pediatric training at Queen's University, and his clinical fellowship in developmental pediatrics at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He completed a research fellowship and Masters degree in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. Dr. Zwaigenbaum's research focuses on early behavioral and biological markers, and early developmental trajectories in children with autism and related disorders. He currently holds an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Health Research (AHFMR) Health Scholar and the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation Chair in Autism Research. Dr. Zwaigenbaum is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the U of A, and the co-director of the Autism Research Centre based at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. He is also the Vice-President of the International Society for Autism Research. |
