Collaboration Hub

Contacts: Kim S. Daniel, M.Ed., PhD., Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Innovation at Kim.Daniel@surreyplace.ca, and; Kajany Gunarajan, M.ADS., BCBA., Manager, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Accessibility at Kajany.Gunarajan@surreyplace.ca

Organization: Surrey Place is a not-for-profit organization that serves people of all ages with intellectual developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder and visual impairments in the Toronto region and Northwestern Ontario. We offer integrated services and inclusive support in a safe and welcoming environment. Our approach is family-based, which centers the interests and care of our clients, families, and caregivers by teaching them skills. We strive to ensure the greatest access to services and support our clients in navigating the health care system. Surrey Place helps people learn new skills, gain self-confidence, and reach their full potential!

Website: www.surreyplace.ca

Program Summary: 

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility (EDAI) and Innovation program aims to reduce disparities that are driven by social, racial, and economic inequalities and to improve access to clinically appropriate care. We work to cultivate a high-performance organizational culture through education, research, and long-lasting partnership building.

We strive to do this work by incorporating an EDIA perspective to support our staff, clients, families, and caregivers. Our call to action seeks to address systemic racism, specifically anti-Black racism, and anti-Indigenous oppressive practices. By creating an EDIA culture, we will improve access to support and quality of services for all.

We are also seeking to build partnerships with other organizations, hospital, and/or agencies that serve neurodiverse populations by bridging service gaps in identified areas through our “mapping initiative” and meeting clients where they are at, by building culturally appropriate pathways.

Overall, the EDIA & Innovation department goals are to raise awareness and build knowledge from those who have lived experiences due to physical, emotional, and social differences. We host “Spotlight Series” to feature key guest speaker(s) who can share their truths and experiences of their life’s journey. If you are interested in being part of the spotlight series, please contact us!

Check out our previous Spotlight Series: Ways to Enhance Community Safety - Surrey Place and Visions of Hope: Perfect Just as We Are - Surrey Place.

Desired Skills in Potential Collaborators: We are seeking individuals with lived experience and/or engaging in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility work.

Contacts: Leanne Nicolle, President and CEO, leanne.nicolle@bigbrothersbigsisters.ca, and; Cherie Ann Pereira, Manager, Evidence, Learning & Impact, cherieann.pereira@bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.

Organization: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto (BBBST)

Website: toronto.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca

Project Title: Mitigating the Impacts of Childhood Adversity through Preventative Community Interventions

Project Summary: BBBST would like to partner with and conduct research on the prevention of negative health outcomes as a result of childhood adversity through developmental mentoring relationships. After the pandemic, BBBST found that over 52,000 children and youth in Toronto are experiencing three or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), leading to a higher likelihood of them getting into gang violence, substance abuse, dropping out of school and facing mental health challenges as young adults. Research shows that intentional mentoring can help combat the negative effects of ACEs, empowering children and youth to grow into resilient and responsible citizens.

Every child in the one-to-one mentoring program at BBBST is matched with a screened and trained mentor, for an average period of three years, most often these developmental relationships last much longer leading to positive outcomes. All through this period, BBBST collects significant amounts of impact data from all the mentees and mentors being served through its programs. The objective of this research study is to understand the long-term impact of mentoring on youth and compare this cohort to a similar cohort of non-mentored youth.

Desired Skills in Potential Collaborators: BBBST would like to embark on a partnership with the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre to harness its strong researcher network-base, combined with BBBST’s extensive data on vulnerable children and youth in Toronto. BBBST would like to co-design this study with researchers holding a background in preventative community interventions and/or mitigation of childhood trauma.

Other Collaborators: BBBST is open and willing to collaborate with organizations with the goal of enabling all children and youth to reach their full potential and successfully thrive.

Contact: Dianne Fierheller, Assistant Scientist, Co-lead- Family & Child Health Initiative, dianne.fierheller@thp.ca

Organization: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners

Website: familyandchildhealth.ca

Project Aims and Description: Family and Child Health Initiative (FCHI) is a group of researchers and clinicians at the Institute for Better Health (IBH) at Trillium Health Partners in the Region of Peel. Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of children, youth and families at the intersection of healthcare and community through partnership, innovation, research, and education. Our projects have three main pillars: 1) Engaging and building partnerships with our community; 2) Deepening our understanding of the interconnected factors at the individual, family, institutional and systems levels that influence child and family health, and; 3) Co-designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to support child and family health and well-being with diverse communities

Desired Skills/Become a Partner: Whether you are a community member, service provider, researcher, or student, please consider connecting with us to share to your ideas about child, youth, and family health or how we might work together.

Other Collaborators: The FCHI participates in many community response tables across the Peel region which allows us to continue to learn and ensure our projects are community-driven and developed through partnerships. Take a look at our website to learn more about our amazing partners and how we might work together!

Contact: targetkids.study@sickkids.ca

Organization: The Applied Research Group for Kids – TARGet Kids!

Website: https://www.targetkids.ca/

Project Aims and Description: TARGet Kids! is a primary care practice based research network. We promote research that really matters, to create solutions to some of today’s biggest health concerns, with the overall goal of improving the health of Canadian children. Since 2008, TARGet Kids! has grown to be the largest and longest-running cohort study of its kind in Canada. We currently have over 11,000 participants and 35,767 data points from which researchers have made connections between early life exposures in children and health issues such as obesity, micronutrient deficiencies and developmental problems. At TARGet Kids! we believe that scientific data and knowledge are common goods that should be shared within an appropriate framework.

Desired Skills in Potential Collaborators: Experience with clinical trials and mixed methods, community health centres, and Indigenous communities.

Skills We Have to Offer: TARGet Kids! has experience in longitudinal cohorts, nutrition, clinical trials, pediatrics, and early child development research. 

Other Collaborators: TARGet Kids! works with ParticipACTION, Offord Centre, Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Children, and the ​​​​​​Joannah and Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition at the University of Toronto. 

Contact: Tamorah Lewis, Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto, tamorah.lewis@sickkids.ca

Project Title: Skin Tone Bias in Pulse Oximetry Accuracy: Risk of Occult Hypoxemia in Canadian Children with Range of Skin Tones

Project Summary: Pulse oximeters measure how much light passes through the skin to estimate how much oxygen is in patients’ red blood cells. Current pulse oximetry devices are validated on lighter skin tones, but may overlook low oxygen levels in patients with darker skin. This blind spot could put children at grave risk.

Studies show that there is different oximetry performance between White and Black patients, with poorer detection of low oxygen levels in Black patients. In a multicultural setting like Canada, children from different ethnic backgrounds have diverse skin pigmentation. A pressing question is where, within this skin tone range, the accuracy of oximetry drops significantly.

We will research pulse oximetry performance across various skin tones, enrolling a diverse group of children at The Hospital for Sick Children, already receiving oximetry and blood gas measurements per their care. We will quantify skin tone with both a low-cost paper-based scale and a more advanced device measuring the accuracy of oximetry readings in children of varying skin tones.

Funding Available: Yes

What skill sets do you or your team currently have?
Anesthesiologists, critical care physicians, biomedical engineers, social epidemiologists, policy specialists, health equity specialists. All of these people are faculty members at the University of Toronto.

What skills are you looking for in potential collaborators?
We are interested in recruiting community members (potentially parents) to partner with the academic research team to give input on the study and protocol and stay engaged during data collection and analysis. We are hoping to partner with community members of various racial and ethnic backgrounds.