Dr. Eyal Cohen Honoured for Mid-Career Achievement in Caring for Children with Medical Complexity
The following announcement was originally published by Systems & Policy Research Network for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs and Their Families on August 17, 2026.
The Systems and Policy Research Network (SPRNetwork) is proud to announce Dr. Eyal Cohen as the recipient of the 2026 Pediatric Complex Care Mid-Career Achievement Award. This honor recognizes Dr. Cohen’s significant contributions to the field of pediatric complex care and his leadership in developing innovative models of care for children with medical complexity and their families.
Through clinical innovation, research, quality improvement, and a commitment to learning from families and colleagues, Dr. Cohen has helped advance the growing field of complex care and continues to shape how care is delivered to children with complex needs.
About the Award
The Pediatric Complex Care Lifetime Achievement Award is supported by the Systems & Policy Research Network, Family Voices, the Academic Pediatrics Association Complex Care and Disability Special Interest Group, and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Building a New Model of Care
Dr. Cohen co-founded the Complex Care Program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) with colleagues in the Division of Paediatric Medicine. What began as a small, “side of desk” effort grew into a program that now serves approximately 700 children and is part of a provincial program serving approximately 1,600 patients.
Early in his career, Dr. Cohen helped develop a new approach to caring for children with medical complexity, one that moved beyond an episodic model of care focused primarily on hospitalizations and recognized the need for coordinated, ongoing support for children and families. His work contributed to the development of new approaches to defining children with medical complexity and understanding the models of care needed to support them.
Today, Dr. Cohen is Program Head of Child Health Evaluative Sciences at the SickKids Research Institute and Co Executive Director of the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Children. He is also a Professor of Paediatrics and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, a Scientist with the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, and an adjunct scientist at ICES.
Read the full announcement online.
