Our Impact

University of Calgary researchers have shown probiotic supplements can help form a healthy microbiome in the gut of the tiniest infants who are born without a fully formed gut microbiome. The study found that a specific mix (five species) of probiotic supplement accelerated the maturation of the microbiome into a term-like state and reduced intestinal inflammation in extremely preterm infants.

Dr. Fiona Schulte, PhD co-chaired a multidisciplinary international task force to develop a global recommendation for the surveillance of education and employment to support young cancer survivors so that they don’t fall behind their peers. The guidelines, published in Cancer, recommend all survivors receive regular screening for educational and employment outcomes, just like the regular physical screening they receive as cancer survivors.

To ensure that all children and families have safe, equitable and reliable access to treatments for pain, Solutions for Kids in Pain, in partnership with the Health Standards Organization of Canada, leading experts, and people with lived experience co-designed the first national standard for managing pain in Canada. Dr. Katie Birnie, PhD chaired the Health Standards Working Group along with 14 experts in paediatric pain management. Voices from across the country included physicians, physical therapists, psychologists, child life specialists, health administrators, nurses, international experts, and youth and family partners with pain experiences.

Racism in health care, for example, disproportionately disadvantages patients who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC). "The practice of identifying and eliminating racism and its harms is called anti-racism. This is an essential duty for all physicians," says Dr. Tito Daodu, MD.