This week, the CHRIM community came together to celebrate a year full of accomplishments, challenges, and exciting research at our Annual General Meeting.
We are proud to share our Annual Report, where you will find details about scientific discoveries and special moments from 2022, as well as a statistical year in review.
Some Highlights from 2022
Elevating the Brand
Throughout 2022, many of our researchers were featured in news stories and online articles. CHRIM researchers, Drs. Jean-Eric Ghia and Melanie Morris were recognized for their community contributions and awarded Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medals (Manitoba), while Dr. Noralous Roos was inducted in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame for her work using big data systems analysis to understand social determinants of health, promoting effective universal health care policies. These accomplishments and many others helped showcase CHRIM in a positive light throughout the media and emphasized the incredible group of scientists we have at our Institute.
In addition to our researchers’ accomplishments, we launched a community newsletter, Through the Microscope, in an effort to make child health research findings more accessible to families and healthcare organizations across Manitoba. The first issue included articles for families on a variety of topics, including easing anxiety for students returning to school, how to help children properly care for their teeth around fun holidays like Halloween, and tips for food allergy safety, and more.
Help Kids
We welcomed 15 new members in 2022, who will be studying a variety of child health topics including bone health, rare genetic disorders, family systems and development, and childhood cancer.
We launched our newest research theme, PRIME: Partnering for Research Innovation in Mental health via eHealth Excellence, thanks to the generous support from Sobeys Family of Support fundraising initiative in partnership with Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. PRIME is led by Drs. Leslie Roos and Mandy Archibald and will create infrastructure, resources, and advisory groups to enable excellence in the rapid-cycle development of evidence-based eHealth therapeutics that promote mental health, complement chronic disease management, and enable children to thrive.
Support Research
The Research Support Unit at CHRIM continued to thrive throughout 2022, conducting 78 studies and seeing 25% growth in new clinical projects. Patient engagement activities expanded at CHRIM, with more than 20 researchers consulting with patient partners and 15 projects supported with patient partners’ perspectives. We expanded to include more than 45 patients across several different groups, including the Research Advisory Council and the Research Advisory Council for Youth, who not only helped provide feedback on a variety of projects and questions, but also shared knowledge in 12 different outreach presentations.
Increase Funding
Increased funding helps CHRIM scientists move forward with their research and discover new information about childhood conditions and diseases. Operating with a reduced budget again in 2022 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs of inflation, CHRIM managed a total of $20,607,058 active research dollars. This is comprised of partner funding, salaries, infrastructure funding, and research grants from investigators.
Despite reduced funding, we were proud to welcome 52 students to CHRIM in a variety of health related areas, making 2022’s summer studentship the largest we’ve ever had! Twelve joined as a result of the Summer Studentship grants, and an additional 40 students joined from external funding. We are grateful to Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba for continuing to support researchers through these very important grants and awards competitions that help fuel new knowledge and scientific breakthroughs!
Scientific Achievements
Each year, CHRIM researchers make groundbreaking discoveries and advances in science, and 2022 was no exception, as they led studies on topics such as the origin of pediatric brain tumours, head injuries in sports, mental health of parents of preterm babies, and the potential cardiovascular benefits of living close to urban trails.
Looking back, 2022 was an exciting year of growth and success at CHRIM, with countless scientific triumphs and remarkable teamwork. We can’t wait to see what 2022 holds!