Nicole Catherine, Associate Director of the Children’s Health Policy Centre, and Canada Research Chair Tier 2 in Child Health Equity and Policy, gave a virtual presentation to a group of Fraser Health authority Community Health Specialists on Adverse Childhood Experiences on Dec. 1.

Titled Health and wellbeing: It starts with children, the presentation focused on findings from the BC Healthy Connections Project and a project underway with the Elizabeth Fry Society, Voices of EFry Mothers. Both projects involve learning from research data—provided by children and mothers in British Columbia—on how to prevent early childhood adversities.

“By preventing adverse childhood experiences, we can help ensure that all children have the best start in life and can reach their full potential,” Catherine said. The purpose of the talk was to establish further research collaborations between the Centre and Fraser Health on new early childhood research initiatives.

Her 20-minute talk was followed by a lively question-and-answer session and an invitation to collaborate on new initiatives to better support underserved children and mothers.

Associate Director of the Children’s Health Policy Centre, Nicole Catherine — who has recently been named Canada Research Chair Tier 2 in Child Health Equity and Policy — is a co-investigator for a new mental health initiative know as DIVERT.

The Digital, Inclusive, Virtual, and Equitable Research Training is a trans-disciplinary mental health online training platform dedicated to improving child mental health research and practice in Canada. DIVERT aims to improve inclusion and increase accessibility for underserved children and families.

The national team is funded primarily by a multi-million-dollar investment from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and enabled by a multi-million-dollar investment in digital infrastructure and expertise from IBM Canada.

DIVERT aims to harness the knowledge of a diverse range of educators so they can all learn together through online connections, national mentorship groups based on lived experiences, research collaborations (with children, families, industries, Non-Governmental Organizations and health care organizations), annual in-person meetings, and the future evolution of a certificate program. Anyone can join DIVERT Mental Health. Doctoral students, post-doctoral trainees and early career researchers conducting research on digital child mental health are encouraged to apply.

Building on her research expertise, Catherine will be mentoring three trainees and providing lectures on child health equity and policy and on efforts to better support underserved children and families.