Pediatric Outcome Improvement through Coordination of Research Networks (POPCORN)

Since March 2020, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have invested more than $320 million in research to support the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes funding for research aimed at examining and mitigating the impacts of the pandemic on children, youth and families.

Since March 2020, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have invested more than $320 million in research to support the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes funding for research aimed at examining and mitigating the impacts of the pandemic on children, youth and families.

To build on these investments, the Government of Canada, through CIHR, is providing $6.7M to establish a new research platform that will monitor COVID-19 infections, vaccination, and social impacts among children and youth.

Led by Dr. Caroline Quach at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montreal, the Pediatric Outcomes Improvement through Coordination of Research Networks (POPCORN) platform will:

• Analyze the consequences of COVID-19 infections among diverse children and youth populations;
• Investigate health issues related to COVID-19 infections that are especially severe in young people, such as myocarditis;
• Study the impacts of pandemic public health measures on young Canadians;
• Provide evidence about the health and wellbeing of children and youth as it relates to COVID-19 to decision-makers at the national and international levels; and
• Coordinate the sharing of information between research teams in order to fully understand the consequences of the pandemic for children and youth.

POPCORN brings together pediatric health researchers from 16 research sites across Canada. Together, they will help protect children and youth against the serious health effects of the pandemic.

POPCORN research sites are based at:

• Stollery Children’s Hospital at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB
• Alberta Children’s Hospital at the University of Calgary in Calgary, AB
• BC Children’s Hospital at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC
• Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, MB
• Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Center at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, NL
• The IWK Health Centre at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS
• The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, ON
• The Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto in Toronto, ON
• McMaster Children’s Hospital at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON
• Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre at the University of Western Ontario in London, ON
• Kingston General Hospital at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON
• The Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine at the Université de Montréal in Montreal, QC
• The Centre mère-enfant at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec at Université Laval in Quebec City, QC
• The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, QC
• Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke at the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, QC
• Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, SK