We are testing a treatment that is developed to improve behavioral functioning of children with congenital heart disease. The intervention is time limited and provided virtually (over video sessions) with the goal of helping parents manage and improve their child's behavior.

Background: Unfortunately, between 40-65% of children and adolescents with migraine do not respond to the current standard of care treatments. In order to advance treatment options for this group, we must first understand if there are predictors of treatment course in children and adolescents with migraine. Preliminary studies have shown that depression might be predictive of a poor treatment response. However, there is a lot about this that is still unknown. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depression and post-traumatic symptoms) and related behaviors (i.e., sleep) in both youth with migraine and their parents will be predictive of treatment response and disability. Methods: A variety of complimentary research methods will be used to measure internalizing symptoms and related behaviors and migraine-specific outcomes at various time points. A sample of 25 children and adolescents with migraine, and one of their parents, will be recruited for the pilot phase. We aim to recruit a total of 225 children and adolescents with migraine, along with one parent/guardian, throughout the entire study. First, participants and their parents/guardians will complete baseline questionnaires about their headaches, internalizing symptoms and related behaviors. Then, each participant and their parent/guardian will enter a 30-day baseline phase, during which time they will complete a daily headache, mood, anxiety and stress diary. Patient participants will also wear an actigraph, a device that is worn on the wrist to monitor activity and estimates sleep-wake patterns with a built-in movement sensor. Following the 30-day baseline phase, follow-up questionnaires will be sent at three months, one year and two years. These questionnaires will assess interim headache history and internalizing symptoms and related behaviors. All of the questionnaires will be sent through auto-generated emails with embedded questionnaire links, or through text messaged links. Significance: This study will be the first to look at specific modifiable risk factors over time for the maintenance and progression of this often lifelong, debilitating condition in a sample of children and adolescents. In so doing, this work has the potential to uncover advanced treatment approaches for these vulnerable youth.

This study wants to make healthcare better for all groups by collecting detailed information in children’s medical records. It is led by Dr. Nicole Johnson from the University of Calgary. The study has been approved by the University of Calgary’s Health Research Ethics Board. It is also supported by Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society. We are looking for people in Canada to join a group discussion. This includes youth, caregivers, students, doctors, researchers, clinic staff, hospital staff, tech workers, legal experts, and ethicists. The goal is to hear your thoughts on what kind of personal information should be collected in children’s health records. Taking part in the study is your choice. You can stop at any time. The discussion will be in person or on a video call. It will last about 1.5 to 2 hours. We will ask you questions about how health information is collected now. We also want your ideas on what information should be added, like race, income, sex, age, gender, education level, social status and immigration. We will record the session and ask you to fill out a short form about yourself. This form will ask about your age, income, and background. Everything you say will stay private. To thank you for your time, you will get a $25 gift card.

The study is designed to identify the best outcome measures in assessing their suitability and the adaptability across a variety of countries and languages for future international clinical trials for patients with CDD.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common condition affecting Canadian children. It can have significant negative long-term outcomes when it is not effectively treated. Current treatments (such as stimulant medication) can be effective, but don't work for everyone and can have significant side effects. These treatments work on specific neurotransmitters in the brain (dopamine and noradrenaline) and we know that ADHD has a large genetic component. However, we do not fully understand how these neurotransmitter dysfunctions cause ADHD symptoms. TMS is a non-invasive way of affecting brain functioning in a specific area and has been used to investigate brain excitability. It has also been used in the treatment of depression and anxiety in adults. For this study participants will receive only one session, which can result in a change in excitability for 30-60min i.e. is not long lasting. To examine how neurotransmitters relate to specific symptoms in ADHD we will use advance MRI techniques that can show both structure, function and dopamine production in the brain. We will then have participants complete executive function cognitive tasks to measure their abilities to control their behaviour and attention. Participants will then receive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to an area of the brain associated with attention. In this project we hope to better characterize the role of dopamine in children with ADHD through the use of a novel neuroimaging technique (neuromelanin-MRI). We then want to determine the excitability of different cortical targets using safe, non-invasive brain stimulation and behavioural measures. Together this will further the understanding of the neurobiology in pediatric ADHD and help determine how to better personalize treatments for this population going forward.

This study will help us learn more about how type 1 diabetes occurs as well as help us to identify people who may be eligible for prevention trials through screening. By ongoing monitoring, we will compare people with and without auto-antibodies to help us better understand differences over time.

Healthy Infants and Children's Clinical Research Program (HICCUP). Research is essential to improving the health and lives of children and families everywhere. Many studies require participation from children who are healthy. Other   studies compare a healthy group to one with a particular illness. These participants are called controls and they are crucial to studies exploring the causes, treatments, and outcomes of virtually all pediatric diseases. Successful control matching is a challenge for all clinical pediatric researchers but one that the community at large has the capacity to solve. HICCUP was designed to harness the generous and giving spirit of the southern Alberta community to overcome this problem and provide the opportunity for improved child health research.  We are building a large sample of healthy children and parents willing to consider participation in healthy control research. HICCUP provides a direct opportunity for children, families, and communities to directly contribute to the advancement of research and child health in Alberta. Many families wanting to “give something back” can do so by volunteering their time to help child and community health in a positive way. The HICCUP program will provide leading researchers and investigators with easy, equal, systematic access to healthy controls to be invited to participate in their own studies. This will drastically improve efficiencies while reducing costs, allowing researchers to be more productive and focused on the problems they are targeting. The result is the direct enhancement of all child and family health clinical research in southern Alberta, potentially serving as a model to advance such systems in other pediatric research settings.

Children and youth with severe paralysis have a very difficult time to interact with the world because of their physical disability. Brain computer interfaces (BCI) are a promising solution for this population giving them opportunities to participate in life. This study will be trying to improve the methods and process in order for these children and youth to have access to our BCI program so they can have life-changing BCI solutions.

The project aims to understand youth experiences of youth onset type 2 diabetes (T2D)-related mental health challenges. This will be done by adapting an online data collection platform to create a collaborative virtual platform, entitled a “living lab”, where youth can (a) create a user profile to become part of a participant registry, (b) participate in research about their mental health experiences, (c) prioritize their mental health needs and (d) help design knowledge resources that use artistic methods.

Septic shock accounts for approximately 8% of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions worldwide, carries significant morbidity and has a reported mortality rate between 5% and 40% depending on the setting in which it occurs. Important parts of treatment involve early administration of antibiotics, fluids and medications to improve blood pressure. However, the high morbidity and mortality of pediatric septic shock have led physicians to consider corticosteroids when patients do not stabilize following initial management. Although the use of corticosteroids in septic shock has been widely debated in the literature for over 40 years, there is no clear evidence for or against this practice. Some pediatric studies have reported an improvement in blood pressure and organ function with the use of corticosteroids while other studies have suggested an increase in secondary infections, blood sugar and a decreased ability to fight infection. We therefore plan to conduct a randomized controlled trial to determine if hydrocortisone (a corticosteroid) compared to placebo improves outcomes (as measured by mortality and quality of life) in children with septic shock. This study will be conducted in 1032 patients in 30 centres across Canada and the US over 4 years. Eligible children will include those from age 1 month to 17.5 years, with evidence of a severe infection and need for medications to support their blood pressure. We will also compare organ function, potential side effects and healthcare costs in the hydrocortisone and placebo groups. Our study will be the first pediatric septic shock trial that is large enough to assess the potential benefits of corticosteroids in this patient population. We will also be the first adult or pediatric trial to assess the effect of a treatment for septic shock on quality of life. The results of this study will provide evidence on which to base recommendations for corticosteroid administration in pediatric septic shock.