MONTREAL, April 25, 2022 - Pediatric health researchers from 16 institutions across Canada are joining forces to better understand COVID-19. They are united by the research network coordination platform POPCORN (Pediatric Outcome ImProvement through Coordination Of Research Networks) led by Dr. Caroline Quach, pediatric infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist at CHU Sainte-Justine and Professor at Université de Montréal. They will study the impacts of COVID_19 disease, vaccination and public health measures on the health and well-being of children and young people.

Their goals?

Mobilize knowledge to provide decision-makers in Canada and around the world with the best evidence to better protect children and their families in times of pandemic.

The creation of POPCORN is made possible by a $6.7 million grant from the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The funding announcement was made at CHU Sainte-Justine this morning by the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health.

“This major collaborative project is consistent with the mission of CHU Sainte-Justine, which is to improve the health of children and families. The funding granted by the Government of Canada demonstrates its confidence in the capacity of all the POPCORN’s partners to transform and structure the pediatric research in the country,” says Caroline Barbir, President and CEO of CHU Sainte-Justine.

“Over the past two years, the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre has mobilized in the fight against COVID-19 with more than 50 research projects, some of which have led to important discoveries. POPCORN is the natural continuation of this commitment and confirms the importance of working together to go further. This is also the vision of the teams at the Research Centre who are hard at work so that each patient, each child, each mother can receive care adapted to their own unique characteristics, thanks in particular to precision medicine,” says Dr. Jacques Michaud, Director of the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre.

“By uniting the driving forces of pediatric research, POPCORN will foster a multidisciplinary and coordinated approach to research across the country. The platform will not only be a valuable resource for research and data allowing to better protect young people against COVID-19 and its impacts, but also against future pandemics and other health emergencies. It will lay the foundations for agile pediatric research that will inform decision-making on any issue related to children’s health,” says Dr. Caroline Quach, project leader.

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