CIHR Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health
This funding opportunity is now available on ResearchNet. Registration deadline: September 15, 2026. Application deadline: October 20, 2026.
View the archived Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health (2025) funding opportunity on ResearchNet. Funding results for this opportunity are anticipated in Spring 2026.
The goal of this funding opportunity is to build research capacity, generate new knowledge, and support knowledge mobilization in human development, child and youth health by funding operating grants to early career researchers.
This annual competition advances IHDCYH’s Capacity Building priority and is a core component of the Institute’s Career Pathway, a suite of recurring funding opportunities designed to strengthen capacity in human development, child and youth health research. It addresses a community-identified need for smaller grants that build track records, enable access to larger funding, and support the transition to independent research careers.
Objectives
- Support early career researchers in initiating and conducting independent research in human development, child and youth health with the goal of building research capacity in this important health research area.
- Generate new knowledge that will contribute to improving human development, child and youth health outcomes, promote health equity, and increase our understanding of the challenges, needs and current gaps in this research area.
- Facilitate knowledge exchange and translation between early career researchers and other stakeholders in human development, child and youth health.
2026
The 2026 funding opportunity is led by the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) in partnership with the CIHR Institutes of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH), Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA), and Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD).
Research Areas
In addition to supporting projects relevant to human development, child and youth health in IHDCYH's mandate area, separate funding pools will support the following priority areas:
- Indigenous Human Development, Child and Youth Health
- Human Development, Child and Youth Health for Equity-Denied Groups
- Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
Funds Available
The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $1,950,000, enough to fund up to 13 grants. The maximum amount per grant from CIHR is $50,000 per year for up to 3 years for a total of $150,000.
Important Dates
- Registration deadline: September 15, 2026
- Application deadline: October 20, 2026
2024
Awardee profiles
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Partnering to Improve Pain Management for Filipino Children and Families in Canada
Pain is common in childhood, whether from medical procedures, vaccinations, surgery, chronic disease and/or everyday pains. Despite existing solutions for managing pain, very little research has focused on Filipino children. This is problematic as Filipino children and families are a major cultural and immigrant group in Canada, who face significant barriers to quality health care. The goal of this research is to share solutions for children's pain that are culturally responsive and tailored to meet the needs of Filipino children, their families, and the health professionals who care for them. This project is a partnership between UCalgary's Partnering for Pain research program, Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), which is a national network that shares evidence-based solutions for children's pain, and Our Kids' Health, which is a national team that develops and shares evidence-based health information translated and adapted for culturally-diverse families, including the Filipino community (Filipino Kids' Health). Together, these partners aim to better understand the pain management needs of Filipino children, families, and health professionals, and to develop tools, such as videos, social media posts and infographics, that share culturally responsive evidence-based solutions. These efforts will ensure that Filipino families in Canada have access to the best information about managing children's pain quickly and effectively. Further reading |
Evaluating the effectiveness of steroids in treating orbital cellulitis in children
Orbital cellulitis is a serious and potentially life-threatening infection around the eye that most often affects children and youth. Treatment requires hospital admission for intravenous antibiotics, and some children may also need surgery. Steroids may help reduce swelling and inflammation and shorten hospital stays, but existing studies are small and of low quality. As a result, there is no standard guidance on steroid use for orbital cellulitis. Despite this uncertainty, steroids are commonly given, even though unnecessary exposure can cause harm. To address this evidence gap, a large, multi-centre Canadian clinical trial is being planned to determine whether steroids improve outcomes for children hospitalized with orbital cellulitis. Before launching this trial, a pilot study will be conducted at two Canadian children's hospitals to assess feasibility. Children under 18 will be randomly assigned to receive either two doses of the steroid dexamethasone or a placebo. This pilot study will evaluate the research team's ability to recruit and retain patients, deliver the intervention as planned, engage clinicians and families, and collect key outcomes such as length of hospital stay, need for surgery, vision, pain, return visits, and family stress. Findings will inform the design of the future trial and lay the foundation for high-quality evidence to guide care. Further reading
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Growing up during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal links between chronic perinatal stress and child biopsychosocial development from birth to age 6
Pregnancy and the early years after birth are a critical period for child development. Stress experienced by parents during this time can influence children's biological stress regulation and emotional development. The COVID-19 pandemic created an unusually high and prolonged source of stress for pregnant people and new parents, yet little is known about how this exposure affects longer-term child development. This research builds on an ongoing longitudinal study that began during the height of the pandemic in spring 2020. The research team recruited pregnant women and is following them and their children through early childhood, up to age 6. This study examines how pandemic-related stress during pregnancy and the postpartum period is associated with the biology of child stress and socioemotional development. This research measures maternal psychological stress, biological indicators of child stress regulation, child social and emotional outcomes, and parenting behaviors to identify pathways of risk and resilience. By following families over time, this study will clarify how early-life stress influences child development and whether supportive parent-child relationships can buffer its effects. Findings will inform early intervention strategies and policies aimed at promoting child and family well-being following large-scale stressors, including public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Further reading X |
Co-designing CHAMP: an artificial intelligence CHatbot to Assist the Management of Pediatric infectious symptoms
Acute infectious symptoms are leading causes of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits in Canada, many of which could be safely managed at home. Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots offer a promising way to deliver accessible, evidence-based guidance to support families in managing these symptoms, and avoiding unnecessary ED visits. This research aims to co-design CHAMP (CHatbot to Assist the Management of Pediatric patients), an AI chatbot intended to help patients and families manage acute pediatric infectious symptoms. CHAMP will be designed to deliver timely, tailored, and validated health information to support safe at-home self-management and informed care-seeking. Youth and families will work alongside the interdisciplinary research team as co-researchers to shape CHAMP's content, delivery, and decision-making support through multiple co-design workshops. The study also prioritizes equity by exploring how CHAMP may work for families who face language barriers or limited access to technology. By grounding AI chatbot development in participatory, equitable, and responsible co-design, this research aims to create a safe and tailored tool that can support at-home care, guide families to seek appropriate help when needed, and improve overall healthcare experiences. This funding will build capacity for downstream research by producing a co-designed CHAMP prototype and participation guidelines to support future usability, effectiveness and implementation studies. Further reading
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Detecting Respiratory Events using Acoustic Monitoring in extremely preterm infants: DREAM Big
Extremely preterm infants, born before 29 weeks gestation, commonly experience unstable breathing patterns due to immature lungs and respiratory control. These unstable patterns, known as respiratory events, can include pauses in breathing (apneas) or airflow obstruction which often lead to clinical instability. Unfortunately, current hospital monitors cannot reliably tell the difference between different respiratory event types or detect airflow obstruction. There are airflow monitors which provide better detail, but they are too cumbersome for continuous use in the neonatal intensive care unit. To address this gap, this team has developed a small wireless acoustic sensor that uses breath sounds and motion signals to assess airflow and chest movements. In early pilot work with preterm infants, this new sensor accurately detected breaths and potential obstructions, showing promise as a more precise, non invasive monitoring tool. This funded study will evaluate the accuracy and usability of this acoustic sensor in extremely preterm infants between 32 and 44 weeks of age. Infants will undergo multi channel respiratory recordings at four developmental time points, allowing comparisons with both current bedside monitors and research grade reference data. Through clinician interviews, this team will also assess real world acceptability of the new sensor. Ultimately, this work aims to improve respiratory event detection and support more individualized care for this vulnerable population. Further reading |
Promoting positive mental health through school food environments
School environments play an important role in promoting healthy food-related knowledge and behaviours. However, some evidence suggests that current school food policies and curricula may lead to worsened mental health for young people engaged in disordered eating, including worsened self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and poor body image. This project uses youth-engaged research methods to examine experiences with disordered eating in the context of school food environments. A youth advisory council (YAC) will guide the research process. First, virtual focus groups will be held with adolescents and young adults who experienced disordered eating during their childhood and adolescence to examine how school food policies and curricula may have influenced their mental health. Next, the YAC will develop a survey based on the findings from the focus groups that will examine how other young people interpret the impact of school food environments on mental health. The results of both studies will then be distributed in partnership with the YAC and collaborating organizations to decision-makers in education, mental health, and nutrition policy. This research will help generate recommendations for school food environments that can promote positive mental health alongside healthy eating habits. Further reading |
Health and Wellbeing of Canadian Children in Foster Care (CanFos Project)
In Canada, 4-7% of children will live in an alternative out-of-home care placement at some point in their childhood. Childhood trauma and caregiver disruption causes lifelong mental and physical harm and premature mortality. Due to the ongoing legacy of colonialism, First Nations children continue to be markedly overrepresented in foster care. As well, First Nations children likely experience disparities in health outcomes because they face healthcare inequality. However, these disparities remain poorly understood. Understanding the health and mental health outcomes of First Nations children, and all Canadian children, who have experience in foster care is critical for informing equitable health policies. The Canadian Children in Foster Homes (CanFos) project was established to enable population-level analyses of health outcomes among children living in foster homes across Canada. Due to the depth of data collected, CanFos can distinctively characterize First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Black child outcomes. This data platform with unique healthcare linkage is enabling the largest analysis to-date of educational, economic, and health outcomes of children who have lived in foster homes in Canada. The results will provide key evidence for improving physical and mental health care access for Canadian children in care across all provinces and territories as well as internationally. Further reading |
Breathing for TwoGenerating real-world evidence on the risk-benefit profile of asthma biologic use during pregnancy for maternal, infant, and long-term childhood outcomes 
Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions experienced during pregnancy, and poor control of asthma symptoms can lead to serious complications for both mother and child. While new biologic therapies (treatments that come from living organisms, like proteins or genes) have revolutionized treatment for moderate-to-severe asthma, pregnant women were excluded from clinical trials, leaving major gaps in evidence about the safety and effectiveness of these medications during pregnancy. As a result, many women and clinicians face difficult decisions, often choosing between optimal asthma control and uncertainty about potential risks to the unborn child. This research program aims to address this critical evidence gap. Through the REASSURE-MOMS project, the research team will use large-scale real-world data from the United States and six Canadian provinces to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of asthma biologics during pregnancy as well as their impact on both maternal and childhood outcomes. By studying millions of linked mother-child pairs with long-term follow-up, this research offers a unique opportunity to generate robust, clinically relevant evidence that is not possible through traditional trials. What makes this work innovative is its use of real-world population data to answer urgent questions in perinatal care. The findings will directly inform clinical practice, reduce uncertainty for families, and support safer, more personalized asthma management during pregnancy. Further reading |
Equity-focused prevention and care for obstetric trauma
Although most pregnancies are uncomplicated, some individuals experience severe, unexpected injuries to the perineum and pelvic organs during labour. This is called "obstetric trauma". These injuries can result in chronic pain, hospitalization, and long-term complications, such as pelvic organ prolapse and urinary or bowel incontinence. Canada has repeatedly been identified as having the highest obstetric trauma rate among high-income countries over the last decade, as obstetric trauma affects 1 out of every 20 pregnancies in Canada. Currently, there is a lack of sufficient information on why these numbers are higher in Canada, which populations are most affected, what the long-term physical, social and mental health implications are for these individuals, the supports they need to recover, and how obstetric trauma and its long-term outcomes can be reduced. This project is conducting a series of quantitative population-based studies, and qualitative studies to engage with people who have experienced obstetric trauma and aim to answer these questions. This research will generate knowledge to inform obstetric trauma prevention efforts, strengthen existing care for those who experience obstetric trauma, and develop innovative, person-centered, equity-oriented and trauma- and violence-informed supports for families affected by obstetric trauma. Further reading X Bluesky |
Contact Information
For information about the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health CIHR Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health Initiative, please contact:
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