Children's Health Research Institute

There is still a lot to learn about childhood illnesses. Our goal is to unravel the mysteries of childhood genetic disorders and to use that information to provide better quality of life through prevention, early diagnosis and treatments.

Overview

Researcher teams within the Division of Genetics and Development focuses on a variety of children's health problems, including:

• diabetes and other diseases of the pancreas
• mental retardation
• abnormalities of the reproductive system affecting puberty
• abnormal bone formation
• growth retardation
• skin diseases
• heart abnormalities
• metabolic diseases, and
• cancer

Supported by the Children's Health Foundation, we are currently involved in a leading initiative called “epigenetics.”  Epigenetics is a branch of biomedical science aimed at identifying and understanding the factors that influence how the activity of genes is controlled.

The Epigenetics initiative includes: 

• studying why certain genetic defects occur during fetal development so that they can either be prevented or minimized;
• understanding what causes rare mental developmental syndromes and disabilities;
• researching the fundamental causes of some childhood cancers so that diagnosis and treatment can be improved and;
• unravelling the mysteries behind childhood genetic disorders.

Research Activities

For information on current research activities of all CHRI Scientists and Associate Scientists please refer to their individual webpages via the links in the "Our Scientists" table below.

Educational and Training Opportunities

There are always opportunities at Children's Health Research Institute in the Division of Genetics and Development for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral research fellows. Individual research team leaders should be contacted for more information.

Our Scientists