Research Networks
MICYRN is keen to foster relationships between existing and emerging perinatal, neonatal, child and youth health research teams, networks, and organizations across the country. This will enable new Canadian research capacity by linking existing infrastructure and expertise and minimizing resource duplication. To this end, MICYRN’s Partnership Core committee undertook to develop a directory of Canadian maternal-child research networks. The directory was initially formed in 2007/08 through a survey to research directors at the 17 MICYRN sites. Based on input from new networks, the directory was updated in August 2009, and again in May 2010. A search function, based on key words to describe the research activity of these networks is under development.
We know this directory is not complete and that new networks continue to be formed. Please contact us to Register your Network:
Birth Cohorts
Pregnancy and birth cohort studies are fundamental research tools to determine the effect of exposures and interventions on maternal health and pregnancy outcomes; and to link prenatal and early postnatal exposures to long-term effects on children's health and development. The longitudinal perspective of these studies allows firmer causal inferences about the relationship between environmental and genetic factors to which children have been exposed and their subsequent outcomes.
New and important pregnancy/birth cohort studies have been conducted in the past years in many industrialized countries, including Canada, the United States, and several European countries. With the recent expansion of such studies in Canada, their increasingly diversified content, and the new methods of data collection they have used, many felt it was time to assess the current Canadian landscape. At a workshop organized by the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Health Canada in Ottawa in February 2009, it was proposed to develop an inventory of pregnancy/birth cohort studies in Canada.
In discussions subsequent to the February workshop, IHDCYH partnered with the Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN) and the Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Childhood Development (SKC-ECD) to plan and develop this inventory, which built on initial efforts by MICYRN. Further details on the background and methodology to develop the Canadian inventory are provided by CIHR in english http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/40753.html or french http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/f/40753.html .
The inventory lists Canadian cohort studies where recruitment is completed, ongoing, or in development. The inventory provides detailed information on the content and design of such studies, and shows features so as to facilitate comparisons with other national and international cohort studies, such as the European birth cohort inventory (http://www.birthcohorts.net). You can search for studies with particular exposure or outcome information, and see what biological samples are collected.
This initial version provides information on 50 studies involving around 40,000 pregnancies. We encourage principal investigators of studies not yet included in this inventory to contribute to this rich resource.
New Study Registration:
To be included in the Birth Cohorts Inventory, studies have to meet the following criteria:
- The first wave of data collection is before conception, during pregnancy, or shortly after birth. Cohort studies beginning later in childhood, but with retrospective information obtained on the pregnancy or the young infant, can be included.
- The initial sample size is at least 200 participants, although smaller sample sizes will be considered for inclusion for studies on special populations such as premature babies.
- Retrospective and/or prospective longitudinal design, with a minimum of 2 data collection periods.
- Data are collected from mothers and/or infants living in the Canadian provinces or territories. Studies that are part of broader international initiatives are included in the inventory if this criterion is met.
After submission of the following information we will send you login codes to access the cohort data entry form.
Clinical Trials
The view that pregnant women and children are vulnerable subjects of research has led to their exclusion from clinical trials, and resulted in a paucity of information about the effect of interventions to which they can be exposed. In fact, 70-80% of approved medicines are not labelled for children, and about half of medicines used in children are off-label. The lack of information from studies in pregnant women and children has been compounded by bias in trials reporting. In recent years, the prospective registration of all clinical trials, and the public accessibility of that information, has been encouraged as a means to counter reporting bias.
For the purposes of registration, the World Health Organization defines a clinical trial as “any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes. Clinical trials may also be referred to as interventional trials. Interventions include but are not restricted to drugs, cells and other biological products, surgical procedures, radiologic procedures, devices, behavioural treatments, process-of-care changes, preventive care, etc. This definition includes Phase I to Phase IV trials”. http://www.who.int/ictrp/en/
See: World Health Organization searchable database of registered clinical trials http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/AdvSearch.aspx If you are interested in information on trials in children, check (√) the box “Search for Clinical Trials in Children”
For Clinical Trials resources see Resources/Clinical Trials
