Celebrating 20 years of research innovation and global impact

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This year, we are celebrating 20 years of research innovation and impact at our Bloorview Research Institute (BRI). BRI is the only hospital-based research institute in Canada dedicated to pediatric disability, and one of only a few worldwide. It is ranked among Canada’s top 40 research hospitals for over a decade.

BRI is working to co-create transformative, clinically relevant research and innovations in partnership with families, clinical teams, advocates, community and research partners worldwide.

Our work strives to advance research practices through IDEAA, fuel precision health, empower a thriving research community and enable transformational impact locally, nationally and internationally.

“The BRI is charting a path to be a global leader in transformative, equity-driven research dedicated to enabling personalized versions of a good life for all.” —Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, vice president of research and director of the BRI

Proud History of Research

Our research institute has come a long way in the past 20 years, but the full history of research long precedes its foundation.

Researchers developed the first child-sized electromechanical hand in collaboration with the Northern Electric Company, 1971.

In 1963, a small prosthetic research and training unit led by Dr. Colin McLaurin, was established at the centre. From there, research expanded from world-first advances in prosthetics and orthotics research to innovations such as communication boards, powered wheelchairs and other mobility devices in the 1970s.

Under Dr. Morris Milner’s leadership (1978 to 2004), the hospital cemented its international reputation as a world leader in assistive technologies and rehabilitation engineering with global impact for children with disabilities and developmental differences. The centre also housed the Ontario Rehabilitation Technology Consortium (OCCC), a group of universities and organizations linking research to industry to bring research innovations into market.

Right: Dr. Morris Milner is a renowned rehabilitation scholar who led the research enterprise from 1978 to 2004.

Dr. Morris Milner is a renowned rehabilitation scholar who led the research enterprise from 1978 to 2004.

By 2000, the centre had distributed $16.5 million worth of devices including powered prosthetic systems, orthotic devices and toileting aids to over 17,000 children with physical disabilities worldwide through Variety Ability Systems Inc., a small non-profit manufacturing enterprise initiated by The Variety Club of Ontario.

The establishment of the BRI in 2004 with full affiliation with the University of Toronto represented a formal acknowledgement and integration of research, innovation and technology into the care and services for children and youth with disabilities and developmental differences. Under the direction by its inaugural director, Dr. Colin Macauthur (2004 to 2011), the institute’s aim was to find ways to enable children with disabilities to participate fully in life driven by research that is co-created in partnerships with families and communities.

Over the last 20 years, the multidisciplinary team of researchers at the BRI have made transformative advancements in the lives of children, youth and families, from improving the understanding of childhood onset disability and lived experience to developing, enhancing and evaluating interventions, treatments, technologies, policies and practices to enable the best possible care and outcomes. Under Dr. Tom Chau’s leadership as vice present of research from 2012 to 2022, the research enterprise expanded to house the largest concentration of childhood disability research worldwide.

During this time, BRI researchers established and led Canadian research networks such as CP-NET and POND Network, focusing on both visible and invisible disabilities, expanded Canadian clinical trials’ capabilities to include children with disabilities and neurodevelopmental differences, and established a commercialization office to make innovations accessible to children and families within and beyond our walls. Establishing the Research Family Engagement Committee also ensured that clients and families were embedded in the fabric of the research enterprise, from concept to completion.

Our expertise also now includes a broad cross-section of childhood onset disability ranging from brain injury and autism to cerebral palsy and limb differences as well as among many disciplines such as gaming, AI powered technologies and much more. Research productivity has grown by almost 60 per cent.

By the Numbers – Past and Present	2006/07	2023/24
External funding	$4.1 million	$7.4 million
Scientists/Investigators	20	37
Research Trainees	179	42
Peer-reviewed publications	57	99

Co-developed by Dr. Jessica Brian, a senior clinician scientist and co-lead of the Autism Research Centre, and Dr. Susan Bryson, professor emerita at Dalhousie University, the Social ABCs is a parent-mediated early intervention program for toddlers showing social-communication challenges that may be signs of autism spectrum disorder, now used in provinces across Canada and globally.

Outpatient client Rehan plays a video game powered by a recumbent bike called the Liberi Exergame. Developed by Dr. Darcy Fehlings and colleagues in the BRI with Professor Nick Graham at Queen’s University, this device helps children living with cerebral palsy improve their cardiovascular fitness and wellbeing while having fun.

The Commercialization Office, established in 2018 thanks to a generous $2-million donation by The Raymond Chang Foundation, is unleashing the potential of scientific research innovations such as Hummingbird, Digital Technologies in Orthotics and Prosthetics and holly™.

To support youth with disabilities and developmental differences spark conversations with health-care providers, parents/caregivers and educators, Dr. Amy McPherson and her team developed the Let’s Talk Disability & Sex online hub in collaboration with the Evidence To Care team at Holland Bloorview.

Dr. Virginia Wright and her team in the BRI are studying how children move in new ways through the use of robotic exoskeletons including the Trexo (pictured on the right) and the Lokomat.

The new Jason Smith Research Tower was completed as part of a $32-million donor-funded campaign to grow the Bloorview Research Institute, fueling more advancements in pediatric childhood disability research worldwide.

In 2023, the BRI completed the largest research expansion in its history with the new Jason Smith Research Tower, Canada’s first fully accessible, immersive, customizable, pediatric friendly MRI suite and eight new research discovery hubs.

Under Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou’s leadership, the current vice present of research, the institute also launched bold new strategic priorities that same year to chart its course for the next seven years with a clear vision: to be a global leader in transformative, equity-driven research dedicated to enabling personalized versions of a good life for all.

Today, BRI is home to 37 top researchers and 179 trainees working collaboratively on novel research in wide-ranging fields from social sciences and health disciplines to implementation science, geography and biomedical engineering. Together, they are fueling advancements in pediatric childhood disability research.

As the BRI celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, the one element that holds true from its early origins to its present day and into its future is this: clients and families have and will always be BRI’s ‘heart and soul.’ Working together with scientists, researchers, trainees, clinicians and other partners, we are creating healthy and meaningful futures for children and youth with disabilities and developmental differences. The future is bright.

Helping to advance brain computer interfaces

“We see so much potential with BCI technology to enable Giselle to function more independently. This technology will open doors for her in the future.”

Giselle’s parents, Samah Darwish and Nasar Alnaser

Engineering prosthetic possibilities

“I’m always passionate about research… and how research and [prosthetic] design can make an enormous difference in people’s lives. Just imagine a world where a person … can use their cell phone to take a picture of their arm, send it to the cloud and then an automated process where a prosthetic device can be designed, downloaded and printed to be used right away by that person. Just imagine the access of care that would be dramatically improved.”

Calvin Ngan, research manager, PROPEL (Paediatrics, Rehabilitation, Orthotics, Prosthetics, Engineering, Locomotion) Lab

Data, AI and the Future

“Data science has come a long way in the past 125 years, opening many new opportunities for how we use data to inform care decisions. With advances in technology and artificial intelligence, we now have the ability to learn from large datasets, within and outside of our walls, to provide kids with the care that they need, when they need it.”

Dr. Azadeh Kushki, senior scientist and associate chief of data science

Learn more about the transformative work being done at the BRI