Our research team consists of trainees (undergraduate students, graduate students, medical residents, and fellows) and staff (research assistants, coordinators, and associates) who work together with parents and other stakeholders to tackle the problem of poorly managed pain in children. We collaborate with a wide range of researchers across Canada and around the world who bring complementary expertise and experience.
We provide training opportunities for students from different disciplines and at different stages of training, including postdoctoral fellows, PhD students (primarily in clinical psychology), masters students, honours/undergraduate students, as well as medical students and residents.
We recognize and value diversity and equity and follow best practices for the inclusion of diverse and underrepresented populations to ensure that individuals feel valued, respected, and equally supported.
If you are interested in joining our team please contact Dr. Chambers directly to discuss opportunities.
Perri is a PhD Candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at Dalhousie University. Her research is focused on pain in children with cancer, the role of families in pain, and knowledge translation in health research. Perri is supported by an IWK Graduate Studentship.
Yvonne is a PhD student Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University. Her research is focused on juvenile arthritis-related pain, family factors associated with the experience of pain in pediatric chronic illness, and knowledge translation. She is supported by a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship and the Research Nova Scotia – Scotia Scholars award.
Nicole is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University. Her research is focused on procedural pain in pediatric populations, interventions for procedural pain management, and knowledge translation. Nicole is supported by a Killam Predoctoral award, an Maritime SPOR Support Unit (MSSU) Student award, a Research Nova Scotia Scotia Scholars award, and a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship award.
Emily is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University. Her research is focused on chronic pain in adolescents and suicidal ideation.
Jennifer Parker is a Research Associate in the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research at the IWK Health Centre where she is a member of Dr. Christine Chambers’ research team. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University. Her research interests include pain and child health, knowledge translation, and patient engagement in research.
Justine is a part-time Research Associate at IWK Health with the #ItDoesntHaveToHurt team. She is also a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis and the Mothering Transitions Research Program at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She is interested in sharing evidence-based information with parents to empower them to make the best choices for themselves and their children.
Brittany is a research coordinator at the IWK Health Centre supporting several different research projects in the lab, including that of PhD student, Perri Tutelman, on her research studying pain in childhood cancer survivors.
Nicole is a Research Facilitator at the IWK Health Centre. Nicole completed her doctoral work at McMaster University on physical activity and cardiovascular health during early childhood.
Olivia is a research assistant at the IWK Health Centre supporting several different research projects in the lab.
Isabel draws from her lived experience to provide leadership and guidance to trainees, staff, and patient partners within our program of research to support meaningful patient engagement practices and partnerships that are aligned with patient-oriented research.
Charlotte begin in our team as a volunteer and helped with a number of studies. She was later awarded an IWK Summer studentship in our lab (Summer 2020) helping to update a systematic review on the epidemiology of chronic pain in children and adolescents and now continues to work on this project as a research assistant. She is also an undergraduate student at Queen’s University.
Zara is a research assistant who is the site coordinator for a longitudinal study assessing young children’s psychological and behavioural well being after hospitalization in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Tonya is the executive assistant to Dr. Christine Chambers and works closely with our team.
Dr. Mohammadi is a postdoctoral fellow in the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Rehabilitation Research Lab at the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Caes is a Lecturer of Psychology in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Division of Psychology at the University of Stirling, UK.
Dr. Coulombe is a clinical psychologist at the IWK Health Centre.
Dr. King is an Associate Professor at Mount Saint Vincent University and a coordinator of their School Psychology Program.
Kristen recently graduated with her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University.
Dr. Schinkel recently finished her internship at BC’s Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Boerner is a postdoctoral fellow at BC Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Birnie is a clinical and health psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children.
Dr. Petter is a clinical psychologist working in private practice in Ontario.
Dr. Noel is a clinical psychologist, an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, and a full member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. She leads the Alberta Children’s Pain Research lab.
Dr. Moon is a clinical psychologist at BC Children’s Hospital in the Medical Psychology Program.
Dr. Banstra is a pediatric psychologist and the program director of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Intensive Feeding Program in Michigan.
Dr. McMurtry is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph and leads the Pediatric Pain, Health, and Communication Lab.
Dr. Uman is a psychologist at the IWK Community Mental Health and Addictions clinic and the IWK Health Centre’s Complex Pain team.
Dr. Stanford is a member of the Medical Psychology team at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Rebecca is a school psychologist working in Nova Scotia.
Tessa is a Speech-Language Pathologist and a Provincial Trainer with the Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) Program at the IWK Health Centre.
We are grateful for the following funding and support:
Dr. Chambers is an international leader in the study of children’s pain. She holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Children's Pain and is a Killam Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She and her research team are based in the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research at the IWK Health Centre. Her award-winning work spans research, training, knowledge translation, and advocacy.
