A healthy diet complete with plenty of fruits and vegetables is an important contributor to reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight. It is also protective against many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Childhood Diseases | Lab, Project & Program Websites
Division of Rheumatology: BC Children’s Hospital and Research Institute
Our team leads and collaborates on research focused on studying the impact of childhood rheumatic disease, improving treatments and understanding the causes of these diseases.
BC Children's Hospital BioBank
The aim of the BC Children’s Hospital BioBank is to provide researchers with high quality samples obtained from patients in an ethical manner. Patients give their consent for their samples to be used in research projects.
Biochemical Genetics Clinic
The Biochemical Genetics Clinic actively participates in the Canadian Inherited Metabolic Diseases Research Network (CIMDRN). CIMDRN provides the evidence needed to improve outcomes and health care services for children with inborn errors of metabolism (IEM).
CAN-ASC
CAN-ASC is a Canada-wide consortium of researchers and clinician scientists. We collaborate with international networks from academia and industry to develop consensus-driven, standardized and validated operating procedures (SOPs) for human immunology research.
Canucks for Kids Fund Childhood Diabetes Laboratories
The Canucks for Kids Fund Childhood Diabetes Laboratories aim to improve the lives of children with diabetes by advancing knowledge of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, through innovative and multi-disciplinary basic and clinical diabetes research.
Children’s Heart Centre Research
The Children’s Heart Centre is a passionate team of clinicians, researchers, medical trainees and technical and clerical staff. We are committed to producing high-quality research to improve care for children with cardiovascular conditions.
GenCOUNSEL Project
For patients and families with unexplained health conditions, genome-wide sequencing can provide much-needed answers, but it can also raise a lot of questions. We are trying to figure out the best ways to provide genetic counselling for genome-wide sequencing in Canada so that we can best support these families. We will be looking into different clinical, ethical, and economic methods to make sure there is equitable access to genetic counselling and testing for all Canadians.
Levings Lab
Research from the Levings Lab focuses on immune cells called T regulatory cells (Tregs) that are central to immune tolerance and are a very promising new therapeutic tool.
Maxwell Lab
The Maxwell Lab focuses our studies on discovering and targeting molecular pathways that underlie hereditary cancers, understanding how cells grow and move in tissues and tumors, and collaborating and developing prospective personalized medicine in childhood cancers.
Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program (MCCCRP)
Researchers with the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program embrace one goal: to save children’s lives, while improving their health and quality of life through every phase of treatment and recovery.
Sanatani Lab
We are a research group directed by Dr. Shubhayan Sanatani at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, B.C. Our research focuses on inherited arrhythmias in children.
Silent Genomes Project
Reducing health care disparities and improving diagnostic success for children with genetic diseases from Indigenous populations
Solid Organ Transplant Research
Transplantation is a life-saving treatment for children with organ failure – but unfortunately it is not yet a cure. Research is critical in our effort to further improve the health and wellness of transplant recipients and their families.
Trainee 'Omics Group
The BCCHR Trainee Omics Group is a team of enthusiastic trainees from across research themes at the BC Children's Research Institute who are eager to make bioinformatics accessible and fun for everyone!
Vallance Lab
We are a dynamic gut microbiome research group in Vancouver, BC. Directed by Dr. Bruce Vallance, our research focuses on microbe-host interactions within the intestine, including defining the role that gut microbes play in causing chronic intestinal inflammation.
Get Involved
We need you today for a better tomorrow. Our kids are counting on it.
Recent News See all
New project hopes to uncover the origins of type 1 diabetes
A team of researchers at BC Children's is doing a deep dive into why the immune system attacks islet cells — the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin — and how metabolic pathways are involved. This could lead to new treatments for type 1 diabetes.
Pediatric epigenetic clock can be a useful tool in assessing neurodevelopment in very preterm babies
Very preterm babies have an increased risk of ongoing medical complications and neurodevelopmental issues throughout their lifespan. New research suggests that a specially designed epigenetic “clock” can indicate abnormally accelerated molecular aging, which may be associated with these long-term impacts and warrants further study.
When research is personal
Lindsay Pallo and Raelyn Gallant were both diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as children. Now they’re conducting diabetes research in Dr. Bruce Verchere’s lab. Read about their lived experience and how that enriches their work.
Researchers work to develop post-surgical pediatric pain risk communication tool
Every child is different in terms of their risks for experiencing post-surgical pain. Researchers at BC Children’s Hospital are developing a tool to help accurately predict and communicate an individual child’s risk of experiencing a higher level of post-surgical pain.
Donate to Research
We believe there’s nothing we can’t do with your support. It can take years to turn scientific breakthrough into new interventions and treatments. Funding helps speed the pace of change. When given the resources, we can bring transformative therapies – and hope – out of the laboratory and into the clinic to save and improve children’s lives.