Ward Summer Students: Meet Kate

The Ward Family Summer Student Research Program is a highly prestigious 12-week summer opportunity offered by the Bloorview Research Institute (BRI). This summer 16 students were accepted into the program, including 2 students in the lived experience and 1 student in the Indigenous steams.

The selected undergraduate students experience interdisciplinary mentorship, as they work on a research project within the field of childhood disability alongside some of the BRI’s leading scientists. The paid opportunity culminates in Ward Research Day, where students showcase their research to scientists, researchers, clients and families, as well as clinicians at Holland Bloorview and beyond.

Each summer new ideas and innovations are born out of student research, which often lead to larger and greater discoveries at the BRI. None of this incredible work would be possible without the support of the Ward Family and CIBC, and their continuous commitment to expanding what’s possible for kids and youth with disabilities.

Meet Kate

Hi everyone! My name is Kate Hull and I am going into my fourth year at Huron University College, an affiliate of Western University. I am completing a Bachelors of Arts, doing an Honours Specialisation in Psychology and a Minor in Disability Studies. This summer I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Laura McAdam.  I analyzed data collected from a solution focused coaching intervention for youth with a neuromuscular diagnosis to write a manuscript for publication. 

I wanted to work for the Bloorview Research Institute (BRI) because I have a keen interest in advancing the lives and care of youth with disabilities, particularly at the intersection of mental health care and disability. For a long time, the needs of people with disabilities were ignored, leading to a lesser quality of care, a lack of funding and an overall lower quality of life. The BRI is actively working to dismantle the impacts of this through its world class research.  Getting to be a small part of this amazing work has been a dream come true. I have particularly enjoyed getting to know my fellow Ward students, our wheelchair basketball game was a definite highlight! 

I would like to say a huge thank you to Dr. McAdam and Christina Ippolito who have taught me so much this summer. I have not only learned new research and recruitment skills, but also continued to deepen my passion for disability research. I hope to bring these skills to all of my future endeavours as I strive to make the world a more welcoming and accessible place. 

Every Monday all of the Ward students participate in Lunch n’ Learns.  They cover a wide range of topics including how to do a literature search; best practices for knowledge mobilization; and various presentations from researchers in the BRI.

For this Lunch ‘n Learn we got to tour the new MRI. It is the first MRI in Canada that is immersive, customizable, child-friendly and fully accessible.

Every Tuesday I meet with my supervisor, Dr. Laura McAdam. Every week she writes incredibly thoughtful and constructive comments on my work, after discussing those we lay out a plan for the week.

I have learned so much about the research and publication process as well as the neuromuscular world through these meetings.  I am very grateful for all of the time Dr. McAdam puts into ensuring I am getting the most out of our time together. 

This year the Ward program was hybrid, as a result many people worked remote most of the time, so, every Tuesday we have a standing “Ward Student Social” where we all make a point of trying to come into the office and eat lunch together. It has been great getting to know my fellow Ward students.  They are all very kind, capable, and ambitious people who I am sure will do great things.

As you can see from his ID badge this is Charlie. He is one of the therapeutic pets who comes to visit the inpatient clients every Tuesday as part of the Therapeutic Recreation Program.

I have been volunteering with Holland Bloorview for about 5 years.  I have worked on every unit - in the school, in the play room, with the pre-teens and teens. This summer I am volunteering with the BIRT andSODR inpatient units. I have loved all of it. It’s so nice to make a connection with a client and see them get excited to see you every week. My volunteer work is what inspired me to minor in Disability Studies and apply to be a Ward Student.

This is Lathu. She is a research assistant who works in both the Autism Research Centre and with Dr. McAdam. This summer she has been so kind (and patient) and taught me how to recruit participants for studies. We talk to clients and their parents about studies our lab is running and if it interests the families we get their consent to participate. This summer we were recruiting for the Canadian Neuromuscular Data Registry (CNDR). It is a super useful skill and she was a great teacher. 

This is what most of my days look like. Here are Christina (a research coordinator) and Lathu working at their desks in the new BRI space. Most of my job this summer was to analyze data that had been collected and compile it into a paper for publication, therefore I spend most of my time at my desk. Good thing the chairs are comfy! Christina reviews my draft and offers super helpful feedback and advice. She also answers my (many) questions. 

On Fridays the lab runs a new physio therapy intervention. It's an outpatient rehabilitation intervention that is the first step in filling the need for an evidence-based rehabilitation protocol for children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who have also been treated with genetic based therapies. It focused on physiotherapy and life skills for children as young as 6 months up to 3 years. It's very interesting and important intervention, as the advent of genetic based therapies has changed the way we treat and approach SMA. While I don’t actually play a role in the intervention, I did help put up those mirrors on the wall!

Every Friday we have a team meeting. In this meeting, everyone summarizes the work they’ve done over the week and has the opportunity to ask the other people in our lab for the things they need. The meetings are also a great way to catch up and see what everyone is up to!

To finish it off here is a photo of me during the Capes for Kids fundraiser. Throughout the pandemic I worked as a Covid-19 screener at the hospital. As a team all the screeners participated in Capes for Kids, together we raised almost $10,000.  Because I raised over $1000, I got to rock a gold cape for a week in support of Holland Bloorview!