THE CH.I.L.D. FOUNDATION
Working For A Cure
Together we’ve achieved many successes.
Established 1995
Co-founders Grace McCarthy OC, OBC, Lindsay Gordon and Mary McCarthy Parsons establish the Foundation for Children with Intestinal and Liver Disorders for the purpose of raising funds for research into Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and liver disorders and also to raise public awareness of these disorders. The CH.I.L.D. Foundation was established as a completely voluntary organization with very limited expenses and raised the level of awareness to the public through public relations and advertising, all of which were donated.
Registered in Canada Federally and Intra-Provincially. Canadian Tax exempt Charitable Number: BN 898974951 RR0001 USA Tax exempt Charitable Number: EIN 20-0469340 CH.I.L.D.
Succeeds in raising first $5 Million through volunteer effort.
2001
Government of British Columbia gives CH.I.L.D. $1 Million matching grant, presented by Premier Ujjal Dosanjh. CH.I.L.D. presents University of British Columbia with $3 Million, establishing Canada’s FIRST ENDOWED CHAIR for pediatric research in I.B.D. (Inflammatory Bowel Disease).
2002
The Syd Belzberg CH.I.L.D. Gastroenterology Research Fund was established to serve research goals. The University of British Columbia provides $500,000 grant to CH.I.L.D. Foundation.
2003
The CH.I.L.D. Foundation contributes $2 Million to establish an Endowed Program for Pediatric Research in gastroenterology. The gift is matched with a $1 Million gift from B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation. Dr. Bruce Vallance, CH.I.L.D. Foundation Research Scholar, recruited to head the opened first laboratory on the site of B.C. Children’s Hospital for research into Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which now has over 20 researchers and ancillary investigative staff and established the concept of the Digestive Disorder Centre at B.C. Children’s Hospital in keeping with our stated goals. The Variety Club of B.C. generously assisted the CH.I.L.D. Foundation in raising funds. The Vallance lab specializes in studying how bacteria causes inflammation in the mammalian GI tract, using cutting edge techniques and a multidisciplinary approach to define how gut inflammation leads to diarrhea and other pathologies characteristic of IBD. These pathologies include inflammation induced leakiness of the intestines, depletion of the protective goblet cells that line the intestine and the formation of scar tissue, also known as stricturing that can block the passage of food down the intestine.
Dr. Collin Barker joined the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, his research being hematological and oncological conditions, particularly chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation.
2004
Dr. Richard Schreiber, specialist in liver disorders, recruited for laboratory.
2006
Created a plan to consider a more collaborative way of doing research which would result in a Canada-wide system with all disciplines working together and with the team concept for researchers. This we called RE-THINKING RESEARCH. Plan presented to CH.I.L.D. Board of Directors. Established the CH.I.L.D. Scientific Research Advisory Council. The Council brings outstanding expertise to our vision.
2007
CH.I.L.D. announces the new vision “Re-Thinking Research: The CH.I.L.D. Research Network and the CH.I.L.D. Research Collaborative”.
2008
Proposed the CH.I.L.D. National I.B.D. Research Collaborative and the CH.I.L.D. Research Network to the Government of British Columbia resulting in a $12 Million grant to the CH.I.L.D. Foundation by Premier Gordon Campbell. Dr. Parminder Singh, CH.I.L.D. Director, agrees to be the CH.I.L.D. Foundation liaison with the Research Lab at B.C. Children’s Hospital. Dr. Laura Sly joins CH.I.L.D. Research Lab, researching Fibrosis in Crohn’s Disease. Dr. Sly has extensive experience studying the immune response and mechanisms to dampen down inflammation.
Aubrey Tingle retires from Michael Smith Foundation and accepts appointment to our CH.I.L.D. Scientific Research Advisory Council. CH.I.L.D. opens office on UBC Campus. Prior to this, we had been working out of our homes connected by fax and e-mail. CH.I.L.D. Foundation publishes a Story and Colouring Book for young children, explaining Intestinal disorders: Jeff Talks About Crohn’s Disease, written by Kellie Robinson and illustrated by Graham Harrop. This book is available by donation and has had two printings due to demand. It is in every library in Canada and every elementary school in Western Canada. We thank HSBC Bank Canada for the donation of printing costs.
2009
CH.I.L.D. Foundation propels Gastroenterology Procedure Suite opening at B.C. Children’s Hospital with assistance from Canucks for Kids Fund $250,000 grant. CH.I.L.D. forms Board of Governors for retiring Directors, most of whom had served for 15 years. Tim Murphy appointed to be our Executive Director of CH.I.L.D. Foundation National IBD Network. Tim conducts a national survey of I.B.D. researchers in Canada. Priority need was an I.B.D. network expressed by majority – almost 70% return on survey.
2010
CH.I.L.D. produces the CH.I.L.D. International I.B.D. Workshop in Vancouver and brings in scientific advisors from Canada, U.K. and the U.S.A. Purpose was to receive a consensus on both local and visiting delegates to advise CH.I.L.D. on going forward with the CH.I.L.D. National I.B.D. Network. They all agreed on the Network. Work begins on National Pediatric I.B.D. Data Platform. CH.I.L.D. has completed its third five million dollar target, bringing total to $15 Million plus the Provincial Government grant of $12 million for a total of $27 Million.
CH.l.L.D. Foundation Gastroenterology Research Laboratory now has 20 investigative researchers and ancillary staff, with the addition of Dr. Orlee Guttman in pediatric liver, and Dr. Howard Parsons in Nutrition.
2011
Through a unique collaboration between the CH.I.L.D. Foundation and the scientists and gastroenterologists at B.C. Children’s Hospital, one medical student from Ireland spent a summer internship in CH.I.L.D. Foundation Lab.
Co-hosted the Consultative Workshop on establishing a Canadian Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) Network and Data Platform with the CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. This workshop took place in Toronto and was attended by over 20 physicians and researchers in the gastroenterology field from across Canada.
2012
Launch of the CANADIAN CHILDREN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE NETWORK: A JOINT PARTNERSHIP OF CIHR AND THE CH.I.L.D. FOUNDATION. The national network and data platform will help put in place a framework to share the latest advances and best ideas in treating children with IBD, and to apply them as promptly as possible in new treatment regimes built on the principles of standardized high quality patient focused care.
2013
Thanks to matching funds generously granted by the CH.I.L.D. Foundation, the Canadian Biliary Atresia Registry is established in Canada, one of the first of its kind in the world. The first meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network: A Joint Partnership of CIHR and CH.I.L.D. Foundation takes place in October in Vancouver. It is at this meeting where the funders (CH.I.L.D. Foundation and Canadian Institutes of Health Research) meet the lead researchers from across Canada.
2014
In promoting education and enlightened public policy for Canadian children with biliary atresia, a “Colour Card” will be available to all parents of newborns in British Columbia in 2014. Parents can then easily compare their infant’s stool colour to normal and abnormal colours on the card. Abnormal stool colour reflects liver disease, enabling their child to receive prompt medical attention within two months of age. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds have been Ambassadors for the CH.I.L.D. Foundation for twelve years. In that capacity, the Snowbird Team perform their thrilling aerial show for thousands of spectators every summer in a different British Columbia community. The CH.I.L.D. Foundation brings together children with I.B.D. to meet the pilots and crew, and scramble into the jets. This has proven to be an extremely valuable networking event for the both the parents of ill children, and the children themselves. It is very heartwarming to see children, heretofore isolated because of their illness, build friendships with others their own age.
The second meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network: A Joint Partnership of CIHR and CH.I.L.D. Foundation takes place in October in Toronto. The CH.I.L.D. Foundation has facilitated the first national pediatric IBD Network in Canada. Participating Sites across Canada include B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Winnipeg Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Hopital Ste. Justine in Ste. Justine, Montreal Children’s Hospital in Montreal, Izaak Walton Killam Hospital in Halifax and Janeway Children’s Health & Rehabilitation Centre in St. John’s. The CH.I.L.D. Foundation provided funds for the acquisition of a microinjector, the use of which will enable medical researchers to test the effects of new drugs on intestinal cells from individual patients to see if they have beneficial effects to control their disease prior to administering the drugs directly to the patient. Dr. Bruce Vallance, CH.I.L.D. Foundation Research Chair, believes this technique will ensure improved safety for pediatric patients and will ideally allow clinicians to provide improved personalized medicine for each child, “We anticipate that the system will significantly advance Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) research and treatment in British Columbia”.
We are Determined to Find A Cure.
