About Us

Who We Are:

We are a group of about two dozen experts working in different areas of health related to vaccination and pain. Our team includes health care providers (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and psychologists), scientists, policy makers, educators and patient advocates. We work in different universities, hospitals, government and non-government organizations across Canada.

Why We Exist:

Getting vaccinated is important. Vaccines protect people of all ages against serious and life threatening diseases. Most of the time, however, vaccines are given with an injection. This can be stressful for individuals getting vaccinated as well as onlookers. About 10% of individuals are not vaccinated because of concerns about injection pain. This can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Numerous safe, effective, and feasible ways of reducing pain exist, yet individuals have not benefitted from this knowledge.

What We Do:

HELPinKids&Adults creates scientific evidence and tools to improve pain care during vaccine injections, making vaccinations a more positive experience for everyone. You can find information on this website that you can use to make vaccinations more comfortable for yourself, your family members, or your patients. Please share this information with others to improve their vaccination experience.

Since we started in 2008, HELPinKids&Adults has received recognition for its work nationally and internationally, including awards for scientific achievement and advocacy efforts in pain relief from the American Pain Society, the Canadian Paediatric Society, Canadian Pain Society, and the Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Our work has been supported primarily from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Mayday Fund.

Endorsing and Supporting Organizations:

Endorsing organizations: Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres, Canadian Child & Youth Health Coalition, Canadian Family Advisory Network, Canadian Institute of Child Health, Canadian Nursing Coalition for Immunization, Canadian Paediatric Society, Canadian Pharmacists Association, Canadian Psychological Association, Canadian Public Health Association, The College of Family Physicians of Canada, Immunize Canada, AnxietyBC, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario.

Supporting organizations: Canadian Center for Vaccinology, BC Centre for Disease Control.

Team Members:

Anna Taddio BScPhm, MSc, PhD, Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and Senior Associate Scientist, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Chair, PI, Evidence Lead, Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel

C. Meghan McMurtry PhD, C.Psych, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Associate Scientist, Children’s Health Research Institute, and Adjunct Researcher, Department of Paediatrics, Western University, London, Ontario
Role: Co-PI, Evidence Lead, Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel

Vibhuti Shah MD, MSc, Neonatologist and Epidemiologist, Mount Sinai Hospital, and Associate Professor, Health Policy Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Evidence Lead, Guideline Panel

Rebecca Pillai Riddell PhD, C.Psych, Associate Professor, York University, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Evidence Lead, Guideline Panel

Christine T Chambers PhD, R.Psych, Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University & Centre for Pediatric Pain Research IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Role: Evidence Lead, Guideline Panel

Melanie Noel PhD, Post-doctoral Fellow, Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA
Role: Evidence Lead, Guideline Panel

Noni E MacDonald MD, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Dalhousie University, IWK Health Centre and Canadian Center for Vaccinology, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Role: Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel

Jess Rogers BA, MSc (cand), Director, Centre for Effective Practice, and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel

Lucie M Bucci MA, Senior Manager, Immunize Canada, Canadian Public Health Association, Ottawa, Ontario
Role: Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel

Patricia Mousmanis MD, Chair, Child and Adolescent Committee, College of Family Physicians of Canada, Mississauga, Ontario
Role: Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel

Eddy Lang MD, Senior Researcher, Alberta Health Services, Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Role: Guideline Panel

Scott A Halperin MD, Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology, Head, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Director, Canadian Center for Vaccinology, Dalhousie University, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Role: Guideline Panel

Susan Bowles Pharm D, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Role: Guideline Panel

Christine Halpert RN, BSN, MA, Senior Practice Leader, Immunization Programs and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Service, BC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia
Role: Guideline Panel

Moshe Ipp MD, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, and Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Role: Guideline Panel

Gordon JG Asmundson PhD, RD Psych, Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan
Role: Guideline Panel

Michael J Rieder MD PhD, Professor, Departments of Paediatrics, Physiology & Pharmacology and Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario
Role: Guideline Panel

Kate Robson, Parent Representative, Canadian Family Advisory Network, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Guideline Panel

Elizabeth Uleryk BA, MLS, Librarian, E.M. Uleryk Consulting, Mississauga, Ontario
Role: Broader Team

Martin M Antony PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Broader Team

Vinita Dubey MD, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health, Toronto, Ontario
Role: Broader Team

Anita Hanrahan RN, Director, Communicable Disease Control, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta
Role: Broader Team

Donna Lockett PhD, Psychotherapist and Knowledge Translation Broker, Bodhi Seed Center for Healing and Conscious Living, Milton, Ontario
Role: Broader Team

Jeffrey Scott MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Role: Broader Team