The PEAK Research Team at the Stollery Children's Hospital is excited to be a part of this collaborative national initiative to improve health care and health outcomes for children across Canada. Families have been eager to learn about the POPCORN study and its potential. We would like to express our gratitude for all families who have taken time to learn about the study and for those who have chosen to participate. We look forward to seeing the positive impacts of POPCORN!

- PEAK Research Team at the Stollery Children's Hospital

Our research team at the Children's Hospital - London Health Sciences Center (CH-LHSC) has been greatly encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response from parents and caregivers. Whether they choose to enroll their child in the study or not, we continue to receive verbal acknowledgement of their gratitude for the team’s continuous pursuit of enhancing quality of healthcare and vaccine safety for Canadian children. Their appreciation of the study’s significance and its future implications has been heartening. At CH-LHSC, we feel privileged to be an integral part of this nationwide research project working closely with so many other tertiary-care children's hospitals in the country.

- Team Children's Hospital - LHSC

This interaction made me think of the courage of all the families that participate in research and how we should be mindful of what and how we do in clinical practice hinges on the brevity of those who participate in research with no expectation than to make the world a little better… for someone else.

- IWK Research

A recent encounter with a family at IWK Health reminded me of the importance of research and the work we do in offering opportunities to families. I approached a family with a critically ill child with an offer to participate in the POPCORN study. In talking with them, we discussed how scared they were for the health of their child, and the feelings of uncertainty for the future. The family mentioned to me that the chance to participate in the study was an opportunity for some good to come out of an otherwise awful experience; it was their hope that their contribution could help another family avoid a similar experience, or at least make it a little more bearable.

- IWK Research

We can offer valuable insights to healthcare practitioners and providers concerning the distinct requirements of pediatric patients and steer their clinical approaches, encompassing treatment and post-treatment care, with a focus on upholding a patient-centered approach within Canada's healthcare system.

- Research Staff – London Health Sciences Center

I felt a sense of satisfaction in participating in the CURNLS research project. This research holds great importance in shaping well-informed choices regarding public health measures such as vaccination strategies, mask mandates, and school policies. I anticipate that the POPCORN team will utilize these findings to assess the enduring effects of vaccinations and natural infections, as well as to identify any signs of declining immunity among children.

- Research Staff – London Health Sciences Center

Even after understanding there will be a gift card draw, that’s not why I am participating in this study – I don’t mind answering questions and my hope is that I can help!

- Participant & Family, Ontario

I am happy to be a part of this study because I want to help other children like mine discover what pericarditis actually is and how it affects certain families. I would love to know the results in a few years from now to see how my family contributed to this study. And how this research will help our health system in the future!

- Participant & Family, Ontario

Often, networks can operate in silos. POPCORN is the “glue” between the well-established pediatric networks and all Canadian children's hospitals and pediatric research centres. POPCORN has successfully established infrastructure that has strengthened the relationship with these networks and brought them together with one common goal – to improve child health in Canada.

- Maternal Infant Child Youth Research Network (MICYRN)