Western Education Assistant Professor Emma Duerden is the newest recipient of the CHRI Scientist of the Year Award.
Emma Duerden earns Children’s Health Foundation CHRI Scientist of the Year Award
Western Education Assistant Professor Emma Duerden has been named the Children’s Health Research Institute’s 2022 Scientist of the Year.
The annual award recognizes the outstanding contributions of a scientist from the Children’s Health Research Institute (CHRI). The CHRI is the third largest, hospital-based child health research institute in Canada and is supported by the generosity of the donors who contribute to Children’s Health Foundation. Duerden is a scientist in the CHRI's Maternal, Fetal and Newborn Health division.
Along with being an assistant professor in applied psychology at the Faculty of Education, Duerden is also a Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and Learning Disorders and a member of Brain & Mind at Western University where she serves as the scientific lead of the Developing Brain research program.
"I was thrilled to receive this honour and would like to express my sincerest thanks to the Children's Health Foundation for the recognition of our work and for supporting research in child health,” Duerden said.
“I'd like to thank my colleagues at the Children's Health Research Institute and at Western University, as well as my mentors, my team of students, trainees, research assistants and the clinical fellows who make a lot of the research possible. I'd also like to thank the families who participated in our research studies."
On June 28, Duerden will accept her award during the virtual Paediatric/Children’s Health Research Institute Grand Rounds seminar. Duerden will also deliver a presentation related to her upcoming multi-year project which centres around the “window of opportunity” that stays open in the first few years of a child’s life.
This funded work, entitled, “Bright start, grow strong: analytic tools and resources for the study of early adversity and brain developmental trajectories,” will bring together investigators from Western University, McGill University and Université de Montréal.
The goal is to develop a network focussed on identifying social and biological determinants of health in infants and children.
Duerden continues to make the Faculty of Education proud as she receives repeated recognition and support for her important work. The Faculty of Education is committed to advancing research and knowledge mobilization through its current strategic plan, which carries the vision of transforming education, transforming lives.
