Formal establishment of Delphine Collin-Vézina as the Nicolas Steinmetz and Gilles Julien Chair in Social Pediatrics

On March 17th Delphine Collin-Vézina, (pictured here, from left to right, with Dr. Nicolas Steinmetz, Dr. Gilles Julien, Dr. David Eidelman, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean, Faculty of Medicine), was formally celebrated as the inaugural hold of the Nicolas Steinmetz and Gilles Julien Chair in Social Pediatrics in the Community, established through the generosity of donors acting through the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation.

Delphine is a clinical psychologist by training and is presently the Director of the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families, an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at McGill and a holder of a CRC Tier II Chair in Child Welfare. Both well funded and well published as an independent investigator, Delphine utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to conduct community-based research that directly informs and impacts practices and policies to promote resilience and wellness in children and youth living in at‐risk contexts. Her current research program aims to implement and assess an evidence‐based, trauma‐informed model of care in Canadian child protection systems to better address the complex needs of children and adolescents in placement with a particular emphasis on children experiencing sexual abuse or trauma.  This program of research will provide a unique opportunity to influence decision‐making in child protection services and to support front‐line work, which holds significant promise to impact children and youth who, without appropriate services, are likely to continue falling behind their peers and growing up in the margins. Not surprisingly, Delphine’s expertise has been frequently sought to influence policy making in child protection, reflecting an advocacy element to her academic work.

With the support of this Chair, Delphine will now be spending time in the Department of Pediatrics teaching undergraduate and graduate trainees and conducting some of her research efforts. It is envisioned that collaboration with Departmental colleagues will be facilitated and enabled. She will also be spending some time on site at the Julien Foundation in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve evaluating efforts on the front lines of social pediatrics.