CoNEKTR Collaboratories

Youth Voices Research Group is the leading collaboratory within a larger family of projects called CoNEKTR, which stands for Complexity, Networks, EHealth, Knowledge Translation, Research. Until this year, CoNEKTR functioned quietly as a collection of projects that Cameron Norman either led or served as a collaborating investigator on, but didn't serve much more than an organizing term. This year we've decided the time was right to build stronger links between the work being done across the projects and use that as a mechanism to support the growing interest in complexity science, systems thinking, eHealth, and knowledge translation within the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and its larger constituency.

The Collaboratories are described below:

The Youth Voices Research Group is a social innovation unit focused on engaging youth as leaders in transforming the health system using information technologies. Originally established in 1995 as the TeenNet Project, the YVRG use action research, participatory methodologies like Photovoice and videographic narrative techniques, and social media to improve the health and wellbeing of youth and young adults. YVRG conducts research that supports both young people and the professionals who work with them by engaging them as partners and collaborators. Principal Investigator: Cameron Norman

The Research on Academic Research (RoAR) initiative began in 2006 with a mandate of studying transdisciplinary collaboration in health sciences research. This longitudinal research project focuses on the evaluation of the Life Sciences Institute, a state of the art centre for biomedical science at the University of British Columbia Point Grey Campus, using multiple methods that take a systems perspective on individual and organizational change.
Project Leader: Alison Buchan, Senior Associate Dean of Medicine, UBC ; Scientific Leaders: Cameron Norman, U of Toronto & Tim Huerta, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University

The People, Health Equity and Innovation Group was founded in 2007 as an extension of the human-centred care work done at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation in Toronto. The vision for PHI is to develop a long-term strategy to seed innovations that help level the playing field for those who are most vulnerable in society. This research and consultation team looks at ways to amplify innovations to support three core population groups: 1) those with complex chronic conditions, 2) youth and young adults, 3) immigrants and refugees. Founder: Alex Jadad, Scientific Leader: Cameron Norman, Partnership Leader: Andrea Cortinois

The Peter A. Silverman Global eHealth Program began in 2006 with the aim of promoting peace and health through professional collaboration and learning networks. Using information and communications technologies, the PASGeP initiative links health professionals together to support continuing professional education and identifying opportunities for capacity building with more than 30 years of experience with the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO) and Peter A.Silverman Centre for International Health at Mount Sinai Hospital. Founder: Arnold Noyek, Project Lead: Tim Patterson, Director of Evaluation: Cameron Norman, Co-Directors of Education: Morris Freedman & Sandra Black

CoNEKTID (Complexity, Networks, EHealth, Knowledge Translation for Innovation Development) focuses on supporting existing organizations in creating and identifying innovations using systems thinking and complexity science methods. Current project partners include the Ivey School of Business (U Western Ontario), University of Toronto Health Innovations Group and Willow Breast Cancer Support. Team Leader: Cameron Norman

CENSE Research represents the consulting arm of the CoNEKTR Collaboratories focused primarily on social media and health literacy training, research design, and organizational change. Principal Investigator: Cameron Norman