Improving pain management at the Stollery
In collaboration with the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute, the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, Alberta Health Services, Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and other partners, the Pediatric Emergency: Advancing Knowledge (PEAK) Research Team works to improve care for young patients visiting the Stollery Emergency Department and beyond.
The PEAK Research Team at the University of Alberta is a part of the Department of Pediatrics and has produced hundreds of publications over the past 20 years, focusing on the areas of concussion, gastrointestinal illnesses and pain – including exploring the use of robots (like MEDi and Tobo, who love to boogie!) and virtual reality headsets as distraction tools.
Led by research director Dr. Samina Ali since 2021, the team includes researchers, nurses, trainees and volunteers, along with active participation from Stollery families who are a part of the entire research process from study creation to implementation and evaluation.
They collaborate to improve health outcomes of young patients with the application of the best available scientific evidence by creating knowledge translation tools and recommendations for clinicians.
The PEAK team proudly holds leadership positions in several national networks that continue to push the boundaries of knowledge for children in Canada and across the world. Through its collaboration with SKIP, PEAK also leads efforts in improving pediatric pain management, earning the ChildKind International Certification for the Stollery Children’s Hospital in 2025.
They’re dedicated to training the next generation of researchers, with members of their team receiving national recognition for their mentorship, advocacy and leadership contributions. In recent years, several PEAK members and their trainees have been acknowledged nationally for their research achievements.
The PEAK Research Team’s mission is to be ethical and responsible leaders in creating and mobilizing new knowledge to improve kids’ health care and their outcomes.
Through your ongoing investment in pediatric research through the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, you’re supporting the next generation of researchers who are changing the future of kids’ health care.
