CNFUN is a voluntary collaboration between Neonatal and Perinatal Follow-Up Programs in Canada and their multidisciplinary team members.
It was developed in liaison with the Canadian Neonatal Network to facilitate collaboration in research, integrated data collection, knowledge translation and to improve the quality of care and long term outcomes of children seen in their programs. CNFUN builds on the work done in Quebec by the Consortium de Recherche sur les Enfants Extrêmement Prématurés and is part of the MiCare group of networks.
OUR MISSION
To be a network of health care professionals dedicated to improving the care of newborns and children at high risk of adverse outcome as a result of conditions requiring intensive medical care.
Our Goals:
- Establish a network of Canadian health care professionals involved in neonatal / perinatal follow-up programs.
- Develop a common standardized set of assessments to be done at standardized ages and common definitions to create the CNFUN data set.
- Develop a national electronic database of the CNFUN dataset and link it to neonatal and perinatal datasets including the Canadian Neonatal Network.
- Use the CNFUN database to improve health care and its provision by providing accurate up to date information for decision making, identifying best practices and facilitating the acquisition of long-term outcomes data in neonatal, perinatal and early intervention research.
- Advocate for our population of children by ensuring that the best evidence is translated into practice.
Administrative Structure
A Steering Committee oversees CNFUN activities and makes policy decisions. Site representatives from participating institutions provide representation, input, and liaison for participating institutions.
The Steering Committee was appointed for the first 5 years and there have been elections every 2 years. Members serve 4-year terms. The last election was held February 2021.
The Steering Committee is composed of 11 members:
- The director of the network.
- The past director.
- A co-director chosen by the CNFUN Steering Committee.
- 5 members representing different geographic regions of Canada.
- 3 members representing allied health professionals in the fields of nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech and language therapy. One of these professionals must be familiar with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development.
The Network Coordinating Centre will provide administrative support to CNFUN, its committees and institutional and individual members.
CNFUN Funding
CNFUN was initiated with support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through a grant to the CIHR Team in Maternal-Infant Care (CTP 87518). The study coordinating centre, the Maternal-Infant Care Research Centre, is supported by program funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Current funding is from the CIHR SPOR grant “CHILD-BRIGHT” (Child Health Initiatives Limiting Disability – Brain Research Improving Growth and Health Trajectories) for the “Parent-EPIQ” project and the CIHR Pan-Canadian Network to Improve Outcomes of Preterm Birth.
Participating sites contribute additional funding for patient outcome assessments.
Active Participating Sites
| Province | Abbreviation | NFUP Program Name / City | Hospital Site | Site Investigator | Number of CNFUN Members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | BCWH | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Vancouver | BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre | Jessie VanDyk, Shelagh Anson | 10 |
| RCH | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, New Westminster | Royal Columbian Hospital | Miroslav Stavel, Anitha Moodley | 3 | |
| SMH | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Surrey | Surrey Memorial Hospital | Rebecca Sherlock | 4 | |
| VGH/GVS | Neonatal Follow-Up Team, Victoria | Victoria General Hospital | Thevanisha Pillay | 4 | |
| AB | ACH/FMC | Neonatal Follow-up Clinic, Calgary | Alberta Children’s Hospital & Foothills Hospital, University of Calgary | Leonora Hendson, Amina Benlamri | 7 |
| EDM | Neonatal and Infant Follow-Up Clinic, Edmonton | Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital | Amber Reichert, Amy Shafey | 9 | |
| MB | HSCC | High Risk Newborn Follow-Up Program, Winnipeg | University of Manitoba Health Sciences Centre / Children’s Hospital | Diane Moddeman, Florencia Ricci | 7 |
| ON | HHSC | Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic, Hamilton | Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital | Karen Thomas | 9 |
| HSC | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Toronto | Hospital for Sick Children | Linh Ly | 7 | |
| KGH | Special Infant Clinic, Kingston | Kingston General Hospital | Sarah McKnight | 3 | |
| SJHC (LHSC) | Developmental Follow-Up Clinic, London | St. Joseph’s Health Care London | Kevin Coughlin | 10 | |
| SUNY | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Toronto | Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center | Paige Church, Rudaina Banihani | 8 | |
| WRH | Neonatal Neurodevelopment Follow-Up Program, Windsor | Windsor Regional Hospital | Judy Seesahai | 6 | |
| QC | CHUS | Clinique de suivi néonatal, Sherbrooke | Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke | Alyssa Morin | 2 |
| CHUQ | Centre Mère Enfant, Centre Hospitalier de L’Université Laval, Québec | Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (Laval Site) | Sylvie Bélanger | 3 | |
| HMR | Clinique de suivi néonatal, Montréal | Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont | Marie St-Hilaire | 2 | |
| HSJ | Clinique de suivi néonatal, Montréal | Université de Montréal, Hôpital Sainte-Justine | Thuy Mai Luu | 6 | |
| JGH | Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic, Montréal | Jewish General Hospital | Kim-Anh Nguyen. Ruth Mandel | 5 | |
| MUHC | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Clinique de suivi néonatal, Montréal | McGill University Health Centre/ Montréal Children’s Hospital/ L’Hôpital de Montréal pour enfants | May Khairy, Jarred Garfinkle | 10 | |
| NS | IWK | Perinatal Follow-Up Program, Halifax | IWK Health Centre and Cape Breton Regional Hospital | Jehier Afifi | 9 |
Past Participating Sites
| Province | Abbreviation | NFUP Program Name / City | Hospital Site | Site Investigator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK | RQHR | Developmental Assessment Clinic, Regina | Regina General Hospital | J.P. Bodani |
| RUH | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Saskatoon | Royal University Hospital | Sibasis Daspal | |
| ON | CHEO/OTTA* | Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic, Ottawa | Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario | Jana Feberova |
| NB | ECH* | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Fredericton | Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital | Hala Makary |
| SEHC* | Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic, Moncton | Moncton Hospital | Maad Bakr Saleem | |
| SJRH* | Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Saint John | Saint John Regional Hospital | Alana Newman | |
| NFLD | JCHC* | High-Risk Follow-Up Clinic, St. John’s | Janeway Children’s Health & Rehabilitation Centre | Nadine McEvoy |