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SickKids

Fellowships and student opportunities

Exceptional training to prepare the next generation of leaders in global child health.

We’re committed to training and educating the next generation of leaders in global child health, offering a number of programs and fellowships for aspiring students and fellows.

Check out the opportunities currently available at SickKids, as well as eligibility criteria, application requirements, deadlines, and more.

  1. Student opportunities
  2. Fellowship opportunities
  3. Grants
  4. Free online courses

Student opportunities

Every summer, we welcome students looking to develop their knowledge and skills in global child health. 

We currently accept students through several existing summer research programs. Please visit each program’s website for more information about eligibility criteria, application requirements, and deadlines. 

Individuals interested in volunteer opportunities, please visit the SickKids volunteering page.


Fellowship opportunities

The Global Child Health (GCH) Fellowship program is an exceptional training program that serves to develop leadership and scholarly skills in addressing the health of children and their families in low- and middle-income countries.

The fellowship includes several key curricular components, including mentorship and a scholarly project focused on either research or sustainable capacity building through education. Through this program, we aim to train the next generation of leaders within the field of global child health.

Applicants should be looking to start a challenging two-year fellowship program. This interdisciplinary program will be accepting applicants from a variety of clinical, research, and other related professional backgrounds (e.g., medicine and surgery, laboratory sciences, nursing, allied health, PhD epidemiology, etc.)

The Centre for Global Child Health (C-GCH) at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is recruiting fellows for the Global Child Health Fellowship training program.

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2025 fellowship cohort. Stay tuned for the next call for applications!

Questions can be directed to the Global Child Health Fellowship Program Committee at cgch.fellowship@sickkids.ca

The Centre for Global Child Health (C-GCH) and the Garron Family Cancer Centre (GFCC) at The Hospital for Sick Children have partnered together to create the Global Oncology Fellowship training program.

The Global Oncology Fellowship is a new and unique training program that serves to develop the leadership and scholarly skills of participating fellows with the aim of improving the outcomes of children with cancer and their families in low- and middle-income countries.

Applicants should be looking to start a challenging two-year academic fellowship program. This interdisciplinary program will be accepting applicants from a variety of clinical, research, and other related professional backgrounds (e.g., medicine and surgery, laboratory sciences, nursing, allied health, epidemiology, etc.)

We are no longer accepting applications for this fellowship.

Questions can be directed to the Global Child Health Fellowship Program Committee at: cgch.fellowship@sickkids.ca

Current and past fellows

Dr. Michael Prodanuk

Headshot of Michael Prodanuk
Dr. Michael Prodanuk

Dr. Michael Prodanuk MD, DTM&H, FRCPC, FAAP (pronouns: he/him) is a paediatric infectious diseases physician with a passion for improving clinical care and producing impactful research for childhood infections. He completed medical school at the University of Saskatchewan followed by a paediatrics residency and paediatric infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Michael holds a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from the Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine through the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Michael is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute for Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation within University of Toronto´s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He is also an Executive Committee Member-In-Training of the Paediatric Investigators Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada (PICNIC), a paediatric infectious diseases research network which conducts multi-centre projects across Canada and beyond.

Given his special interest in childhood tuberculosis (TB), Michael´s fellowship research projects will focus on improving TB diagnostics in the paediatric population. TB diagnosis in children can be challenging given the difficulty in obtaining adequate sputum samples in infants and toddlers, as well as the relatively low number of bacteria present in this age group. For these reasons, new diagnostic modalities, such a biomarkers, are an area of active research. Michael´s work will investigate the use of certain blood biomarkers for the diagnosis of TB in a cohort of Tanzanian patients. In addition, he is conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of blood biomarkers for the diagnosis of TB in children. He hopes this work will improve the diagnostic landscape for children with TB.

2024

  • Ovokeraye Oduaran
    Country of Origin: South Africa 
    Fellowship Stream: Global Child Health Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Roth

2023

  • Michelle Dimitris
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Global Child Health Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta

  • Hillary Ganek
    Country of Origin: USA
    Fellowship Stream: Global Child Health Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta

  • Doris Gonzalez
    Country of Origin: Colombia
    Fellowship Stream: Global Child Health Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta

  • Sam Brophy-Williams 
    Country of Origin: Australia
    Fellowship Stream: Global Child Health Fellowship
    Supervisor: Brian Smith

2022

  • Scarlett Puebla-Barragan
    Country of Origin: Mexico
    Fellowship Stream: Microbiome and Growth Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Roth

2021

  • Laura Vresk
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Robert Bandsma

  • Kun Tang
    Country of Origin: China
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta

2020

  • Fiona Muttalib
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta
  • Eric Ohuma
    Country of Origin: Kenya
    Fellowship Stream: Child Growth and Development Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Roth
  • Karen O'Callaghan
    Country of Origin: Ireland
    Fellowship Stream: Child Growth and Development Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Roth

2019

  • Ashley Aimone
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Child Growth and Development Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Roth
  • Tessa Clemens
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Stanley Zlotkin
  • Jessica Duby
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Shaun Morris
  • Farah Sheikh
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Margaret Manley 
  • Debbie Thompson
    Country of Origin: Jamaica
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Stanley Zlotkin

2018

  • Barbara Couper
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Stanley Zlotkin
  • Natasha Lelijveld
    Country of Origin: England
    Fellowship Stream: Child Growth and Development Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Roth

2017

  • Hasan Merali
    Country of Origin: Canada
    Fellowship Stream: Academic Fellowship
    Supervisor: Dr. Stanley Zlotkin

Grants

Global Child Health Catalyst Grant

The Global Child Health Catalyst Grant aims to support innovations that benefit children and their families in resource constrained settings. 

‘Innovation’ can be expressed in many areas, including scientific, technical, social, management, and implementation. We’ll fund up to two awards of up to $50,000 CAD each. We’re looking for high-quality proposals that impactfully moves global child health forward. 

External applicants are welcomed but the principal applicant must be a SickKids staff member, graduate student or postdoctoral fellow (a staff appointment is not required).

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2025 Global Child Health Catalyst Grant competition. Stay tuned for the next competition!

Learn more about past Global Child Health Catalyst Grant awardees (PDF).

Get in touch with us at: global.catalyst@sickkids.ca for any questions or other inquiries. 


Free online courses in global child health and public health nutrition

In order to increase the availability of training to health-care providers worldwide, the Centre developed and designed the SickKids Public Health Nutrition Course and the SickKids Global Child Health Course. By leveraging the expertise and global networks of SickKids, these free online courses provide participants with exposure to key issues in global child health and public health nutrition. Our vision is to increase availability of training to healthcare workers worldwide, while equipping course participants with the knowledge to address global child health challenges specifically in resource-poor settings.

Follow the links below to start the online courses today!

SickKids Public Health Nutrition Course (SPHNC)

The SickKids Public Health Nutrition Course (SPHNC) bridges the gap between science evidence and policy with a focus on capacity development for those who want to bring about change in low-and-middle-income countries.  

We are committed to providing accessible formats as part of our commitment to Accessibility. Captions are available on this video through YouTube.

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Learn more and register for the SPHNC course


SickKids Global Child Health Course (SGCHC)

The SickKids Global Child Health Course (SGCHC), an open access e-learning resource, aims to expose students and health workers to key issues in global child health, especially from a low-income setting perspective.  

Learn more and register for the SGCHC course


More from the Centre for Global Child Health

About the Centre for Global Child Health

The Centre for Global Child Health connects researchers and health-care professionals around the world to improve the lives of children and their families in resource-poor environments

Capacity Building

Our capacity building projects focus on collaborative and sustainable paediatric health workforce training and education programs.

Knowledge Synthesis, Translation and Advocacy

Centre initiatives, partnerships and networks are focused on the translation and management of knowledge to impact child health policy.

Research

Learn how leading child health experts are addressing global challenges through collaborative, innovative research.

Contact us

For questions or more information about the Centre, please email us at globalchild.health@sickkids.ca, or follow us on Twitter @SickKidsGlobal and LinkedIn.

Mailing Address

Centre for Global Child Health 
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) 
525 University Avenue, Suite 702 
Toronto, ON, M5G 2L3 

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