Natasha Saunders

Senior Associate Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences Program

U of T Positions

Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics

Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Dr. Natasha Saunders is a Staff Physician in the Division of Paediatric Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children, a Senior Associate Scientist in Child Health Evaluative Sciences at the SickKids Research Institute, an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and an Adjunct Scientist at ICES. She received academic training at the University of Toronto in medicine, clinical epidemiology, and health care research; completed clinical training at SickKids; and undertook post-doctoral training at ICES.

Dr. Saunders’ clinical practice spans general paediatric hospital medicine and outpatient consultant paediatrics, with a particular focus on children and adolescents with complex, diagnostically challenging conditions at the intersection of physical and mental health. Her clinical and research work increasingly centers on somatic symptom and related disorders, and co-occurring medical and psychiatric conditions, with an emphasis on integrated, family-centred care that helps children, families, and clinicians make sense of the connections between the mind, body, function, and health system use.

Her research program uses linked health administrative data, clinical epidemiology, health services research, and mixed-methods approaches to improve care and outcomes for children and youth. Current areas of focus include mental health system performance; integrated care for children with somatic symptom and related disorders and other co-occurring physical and mental health needs; injury epidemiology, including firearm injury; immigrant and refugee health; paediatric primary care delivery; and the health and safety of children in families affected by maternal violence or injury. Across these areas, her work aims to identify children and families at risk, measure gaps in care, and inform more responsive clinical pathways and health system interventions.

Research

Using large linked health and administrative databases, clinical epidemiology, and health services research methods, Dr. Saunders’ research program aims to improve the health of children and youth by generating evidence that informs paediatric care delivery, health system planning, and prevention-oriented interventions.

Her current program includes a growing focus on somatic symptom and related disorders and other conditions in which physical symptoms, emotional distress, family context, and health system pathways are closely connected. This work seeks to improve recognition, measurement, risk stratification, and care pathways for children and adolescents whose needs often span paediatrics, mental health, rehabilitation, and primary care. Dr. Saunders also leads and collaborates on research examining child outcomes following maternal violence or injury, situating this work within a broader injury epidemiology and family health framework. Additional areas of focus include mental health system performance, firearm and other injury epidemiology, immigrant and refugee health outcomes, and paediatric primary care delivery.

Education and experience

• 2015–2017: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2013–2015: Master of Science, Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2013–2015: Academic General Paediatrics Fellowship, Division of Paediatric Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2004–2008: Doctor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2002–2004: Master of Science, Vascular Physiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
• 1998–2002: Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
• 1998–2002: Bachelor of Science, Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Achievements

• 2020: Associate Editor, Archives of Diseases in Childhood
• 2015: Claire Bombardier Award, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
• 2015: Thomas and Edna Naylor Award, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
• 2012–2014: Research Training Competition (Restracomp) Award, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Training Centre 

View a full list of Natasha Saunders' publications on PubMed or Google Scholar