Will you join Dr. Batthish as part of our CREW?

Dr. Michelle Batthish

Division Head, Pediatric Rheumatology
McMaster Children’s Hospital
Cassie + Friends Research Committee Chair

Why did you join the C+F Crew?

The Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic Team at McMaster Children’s Hospital has seen tremendous growth over the past 5-10 years. Our multidisciplinary group is committed to providing excellent, quality care to children with rheumatic disease and their families and we’re always looking for ways to improve what we do. One thing that was important to our group was to help our families connect with others, both locally and across the country, so they could advocate together to improve the lives of children with rheumatic disease. Cassie + Friends was the perfect choice to help achieve this! Our team met with Cassie + Friends in 2019 to establish an ongoing relationship between C+F and Hamilton and the rest is history!

How did C+F get started at your Centre?

The C+F Hamilton group has been spearheaded by one of our JIA patient’s mother, Sonya Galbraith, who is also a new C+F board member! She has put in so much time and effort at creating an open and safe space for our families to connect and share stories. With her help, our team was able to raise enough funds through the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton to set up an equipment cupboard at our Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic. Items such as gas cards and parking passes have been well used and appreciated by many of our families. The heatable bean bags and stress balls are especially liked by our young patients!

In what ways does C+F support research?

In addition to our clinical growth, research within our division has expanded to include local, national, and international collaboratives. C+F has provided ongoing support, as a collaborator, for many of our local research projects. Patient/parent engagement and support by advocacy groups are critical to ensure that any research study is completed successfully. With their ongoing successful fundraising work, C+F is now in an even better position to support Pediatric Rheumatology Researchers across Canada. It’s because of this, I chose to join the C+F team as their new Research Committee Chair and helped to envision and launch the new C+F Care and Research Network (CREW)!

As the new Research Chair, what’s your vision for CREW?

We’ve already launched our first funding opportunity to Pediatric Rheumatology sites across Canada to assist our CREW in areas of research and support. My goals as Research Chair will be to ensure that 1) research funding opportunities for our CREW continue over the next year and; 2) clinician, researcher and patient/family input is gained and included in the decision making process involving our research agenda. Ultimately, this work will contribute to transforming the lives of children and families affected by rheumatic disease through high-quality research.

We hope you will join the efforts of medical experts like Dr. Batthish to bring more resources, support and research to kids and families affected by Juvenile Arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Make your gift today or set a reminder for tomorrow to add your support on #GivingTuesday.