Community
Building connections between research and community
Connecting community and research for better impact
The Azrieli Accelerator invites researchers and community members to participate and partner in the shaping of the research we support.
Why we engage communities
The Azrieli Accelerator facilitates opportunities for people from the community and experts here at UCalgary to engage in research that is informed and inspired by lived experience of neurodivergent individuals and their families.
How we engage communities
We offer training and mentorship opportunities that open the door for community members and researchers to participate in community-engaged research. Our Azrieli Accelerator Research Community Council (AArCC) includes members with lived and living experience who lend a community perspective to Azrieli Accelerator initiatives.
So that...
Researchers, community members, caregivers and families can build connections and be well-prepared to partner in research and ensure that research studies are shaped with real-life application in mind.
Meet Rae Martens
Knowledge Broker, Azrieli Accelerator
Rae Martens has been a part of the disability community in varying capacities for 20+ years. She is the bereaved parent to a young man born with medically complex disabilities who passed away in 2020. She is also someone with lived experience of disability herself as an ambulatory wheelchair user with a neurological condition.
Rae was a respite worker for neurodivergent children in care and has been a partner in health and policy research for over ten years. She is deeply passionate about knowledge translation and ensuring new knowledge is put in the hands of those who need it. She has been a steadfast advocate to ensure the fingerprint of lived experience is seen in the development of new research. This is why she is honored to function as a Knowledge Broker with the Azrieli Accelerator team.
Family Engagement in Research Course
The Family Engagement in Research (FER) course builds capacity for engaged research partnerships between people with lived/living experience (both self-advocates and family members) and researchers. It is designed for people from the community who want to build their skills to partner with research in universities and hospitals, as well as for researchers (graduate students, research coordinators), clinicians and health care providers who want to build their skills in partnering with people with lived/living experience to design impactful research.
The FER course was developed and is presented by CanChild and the Kids Brain Health Network. Applications for the next cohort will open in fall 2024. Sign up to stay updated.
Participate in research across UCalgary
UCalgary believes in thinking creatively and courageously, and in doing research that has a positive impact on our communities at home and around the world. Our scholars conduct research studies and clinical trials in a vast range of disciplines, from MRIs to understand childhood brain development, to online surveys that help us understand how people interact on social media.