November 2025

University of Alberta PEAK Research Team:
Pediatric Emergency: Advancing Knowledge through Leadership, Collaboration, Excellence

Welcome to the Winter 2025 edition of the PEAK Research Team Newsletter! This newsletter serves as an update on the research activities of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the University of Alberta and provides resources and information that may be of interest to readers.

Questions? Comments? Contact us at peakrt@ualberta.ca

PEAK Highlights

Vote for SKIP: IHDCYH Talks 2025

Voting is open for the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) Talks 2025 Competition!

Our SKIP Clinical Implementation Specialist and PEAK Lead Research Coordinator, Andrea Razcón Echeagaray, has submitted an infographic, titled: "Breathe In Comfort, Breathe Out Pain: How Laughing Gas Helps Children And Youth In Pain".

Voting closes on November 30th at midnight ET

Vote here!

View all submissions

Ongoing PEAK Study:
Anxiolysis for Laceration repair In Children (ALICE)

"Lacerations are the most common traumatic reason for children to visit an emergency department (ED), accounting for almost half of all procedures performed. Children experience considerable distress during laceration repair, despite routine application of local anesthetic. Pharmacologic anxiolysis may mitigate the negative practice of forcefully restraining a child, however, evidence for the most effective agent is lacking. We aim to determine the most effective anxiolytic agent for laceration repair in children."

Source: Poonai N, Arthur-Hayward V, Ali S, Sabhaney V, Doan Q, Trottier E, et al. (2025) Anxiolysis for laceration repair in children: study protocol for an open-label multicenter adaptive trial (ALICE). PLoS One 20(6): e0324515. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324515

Featured PEAK Team Member:
Andrea Razcon Echeagaray

Some fun facts about Andrea...

I love horror movies! Two of my favourites are The Conjuring and Jennifer's Body
Cows are my favourite animal

Andrea is a Clinical Implementation Specialist with Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), working alongside the PEAK Research Team at the University of Alberta—where she also completed her Master’s in Human Nutrition and Metabolism. With a background in clinical research and a love for clear, patient-centered communication, she’s passionate about making pediatric pain evidence easier to understand, easier to use, and more connected to what kids and families actually need.

Born and raised in Mexico, Andrea brings a cross-cultural lens to her work and cares deeply about empathy, accessibility and inclusion in healthcare. Her approach is also shaped by lived experience with chronic pain and neurodivergence. She’s excited to be part of a team that shares her values and passion for meaningful, patient-centered change. She carries the word Inmarcesible—Spanish for "a flower that cannot lose its petals"—which feels like the perfect reminder that softness and resilience can coexist no matter what, no matter who, and no matter when.

Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) Research Day

On October 22, the PEAK team attended WCHRI's 18th Annual Research Day.

Congratulations to our presenters and to Dr. Katharine Jensen for her award-winning presentation "Understanding the urgency: Caregiver health literacy and non-urgent pediatric ED visits"

Above, clockwise from top right: Dr. Samina Ali & Dr. Elise Kammerer; Chelseay Robles & Dr. Lisa Hartling; Dr. Samina Ali, Patricia Candelaria, and Morgan Wolsey

Above, from left to right: Emma Morstad (Research Nurse Coordinator), Andrea Razcón Echeagaray (Lead Research Coordinator and SKIP Clinical Implementation Specialist), Andrea Eaton (Resarch Coordinator and PERC Network Coordinator), Dr. Samina Ali, and Patricia Candelaria (PEAK Program Manager)

Pediatric Pain Education Day

During National Pain Awareness Week, the PEAK/SKIP team partnered with the Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital to host the 3rd Annual Pain Education Day.

This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Melanie Noel, delivered a powerful talk on memory reframing in pediatric pain, sparking important conversations about how children’s experiences with pain can shape their healing and perception of pain. Dr. Samina Ali followed with an engaging session on anxiolysis in procedural pain—a topic that continues to influence how providers deliver care and how patients and families can feel empowered in their treatment journeys.

We were also joined by occupational therapists, physiotherapists, Child Life specialists, and our wonderful patient and parent partners, who shared their lived experiences with honesty and courage. Their voices reminded us why this work matters.

This event not only honours the Stollery’s ChildKind Certification, but also serves as a reminder of our collective commitment to change the narrative around children’s pain—through empathy, education, and empowerment.

A Piece of PEAK History

Can you spot some familiar faces in this clip from the Edmonton Journal? This article was published October 1st, 2000, highlighting the recruitment of eight pediatric emergency specialist physicians to the University Hospital - including PEAK members Dr. Hsing Jou and Dr. William Craig!

PEAK Networks Updates

ChildKind Certification

After much hard work and dedication, the Stollery Children's Hospital received ChildKind certification! The Stollery is one of 20 hospitals worldwide to receive this recognition, and the first multi-site institution to be certified.

“Most importantly, pain management is a fundamental human right, and we believe in providing the best pain care at the Stollery.”
Dr. Samina Ali, co-medical lead of CKI at the Stollery
(read the rest of the article here)

ChildKind International is an international accreditation that demonstrates an organization's commitment to children's comfort.

Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP)

SKIP is a national knowledge mobilization network whose mission is to improve children's pain management by mobilizing evidence-based solutions through coordination and collaboration.

Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK)

TREKK is a national knowledge mobilization network established to address critical knowledge gaps and improve emergency care for children across Canada.