The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary research network, based at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. HELP’s unique partnership brings together many scientific viewpoints to address complex early child development (ECD) issues. HELP connects researchers and practitioners from communities and institutions across B.C., Canada, and internationally.
HELP’s interdisciplinary approach reaches from ‘cell to society’. We study everything from how early experience affects the development of the brain, to children’s development over time, to family policy. HELP builds on a range of population health approaches, including social determinants of health. HELP takes a life course approach, accepting the early years as the first and most critical in determining life-long health and wellbeing.
Campus
Affiliated UBC Faculty & Postdocs
| Name | Role | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Brussoni, Mariana | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Developmental psychology; Psychosocial, sociocultural and behavioral determinants of health; Population health interventions; injury prevention; Children's outdoor play; Risky play; Parenting; health behaviour change; Implementation Science |
| Guhn, Martin | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Developmental psychology; Psychosocial, sociocultural and behavioral determinants of health; social context and child development/well-being; Population health; social determinants of health |
| Kershaw, Paul | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | child care, parental leave, work-life balance, social policy, social citizenship, responsibilities and rights, gender and politics, income assistance, child benefit package, social inclusion, neighbourhood effects on child development, Canadian federalism, Citizenship, detrimants of Health, social care |
| Oberlander, Timothy | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Population epidemiological studies that characterize neurodevelopmental pathways that reflect risk, resiliency and developmental plasticity |
| Oberle, Eva | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Public and population health; Other education; Adolescent Mental Health/ Social-Emotional Wellbeing; Positive youth development; Promoting mental health and wellbeing through schools; Risk and resilience; Research with population-level data; Social and emotional learning in schools |
| Poon, Brenda | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Population-level early identification and early intervention for children with special needs; Complex systems of coordinated service delivery and supports; Family-centered services; Integrated child health information systems; Community-based research regarding social determinants of children |
| Turin, Mark | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Anthropology; Cultural Institutions (Museums, Libraries, etc.); Lexicography and Dictionaries; Language Contact and Linguistic Changes; Language Rights and Policies; Language Interactions; Political Culture, Society and Ideology; Bella Bella; Bhutan; First Nations; Heiltsuk; Indigeneity; Nepal; Sikkim; Tibet |