$70,000 Awarded to Advance Pediatric Concussion Research
Dr. Scott Ramsay, assistant professor at the UBC School of Nursing, has been awarded $70,000 through the IMPaCT Training Award and Michael Smith Health Research BC (MSHRBC) to support a pilot randomized controlled trial examining telehealth as a tool for pediatric concussion follow-up care.
April 30, 2026
Dr. Ramsay's research entitled Telehealth Examination for Pediatric Concussion Follow-up: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial, addresses a pressing gap in care for one of Canada's most commonly reported childhood injuries. Concussions affect children and adolescents across the country, yet access to timely, high-quality follow-up remains uneven, particularly in rural and equity-deserving communities. His trial will investigate whether telehealth-based assessment and rehabilitation produces equivalent or improved outcomes compared to standard in-person care, offering a potential pathway to more equitable access for families facing geographic, economic, or other barriers to treatment.
The project brings together a multidisciplinary network of leading pediatric concussion researchers, clinicians, and community partners, with deliberate attention to meaningful engagement with patients, families, and Indigenous communities. Findings will be shared broadly through peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, plain-language resources, and culturally adapted workshops, ensuring the research reaches the people and systems that can act on it.
The IMPaCT award also supports Dr. Ramsay's growth as an early-career clinical trialist, connecting him with mentors and collaborators across Canada who specialize in pediatric neurology, rehabilitation, and Indigenous health research.
This award comes at a fitting moment: Dr. Ramsay recently launched the Health Equity Research On Neuro-trauma (HERON) Lab, his new research home at UBC Nursing. In partnership with the Community Brain Injury Program for Children and Youth and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, the HERON Lab advances health equity research in neurotrauma care, examining social determinants of health, access to care, and outcomes for equity-deserving children and adolescents — with the goal of generating actionable insights to support equitable care delivery and policy development for young people facing systemic barriers.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ramsay on this recognition of his commitment to equitable, evidence-informed care for children and their families.
Learn more about his work at the HERON Lab.