Jia Lin, a PhD student in the Department of Family Medicine, has been awarded First Place in the Infographics category at the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) Talks 2025 competition, an initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The competition challenges students to communicate a clear, evidence-based message to a general audience in ways that can meaningfully improve the health of children, youth, and families.
Drawing on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Lin’s advances a rights-based framework for digital health. It underscores children’s and youths’ rights to safe online environments, digital health literacy, and digital sobriety. The work calls on young people, adults, and communities to co-create safer digital spaces, increase transparency around online content, and strengthen critical thinking skills. By positioning children and youth as active digital citizens, the project promotes inclusive, interdisciplinary, and youth-engaged approaches to knowledge creation and dissemination.
"This work emerged from an interdisciplinary collaboration spanning social pediatrics, youth engagement, and law, and was co-designed with four youth partners from Garage à Musique, a social pediatrics centre. I am thrilled about the award, which affirms the importance of youth engagement, agency, and rights in shaping health research," says Jin Lin.
Lin’s doctoral research focuses on the co-design and evaluation of an artificial intelligence chatbot for pediatric common infections. Grounded in participatory methods, her work examines the sociotechnical values and processes that shape the development and implementation of digital health tools. She is co-supervised by Drs. Esli Osmanlliu and Bertrand Lebouché. In addition to the $3,500 First Place Prize, she received a $500 Collaboration Supplement.
The full list of IHDCYH Talks 2025 winners is available on the CIHR website:Â
Her related publication can be read in PLOS Digital Health:Â
