My interests lie at the intersection of public health, clinical medicine, and behavioural sciences, all in service of improving child and youth health. My work employs techniques from health services research, behavioural economics, epidemiology, experimental psychology, and health economics in an effort to improve the health and healthcare of children.

The goal of my research is to better understand how children and their parents make decisions about their health, and to use these results to improve the prevention and management of pediatric chronic disease. In particular, I aim to improve the treatment of asthma by identifying the behavioural and cognitive factors that make adherence to treatment more difficult, in order to address these characteristics to improve the care and quality of life of asthmatic children. 

I am leading the development of a screening and intervention tool for lifestyle behaviours in pediatrics. This tool, founded in principles of behavioural scieneces, will serve to improve the prevention of chronic diseases.

I prioritize communication with the public as an integral part of my work in public health, and I endeavour to properly communicate the facts, uncertainty, and the balance of risks and benefits in my communication with families and with the media, so that everyone can make informed decisions about their health and that of their children. 

Béatrice Godard has been interested in the socio-ethical issues of research and interventions in population health for several years. She has worked with researchers and health professionals on developing skills in ethics to help them pursue their research interests or their interventions in the health field. She has also worked with vulnerable individuals and groups (people with brain disorders, underprivileged populations, emerging populations) on the development of decision-making capabilities. More specifically, her research aims to examine (1) their concerns and needs in relation to the vulnerability situation in which they find themselves; and (2) the ethical processes to put in place to contribute to their empowerment. Her research work is centered on an empirical perspective and, to that end, she employs a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.

An interdisciplinary scholar trained in Bioethics, Dr. Williams-Jones is interested in the socio-ethical and policy implications of health innovations in diverse contexts. His work examines the conflicts that arise in academic research and professional practice with a view to developing ethical tools to manage these conflicts when they cannot be avoided.