Nicole Catherine

Dr. Nicole Catherine is Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the Children’s Health Policy Centre in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She holds the Canada Research Chair Tier 2 in Child Health Equity and Policy.

Nicole conducts research on the early prevention of child health inequities and on ensuring inclusion of underserved children– in both research and policy-making. In partnership with policymakers, child-serving organizations and Indigenous communities, she conducts primary research with children and families e.g., on addressing barriers to service provision and on cultural adaptations of early prevention programs. Nicole co-led the BC Healthy Connections Project (BCHCP), a randomized-controlled trial evaluating the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program prenatally to age two years (2011–2022). She is now leading follow up of longer-term outcomes across childhood and adolescence. Nicole’s work has prompted innovations in scientific methodology for sustaining engagement with children and mothers experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage—providing policymakers and practitioners with concrete information on better inclusion. She is committed to changing the narrative from labelling underserved families as “hard-to-reach” to placing the onus on policymakers who “need-to-reach” this population.