Jonathan Birks offers insight into why investing in early-career researchers matters.
As Canada prepares to launch a new national training platform for researchers in autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, Jonathan Birks, President of the Birks Family Foundation, offers a supporters’ perspective on why this work matters.
Watch “Supporting a new generation of autism researchers: Le soutien de Jonathan Birks” in this video (Production: Aura Strategies)
Birks shares how the Foundation came to support early-career researchers through the Quebec Autism Research Training (QART) Program, and how that support continues today as part of the Canadian Neurodevelopmental Research Training (CanNRT) Platform.
“It’s easy for our foundation trustees to be enthusiastic,” he says. “We feel we’re supporting the best people, anywhere in the world, at doing research on autism.”
The transition from QART to CanNRT reflects a broader vision: to equip the next generation of leaders with the tools, mentorship, and collaborative networks needed to improve outcomes for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions across Canada. Contributions like those from the Birks Family Foundation are helping make that vision a reality.
