Gabrielle Freire

Title:: Staff Physician, Emergency Medicine
Designations:: MDCM, MHSc, FRCPC
Pronouns:: She/Her
Fax:: 416-813-5043
Alternate Contact Name:: Mharco Quemado
Alternate Phone:: 416-813-7654 ext. 414280
Alternate Email:: mharco.quemado@sickkids.ca
U of T Positions:: Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Hospital Positions

Clinician Investigator, Division of Emergency Medicine

Research Positions

Associate Scientist Track Investigator, Child Health Evaluative Sciences

Learning Positions

Fellowship Research Education Lead, Division of Emergency Medicine

Biography

Dr. Gabrielle Freire is a paediatric emergency physician and researcher at SickKids. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on improving paediatric injury care through implementation science, health services research and quality improvement. Freire's research aims to bridge the gap between evidence and practice to improve outcomes for children.

Freire is an internationally recognized leader in paediatric emergency medicine and serves in leadership roles with Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) and the Pediatric Emergency Research Networks (PERN). She has led and collaborated on multidisciplinary research initiatives, secured competitive research funding and contributed to publications that have helped advance paediatric emergency care. Freire is also committed to education and mentorship, supporting medical students, residents, fellows and early-career researchers. Through clinical excellence, innovation and collaboration, she continues to improve the quality, equity and delivery of emergency care for children in Canada and around the world.

Research

Dr. Freire's research program focuses on identifying and implementing evidence-based practices in paediatric emergency care so that children can receive high-quality care regardless of where they seek treatment. She has published foundational research on the state of paediatric injury care in Canada and led the development of the first evidence-based quality indicators for paediatric injury care informed by experts and parents.

Her work includes a national needs assessment of paediatric injury care and the development of infrastructure to design, test and evaluate implementation strategies. These initiatives are helping establish the first Canadian paediatric emergency medicine implementation science laboratory and will support future interventions aimed at improving access to high-quality emergency care for children across Canada.

Education and experience

2018—2020: Masters of Health Sciences, Translational Research (MHSc), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Supervisor(s): Richard Foty
2018—2019: Graduate Diploma in Clinical Epidemiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
2016—2018: Paediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
2013—2016: General Paediatrics Residency Training Program, CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
2009—2013: Medicine M.D.C.M., McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Achievements

2026: Dr. Francis S. Collins Scholar Award. Journeys & Frontiers in Pediatric Research. American Pediatric Society and Society for Pediatric Research Boston, MA, USA.
2026 — Present: Steering Committee Member & Ontario Nodal Lead. Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK)
2025 — Present: Chair. Implementation science interest group. Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC)
2024 — Present: Executive Committee Member & Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) representative. Pediatric Emergency Research Networks (PERN)
2023 — Present: Executive Committee Member. Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC)
2022 — Present: Chair. Women in Research Interest Group. Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC)

Publications

Moore L, Yanchar NL, Tardif PA, Weiss M, Beaulieu E, Stang A, Gagnon I, Gabbe B, Stelfox T, Pike I, Macpherson A, Berthelot S, Klassen T, Beno S, Carsen S, Labrosse M, Zemek R, Priestap F, Burstein B, Remick KE, Yeates KO, Merritt N, Kuppermann N, Loellgen R, Davis N, Lecky F, Teague W, Holland A, Malo C, Beaudin M, Archambault P, Freire G; Quality Indicators in Pediatric Trauma Care Expert Consensus Group. Evidence-Informed Quality Indicators for Pediatric Trauma Care. JAMA Pediatr. 2025 Mar 31:e250036.
Moore L, Yanchar NL, Beno S, Beaudin M, Bérubé M, Tardif PA, Neveu X, Belcaid A, Weiss M, Beaulieu E, Stang A, Gagnon I, Gabbe B, Stelfox HT, Berthelot S, Klassen T, Carsen S, Labrosse M, Zemek R, Priestap F, Burstein B, Remick KE, Yeates KO, Merritt N, Kuppermann N, Loellgen R, Lecky F, Teague W, Holland A, Malo C, Freire G. Validation of Quality Indicators for Pediatric Trauma Care. Ann Surg. 2025 Jul 16
Freire GC, Beno S, Yanchar N, Weiss M, Stang A, Stelfox T, Bérubé M, Beaulieu E, Gagnon IJ, Zemek R, Berthelot S, Tardif PA, Moore L. Clinical Practice Guideline Recommendations For Pediatric Multisystem Trauma Care: A Systematic Review. Ann Surg. 2023 Dec 1;278(6):858-864.
Moore L, Ben Abdeljelil A, Tardif PA, Zemek R, Reed N, Yeates KO, Emery CA, Gagnon IJ, Yanchar N, Bérubé M, Dawson J, Berthelot S, Stang A, Beno S, Beaulieu E, Turgeon AF, Labrosse M, Lauzier F, Pike I, Macpherson A, Freire GC. Clinical Practice Guideline Recommendations in Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review. Ann Emerg Med. 2024 Apr;83(4):327-339.
Deshommes T, Freire G, Yanchar N, Zemek R, Beaudin M, Stang A, Weiss MJ, Carsen S, Gagnon IJ, Gabbe BJ, Bérubé M, Stelfox HT, Beno S, Labrosse M, Beaulieu E, Berthelot S, Klassen T, Turgeon AF, Lauzier F, Neveu X, Belcaid A, Ben Abdeljelil A, Tardif PA, Giroux M, Moore L. Low-Value Clinical Practices in Pediatric Trauma Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Oct 1;7(10):e2440983. PMID: 39470640; PMCID: PMC11522939.

Funding

2026—2030: Introducing quality indicators for pediatric injury care: co-design of a system-level implementation plan and evaluation of its feasibility, acceptability, and economic potential. Nominated principal investigator. Canadian Institute for Health Research. $604,350 (CAD)
2024—2029: Promoting Optimal Treatment for Community-acquired PNeumonia in EmErgency Rooms (PIONEERS): a multicentre, randomized, open-labelled, controlled, clinical trial. Co-Applicant and site investigator. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. $1,240,000 (CAD)
2023—2024: SARI Surveillance (Severe Acute Respiratory Illness). Co-Principal Investigator. Public Health Agency of Canada, and Canadian Paediatric Society. $452,633 CAD
2022—2024: Paediatric Outcomes imProvement through COordination of Research Networks (POPCORN). Co-applicant and site investigator. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Canadian Pediatric COVID-19 Research Platform. $3,350,000 (CAD)
2022—2023: Clinical ChaRacteristics and outcomEs of hospitAlized chilDren with Acute resPiratory infecTions: the READAPT-Kids study. SickKids Foundation. Co-Principal applicant. $125,000 CAD
2021—2025: Improving the quality of Canadian paediatric injury care: identifying priorities based on evidence, practice variations and stakeholder needs and preferences. Co-Principal Applicant. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. $608,176 (CAD)
2021—2022: A Multi-Center Evaluation of Buccal Swabs with the Abbott IDNOWTM COVID-19 for Point-of-Care Detection SARS-CoV-2 in Paediatric Emergency Department. Co-Applicant and site investigator. Health Canada – Safe Restart Agreement Contribution Program. $1,007,000 (CAD)
2020—2023: Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Children Potentially Infected by SARS-CoV-2 Presenting to Paediatric Emergency Departments in Canada - A Paediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) – Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) COVID-19 Surveillance Collaboration. Co-applicant and site investigator. Public Health Agency of Canada. $499,125 (CAD)