← Our Projects Equity Science Lab · Active Project · Led by Dr. Katrina Plamondon

BRIIDGE

Building Relational Immune-based Innovations DialoGuE — inviting people into reflective, evidence-informed conversations about complex topics related to immunotherapeutic innovations for public health.

Deliberative Dialogue Healthy Trust Vaccine Equity mRNA Dialogues
BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026 · equityscience.ca

Building
healthy trust,together.

BRIIDGE — Building Relational Immune-based Innovations DialoGuE — is a study led by Dr. Katrina Plamondon that invites people to join reflective, evidence-informed conversations about complex topics related to immunotherapeutic innovations for public health.

The first study is a series of deliberative dialogues engaging diverse audiences in what we can learn from people's experiences and insights about mRNA vaccine sentiments — and what it would take to generate healthy trust moving forward, in pandemic-ready ways. These dialogues have been a place for generating understanding, shared goals and recommendations, and pathways toward healthy trust and engagement.

BRIIDGE is a sub-project of the Bridge Research Consortium (BRC), funded by the Government of Canada through Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Bio-manufacturing Hub (CIEBH). More on the consortium below.

Dialogue
& capacity
in motion.

BRIIDGE builds on the work of the SOLVE study, drawing on dialogic methods to explore and understand COVID vaccine responses. The approach is grounded in relational theory and practices for dialogue-based inquiry and knowledge mobilization, and draws on Systematic Equity Action-Analysis (SEAA).

  • Plamondon, K., Banner, D., Cary, M. A., Faulkner, M., Gainforth, H., Ghag, K., et al. (2023). Relational practices for meaningful inclusion in health research: Results of a deliberative dialogue study. Health Expectations. Contact us for access
  • Plamondon, K. M., Dixon, J., Brisbois, B., Pereira, R. C., Bisung, E., Elliott, S. J., et al. (2023). Turning the tide on inequity through systematic equity action-analysis. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 890. Open access
  • Pre-dialogue materials
  • Preliminary results of the mRNA dialogue series
01 Dialogue

Create dialogue spaces

Convening people connected to priorities at the intersections of vaccine equity, accessibility, and acceptability in Canada — centring those most impacted in conversations that shape understanding and action.

BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026
02 Capacity

Equip partners with equity tools

Equipping people in the BRC — and others connected to Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Bio-manufacturing Hub (CIEBH) — with support and tools for integrating evidence-informed equity principles and practices in their efforts.

BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026

Equity isn't an add-on.
It's the bridge itself.

01
The Problem
Trust isn't a communications problem — it's a relationship problem.

Mis/disinformation takes hold where institutions have failed communities, where access is unequal, and where voices have been excluded from the decisions that affect them most.

BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026
02
The Gap
Knowledge alone doesn't change behaviour — relationships do.

Vaccine hesitancy is rarely about a lack of information. It's about a lack of trust in systems that have historically excluded, harmed, or ignored particular communities.

BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026
03
The Approach
BRIIDGE builds the conditions for something different.

Spaces where researchers, community members, regulators, and industry can meet across difference — not to broadcast, but to listen, question, and build shared understanding.

BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026
04
The Vision
A more equitable public health infrastructure, built together.

When equity is designed in from the start — in funding, in governance, in who gets to be in the room — public health systems become more resilient, more trusted, and more just.

BRIIDGE · Equity Science Lab · 2026

Part of the Bridge
Research Consortium.

The Bridge Research Consortium (BRC) is a collaboration of scholars designed to increase knowledge of and strategies to address challenges related to vaccination mis/disinformation, public trust, and equitable access. Co-led by Dr. Kelley Lee (Simon Fraser University) and Dr. Ève Dubé (Université Laval), health equity is a central focus throughout. BRIIDGE grew out of — and contributes back to — this national collaboration.

Consortium Co-Leads
Dr. Kelley Lee Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Ève Dubé Faculty of Social Sciences, Université Laval
Research Team
Ahmed Al-Rawi
Simon Fraser University
Timothy Caulfield
University of Alberta
Wendy Chun
Simon Fraser University
Colleen Flood
Queen's University
Maya Gislason
Simon Fraser University
Janice Graham
Dalhousie University
Cynthia Jardine
University of the Fraser Valley
Jillian Kohler
University of Toronto
David Patrick
BC Centre for Disease Control
Katrina Plamondon
University of British Columbia
Diego Silva
University of Sydney
Julia Smith
Simon Fraser University
Maxwell Smith
Western University
Heidi Tworek
University of British Columbia
Partners
Canadian Association of Science Centres (ScienceUpFirst) Canadian Public Health Association The Conversation Canada Vaccine Confidence Project

Let's
connect.

We collaborate with researchers, community organisations, and health institutions. If BRIIDGE's work resonates with yours, we'd love to hear from you.

Get In Touch ← Back to Projects