Dr. Carolyn Hunt

Dr. Carolyn Hunt is a Developmental Paediatrician and has been working at Grandview Children's Centre since 2002. She has been the Medical Director at Grandview Children's Centre since 2008. Prior to this she was a staff Developmental Paediatrician at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (HBKR) in Toronto. Dr. Hunt did her paediatric training at the University of Western Ontario and attended medical school at McMaster University, graduating in 1996. Prior to this, she completed Bachelors of Science in Biology and Psychology.

Dr. Hunt has extensive training in the area of developmental paediatrics and completed a Fellowship in developmental paediatrics with the Department of Neurology at the Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) from 2000-2002. She currently has an appointment at Sick Kids as an assistant professor and is a regular contributor to the Community Section of Developmental Paediatrics group. She also is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). She is supervising 1 undergraduate research student and is on the thesis advisory committee for two masters students in the department of Health Sciences.

Dr. Hunt has a strong interest in building capacity in parents of children with special needs and providing opportunities for education for parents involved with the centre. She co-authored our guidebook for families receiving a new diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy entitled Opening the Door for Children and Families with CP. This project was done in collaboration with one of our former clients, who have cerebral palsy Allison Partridge. A similar project was completed at HBKR prior to her move to Grandview. Dr. Hunt provides an annual education night for families who have a child diagnosed with Autism and is beginning work on a project to develop video resources for families to use after a recent diagnosis.

Dr. Hunt has championed the development of a research program at Grandview Children's Centre. She is the chair of our research committee and successfully advocated for the position of Research Associate which is held by Dr. Meghann Lloyd, kinesiologist at UOIT. At any given time we are participating in 8-10 outside research projects and in 2012 received Research Ethics Board approval at UOIT for our first independent project. Several other projects are under development. Please refer to our Research portfolio for a full listing.

Dr. Hunt is the chair of Grandview's Admission Committee and is responsible for leading our team to consider new and innovative ways to stretch our ability to serve more children, while directing children who may be served better by another organization appropriately. She is keenly interested in utilizing evidence based practice in her own work as well as fostering a culture of inquiry among our therapists and team members.

In addition to her duties as Medical Director, Dr. Hunt has an active developmental paediatrics practice and has 500-600 clinic visits per year. The majority of her practice relates to diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and diagnosis and ongoing medical management for children with Cerebral Palsy. She is the team leader for Grandview's Medical Services which include a second developmental paediatrician, Dr. Mary MacDonald, a physiatrist who runs our spasticity management program, Dr. Mark Mason, and an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Unni Narayanan. She also supervises our clinics which include psychology services, nutrition, transitions and spasticity management. She hopes to expand this portfolio over the course of Grandview's Strategic Plan 2012-2017.

Dr. Hunt has lived in Durham Region for 10 years and grew up in nearby York Region. She currently resides in Brooklin with her husband, three children and a hamster.