Understanding disease shouldn't begin and end with a diagnosis.

The CELLFiE Project helps children and families understand disease by seeing their own cells, learning how diagnosis and treatment work, and connecting directly with the laboratory professionals involved in their care.

Making the laboratory part of the care journey

Every diagnosis begins in the laboratory, yet for most children and families, that part of healthcare remains largely unseen. The CELLFiE Project opens the laboratory door through personalized, age-appropriate education, giving children the opportunity to meet the professionals involved in their care, view their own cells under the microscope, and better understand how testing guides diagnosis and treatment. By making complex medical information visible and understandable, CELLFiE helps replace fear and uncertainty with confidence.

Patient-Centred Education

Helping children and families understand disease through personalized laboratory experiences.

Research

Advancing patient-centred pathology through evidence-based research, innovation and collaboration.

Advocacy

Creating a future where diagnostic transparency and health literacy are recognized as essential components of compassionate healthcare.

The Patient Journey

A three-column infographic showing the progression from 'Before' to 'During' to 'After' in a medical or laboratory context. The 'Before' column lists fear, confusion, loss of control, and complex medical language. The 'During' column contains seeing own cells, meeting the laboratory team, understanding diagnosis, learning treatment, and exploring the lab. The 'After' column shows greater understanding, reduced anxiety, improved health literacy, greater confidence, and empowered patients and families.

A Growing Model of Patient Education

What began as a single laboratory visit has grown into a multidisciplinary program spanning patient care, education, research and advocacy. The CELLFiE Project now supports children and families across a growing range of diagnoses while helping advance patient-centred pathology as a more visible and meaningful part of healthcare.

A young boy in a wheelchair holding a plush teddy bear with a hospital room in the background, including a doctor and a mural with yellow stars.

Understanding changes the experience of care

A childhood leukemia diagnosis can bring fear, uncertainty and an overwhelming amount of information. By making diagnostic medicine visible, personal and easier to understand, The CELLFiE Project helps children and families make sense of what is happening inside the body, communicate more confidently with their care team and feel more engaged in the treatment journey—because education is not simply an addition to care; it is care.

Growing Beyond Leukemia

Originally developed for children with leukemia, The CELLFiE Project now includes educational programming for children with lymphoma, sickle cell disease, solid tumours, Youth in Care and children living with needle phobia, with continued expansion into additional patient populations planned.

We'd Love to Hear From You

Whether you're a family interested in learning more, a healthcare professional looking to collaborate, or a researcher interested in patient-centred pathology, we'd be happy to connect.