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Sloane Freeman

MD, FRCPC, MSc

Investigator

Email: Sloane.Freeman@unityhealth.to
Tel: 416-864-6060 ext 5431

Biography

Dr. Sloane Freeman is a full-time pediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital’s Inner City Health Program and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She has worked as a General Pediatrician in downtown Toronto since 2008 with particular expertise in social pediatrics, developmental/school issues and care of the medically complex child. Dr. Freeman is the founder and lead for the Model Schools Pediatric Health Initiative (MSPHI), a program developed in partnership with the Toronto District School Board to bring health care to inner city schools. This innovative health care delivery model focuses on developmental and mental health care for students who face barriers to accessing health care and is the first of it’s kind in Canada. Dr. Freeman is also the primary investigator for the Feasibility Study on the Model Schools Pediatric Health Initiative, the first study published in Canada to evaluate school based health care. Dr. Freeman is currently leading the first randomized controlled study examining school based health care in Canada. Dr. Freeman’s administrative leadership has resulted in a program that now serves 40 inner city schools. Her groundbreaking work and research in the area of school based health care has made her a Canadian leader in this field.

Please note: Dr. Freeman is not taking any summer students.

Recent Publications

  1. Freeman, SJ, Keown-Stoneman, CDG, Ghobrial, M, Jegathesan, T, Sgro, MD. Neonatal phototherapy and cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Pediatr. 2025;13 :1667636. doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1667636. PubMed PMID:41367606 PubMed Central PMC12682806.
  2. Sgro, M, Freeman, S, Rasiah, S, Campbell, D, Shah, V. Severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in infants aged 60 days or less (2025 to 2027). Paediatr Child Health. 2025;30 (6):469-470. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxaf062. PubMed PMID:41049706 PubMed Central PMC12495517.
  3. Qiu, K, Omand, JA, Elshaarawi, Y, Rasiah-Shaidev, S, Keown-Stoneman, C, Cohen-Silver, J et al.. School food programs and food insecurity at the REACH school network: an observational study. BMC Public Health. 2025;25 (1):2060. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23163-8. PubMed PMID:40462048 PubMed Central PMC12131624.
  4. Rasiah, S, Andrade, BF, Cohen-Silver, J, Suri, A, Rasiah, S, Huber, J et al.. Coping Power at the REACH School Network: A pilot feasibility study. Paediatr Child Health. 2024;29 (8):493-500. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxae060. PubMed PMID:40395338 PubMed Central PMC12086660.
  5. Freeman, SJ, Nisenbaum, R, Jegathesan, T, Sgro, MD. Healthcare visits for new neurodevelopmental problems before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatr Res. 2024;96 (5):1364-1368. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03279-0. PubMed PMID:38796534 .
  6. Rasiah, S, Jüni, P, Sgro, MD, Thorpe, KE, Maguire, J, Freeman, SJ et al.. School-based health care: improving academic outcomes for inner-city children-a prospective cohort quasi-experimental study. Pediatr Res. 2023;94 (4):1488-1495. doi: 10.1038/s41390-023-02473-w. PubMed PMID:36755187 PubMed Central PMC9907190.
  7. Minhas, RS, Freeman, SJ. Supporting marginalised children with school problems in the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2021;5 (1):e000956. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2020-000956. PubMed PMID:34192191 PubMed Central PMC7804822.
  8. Cohen-Silver, J, Laher, N, Freeman, S, Mistry, N, Sgro, M. Family fIRST, an Interactive Risk Screening Tool for Families in a School-Based Pediatric Clinic. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2017;56 (3):217-225. doi: 10.1177/0009922816657152. PubMed PMID:27380792 .
  9. van den Heuvel, M, Barozzino, T, Milligan, K, Ford-Jones, E, Freeman, S. We need psychologists!. Paediatr Child Health. 2016;21 (1):e1-3. doi: 10.1093/pch/21.1.e1. PubMed PMID:26941561 PubMed Central PMC4758434.
  10. Freeman, S, Sgro, M, Wormsbecker, AE, Vandermorris, AK, Thorpe, KE, Mamdani, M et al.. Feasibility study on the Model Schools Paediatric Health Initiative pilot project. Paediatr Child Health. 2013;18 (7):361-6. . PubMed PMID:24421711 PubMed Central PMC3804636.
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Staff Pediatrician, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto,
  • Lead, Model Schools Pediatric Health Initiative