Generative AI | TMU Multimedia Research Laboratory

$3.2M Wellcome Grant for Kids Help Phone AI Project

Sun, 03 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Naimul Khan is the TMU lead on a $3.2 million Wellcome-funded project in partnership with Kids Help Phone to develop a generative AI simulator for crisis responder training.

The project creates a prototype trained on 750,000+ de-identified KHP transcripts to generate realistic youth crisis scenarios. This allows volunteers to practice in a safe environment with real-time performance feedback aligned with KHP’s clinical standards — before working directly with young people. The model will be tested internationally and shared globally through Child Helpline International.

Young people serve as co-applicants and participate in prototype development to ensure cultural and linguistic accuracy.

Read the full announcement: TMU Media Release

Kids Help Phone

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

In partnership with Kids Help Phone, RML is developing a generative AI simulator for crisis responder training. The system is trained on 750,000+ de-identified KHP transcripts to generate realistic youth crisis scenarios, enabling volunteers to practice in a safe environment with real-time performance feedback aligned with KHP’s clinical standards — before working directly with young people.

The prototype will be tested internationally and shared globally through Child Helpline International. Young people serve as co-applicants and participate in prototype development to ensure cultural and linguistic accuracy.

Collaborators

Funding

Wellcome — $3.2M

Observatory on Immigration Discourses (IDIO)

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

The Observatory on Immigration Discourses (IDIO) is a large-scale social data observatory developed as part of the Bridging Divides initiative at Toronto Metropolitan University. The project compiles and analyzes immigration-related discourse from news articles, social media posts, government documents, and other publicly available sources using privacy-preserving AI methods.

IDIO serves as foundational research infrastructure supporting all four thematic areas of the Bridging Divides program, providing researchers with data-driven insights into social phenomena around immigration in Canada and beyond. The observatory enables both qualitative and quantitative analysis of how immigration is framed, discussed, and contested in public discourse in real time.

Dr. Muhammad Rehman Zafar leads this project as cluster lead within the Bridging Divides program.

Research Questions

How can AI tools be leveraged to assemble a comprehensive, continuously updated repository of immigration-related documents?
What insights can an immigration observatory reveal about Canadian immigration discourse over time?

Collaborators

Bridging Divides Research Initiative, Toronto Metropolitan University

Funding

Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) — via Bridging Divides