The Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Inc., (WHRFC) has had a successful 2024-2025 year that included bringing back its signature in-person fundraising event, Dance For Your Health. After a four-year hiatus due to COVID, our loyal donors and new supporters gathered at Charisma of India Restaurant on May 9, 2024 to celebrate an evening of Bollywood Fusion Style in support of raising funds for scholarships focused on health research for women and gender-diverse people. Our Board President Dr. Sheri Fandrey opened the program with an acknowledgment of the state of women’s health research and how our scholarships contribute to this space, while Ainsley MacPhail from CTV Morning Live emceed throughout the evening. Dr. Lynn Scruby, WHRFC board member, introduced and moderated our award winner’s 3-minute presentations. Past scholarship recipients Oludolapo Balogun, Mimi Brown, Daniel Gussakovsky, and Liz Harvey impressed the crowd with presentations of their research. Our featured dances included an energetic performance by the Bollywood Siblings, as well as a captivating belly dance from Kevla. Both performances engaged the audience, with Bollywood Siblings leading the crowd through a dance routine and Kevla incorporating audience members in her performance. Guests had an opportunity to take home one of the various door prizes, silent auction items, raffle prizes, or the 50/50 winnings.

Public awareness of WHRFC expanded during this fiscal year thanks to segments about WHRFC on CTV Morning Live, as well as becoming a participating charity in Manitoba’s One Great Lottery. One of the One Great Lottery Grand Prize winners chose WHRFC as their charity to support, winning $2,618 in the February 2025 draw.

Thanks to our generous donors and supporters, our signature fundraising event, Target Mail Campaign, and One Great Lottery earnings, we raised a combined $17,900 this fiscal year in support of women’s health research.

WHRFC provided six Scholarships to full-time graduate students, all researching women’s health projects in diverse units at the University of Manitoba.

• Gabrielle Fontaine is a PhD Student in Physics and Astronomy. Project Title: “Design and Evaluation of an AI-enabled Microwave-based Portable Breast Cancer Screening Device for Low-Income and Remote Communities”.
• Courtney Marshall is a PhD Student in Immunology. Project Title: “Sex as a Biological Variable in the modulation of airway inflammation by Innate Defence Regulator (IDR) peptides”.
• Leah McDonnell is a PhD Student in Peace and Conflict Studies. Project Title: “A Way Home: Understanding the impact of human trafficking on Inuit women in Manitoba”.
• Shayna Pierce is a PhD Student in Psychology. Project Title: “Recognizing and Responding to Birth Trauma: The Development and Pilot Evaluation of a Brief Online Training Intervention for Canadian Healthcare Providers”.
• Sara Crooks is an MSc Student in Biochemistry and Medical Genetics. Project Title: “Determining the mechanism of action of L-Rham-induced cell killing in tubo-ovarian, high-grade serous carcinoma”.
• Samantha Kirby is an MSc Student in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Project Title: “Genetic regulation of the vaginal proteome and its impact on HIV susceptibility”.

The WHRFC continued its support as a Special Award sponsor at the Manitoba Schools Science Symposium (MSSS) in April 2024, providing three awards across the grade levels, all to commend and encourage young scientists in Manitoba whose projects related to women’s health. A monetary award was provided for projects entitled “Calcium Counts: An Essential Mineral for Bone Health” in the Elementary category (Grades 4-6), “The Impact of Social media on Academic Performance and Mental Health Among Middle School Students” in the Junior category (Grades 7-8), and “Loss of SKP2 Induces Chromosome Instability in Tubo-Ovarian Contexts” in the Senior category (Grades 11-12).

Courtney Marshall, a PhD student in the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba, was the WHRFC poster award winner at the June 2024 Manitoba Student Health Research Forum which showcases graduate student and postdoc health research. Courtney’s abstract title was “Differential modulation of airway inflammation by Innate Defence Regulator Peptide IDR-1002”.