The Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Inc., (WHRFC) has had an
exciting year with efforts focused on board expansion and onboarding, fundraising
opportunities, and increased social media presence. While no in-person fundraiser
occurred, planning started for WHRFC’s first in-person fundraiser since 2020 and
COVID-19 lockdowns. Our LinkedIn, Facebook, and X social media accounts were
reactivated, collectively reaching over 2,100 impressions from 30 distinct posts.

Consistent with last year, fundraising efforts resulted in raising $6,000 thanks to the
generosity of donors and WHRFC’s loyal Target Mail respondents.

WHRFC provided four Scholarships to full-time graduate students, all researching
women’s health projects in diverse units at the University of Manitoba.
• Lara Penner-Goeke is a PhD Student in Psychology. Project Title: “Informant
Agreement of Symptoms in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders”.
• AmyAnne Smith is a PhD Student in Social Work. Project Title: “The Impacts of
Trial Delay on Sexual Assault Survivors”.
• 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 high
grade serous ovarian cancer”.
• Madison Hardman is an MA Student in Psychology. Project Title: “Exploring the
Mental Health Journeys of Women on Probation and Parole in Canada:
Symptoms and Psychological Service Utilization”.

The WHRFC continued its support as a Special Award sponsor at the Manitoba Schools
Science Symposium (MSSS), awarding four projects to young scientists that presented
their research to industry experts and scientists. The project entitled “Measuring Solid and
Liquid” was awarded in the Junior Category. Two projects in the Intermediate category
were awarded, entitled “The Effects of Subliminal Messaging on Human Behavioural
Performance” and “Grandma Remedies”. The final award was provided in the Senior
category to the project entitled “The Role of Glucose in Controlling Transcriptional
Regulators in Fibroblast Activation”.

Alekhya Lavu, a PhD student in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Manitoba,
was the WHRFC poster award winner at the June 2023 Manitoba Student Health
Research Forum where WHFRC maintained its Silver Sponsorship in support of
showcasing graduate student and postdoc health research. Alekhya’s abstract title was
“Gabapentin Use During Pregnancy and Adverse Neonatal Birth Outcomes:
A Population-Based Cohort Study”.

Visit www.whrfcinc.com to learn about WHRFC’s ongoing efforts and upcoming events.

Women make up more than half of the population in Canada. Health issues faced by women and gender-diverse people lack the financial support and additional research that improves care and health outcomes. The Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Inc. (WHRFC) is hosting a fundraiser to raise awareness and fund scholarships to support women’s health research that gives attention to the analysis of studies by gender and diversity.

After a four-year hiatus, WHRFC is excited to bring back its seventh Dance For Your Health fundraiser – Bollywood Fusion style. Hosted by TV personality Ainsley McPhail, the fundraising dinner helps to support scholarships focused on health research for women and gender-diverse people. The event will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. at Charisma of India restaurant in Winnipeg (83 Sherbrook Street).  Participants will enjoy a performance and dance lesson by a local Bollywood Fusion dance group, as well as greetings from previous scholarship winners.

“We are long past the days when “women’s health” was expected to mean simply “reproductive health,” says WHRFC president Sheri Fandrey. “It is critical to better understand how sex and gender can affect both specific diseases and overall health in women and gender-diverse people.”

Since 1992, the WHRFC has been awarding a scholarship to full-time graduate students at the University of Manitoba who demonstrate academic excellence and whose research concentration is in the area of women’s health. To date, over 50 scholarships have been awarded. This year, the fundraising goal is to endow a third full-time graduate student scholarship.

“These awards help to fill funding gaps in women’s health research and encourage students to develop a career in this much needed field,” says Fandrey. “By supporting our fundraising efforts, you can help to ensure that women’s health is no longer under-studied, under-diagnosed, and under-treated.”

The Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Inc., (WHRFC), has had another very challenging year as have many charitable organizations in Manitoba. COVID-19 was identified in Canada in early 2020 and Manitoba was placed under lockdown shortly after our Dance For Your Health 2020 (DFYH 2020) fundraiser on March 5, 2020.

Despite the cancellation of in-person fundraising again this year, the WHRFC was able to raise $6,000 through its loyal Target Mail responders and continuing Corporate Supporters including Red River Cooperative Ltd.

With support from the provincial government, The Foundation provided five Scholarships again this year, four to full-time graduate students and one to a part-time graduate student, all researching women’s health projects in diverse units at the University of Manitoba.

• Mimi Brown is an MSc student in Social Work, Supervisor Dr. Kendra Nixon and Project Title, The WHOLE Leader.
• Kerri-Ann Bochen is an MSc Student in Nursing, Supervisor, Dr. Marnie Kramer, Project Title, Moving beyond barriers: Understanding the Experiences of Women Who Transitioned to Cardiac Rehabilitation and Subsequently Withdrew Prior to Completion.
• Oludolapo Balogun is an MSc Student in Community Health Sciences, Supervisor, Dr. Nathan Nickel and Project Title, Prevalence of Mental Disorders Among Pregnant Women in Social Housing in Manitoba.
• Amr Abostait is an MSc Student in Pharmacy, Supervisor, Dr. Hagar Labouta, Project Title, Safe Nanomedicines During Pregnancy: Targeted Lipid Nanoparticles to Specific Fetal Organs.

 The Foundation’s Scholarship to a part-time graduate student researching women’s health went to Liz Harvey who is a PhD student in Applied Health Sciences, Co-Advisors, Dr. Pattie Thille and Dr. Sandra Webber, Project Title, On Becoming a ‘Good’ Physiotherapist: Exploring Professional Identity Formation in Physiotherapy Students in Historically Under-Represented Groups.

Nineteen applications were submitted from different departments including Applied Health Sciences, Community Health Sciences, Kinesiology and Recreation Management, Pharmacy, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Psychology, Social Work, Physics and Astronomy, Immunology and Nursing, showing the diversity of women’s health research needed.

Other awards provided by the WHRFC in 2022 included an award in the Elementary category at the MSSS for the project entitled “Are we eating right?”. In the Senior category two projects were awarded which were entitled “Young extracellular vesicles as a revitalizing agent for age-associated disorders” and “Using deep-learning neural network to predict Alzheimer’s disease”.

Chantal Rytz, a PhD student in medical sciences from the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary won the WHRFC Silver Award for women’s health research at the Canadian National Medical Student Research Symposium, a national poster competition held annually at the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Her Project Title was “Serum Estradiol Levels and Cardiovascular Risk Associated with Gender-Affirming Hormone use in Transgender Women: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis.  She was nominated by Drs. Tara Beattie, Celina Villaruz and Sabrina Adams.

Please check out our web site for current and future activities of the WHRFC www.whrfcinc.com.