The Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Inc., (WHRFC), has had another very successful year. A healthy activity fundraiser, Dance For Your Health 2019 (DFYH 2019) was held at the Masonic Centre 420 Corydon Avenue on Thursday March 7, 2019.  The evening was a St. Paddy’s Day Party featuring Irish Step Dancing by the McConnell School of Dance and an Irish-themed Buffet provided by WOW Catering. Chrissy Troy of 103.1 Virgin Radio brought her lively sense of fun to the evening as MC. Our Past-President Dr. Lynn Scruby welcomed everyone and moderated our award winners’ 3-minute presentations. Two of our three 2018-2019 full-time graduate student scholarship winners Janelle Boram Lee and Lindsey Mazur, plus part-time graduate scholarship winner Kerry Dust impressed everyone with their presentations of their research projects. The Dancers from the McConnell School of Dance wowed everyone with their lively, enthusiastic step dances followed by an instruction session where guests joined them to try some Irish dance steps. Over fifteen guests took home door or raffle prizes. DFYH 2019 together with our Target Mail Campaign, Corporate Campaign and a bequest brought in over $17,000 to support women’s health research.

Janelle Boram Lee an MSc student in Community Health Sciences (supervisors: Dr. Marni Brownell and Dr. Nathan Nickel), told us about her project “Maternal justice involvement and childhood outcomes of child protective services and maltreatment indicators in Manitoba”. Lindsey Mazur, an MSc student in Community Health Sciences (supervisor: Dr. Deborah McPhail), spoke about her project “Experiences of stigma in prenatal/postnatal dietetic care among women with high BMI”. Kerry Dust our part-time award winner and a PhD student in Medical Microbiology, (supervisor: Dr. Alberto Severini), spoke about “The significance of HPV E6 PDZ binding domain on transformation of primary human neonatal keratinocytes”.  Full-time award winner Abin Chandrakumar, his project on “Maternal antibiotic use during pregnancy and childhood chronic diseases”, was unable to attend.

The annual Manitoba School Science Symposium (MSSS) was held in the last weekend of April 2018 at the University of Manitoba. The WHRFC provided awards at three of the four grade levels, all to commend and encourage young scientists in Manitoba whose projects related to women’s health.

A WHRFC award for the best women’s health research project was presented by our Secretary  Donna Chow at the Canadian National Medical Student Research Symposium, a national poster competition held annually by the Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. The 2018 winner was Shirley Giroux, PhD student (University of Northern BC). Her project, “Resilience in teacher/mothers; Parsing the intersections of family, work and wellness”.

This year there were two awardees deemed worthy of the Women’s Health Research Silver Medal Award at the Canadian National Medical Student Research Symposium, a national poster competition held annually by the Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. On June 13, 2019, the first awardee was Jessica Miller, a PhD student from Queen’s University. The title of her research was “Understanding the Mechanistic Role of Interleukin-33 in Endometriosis Associated Inflammation and Pathology”. The second was Eric Filice, a PhD student from the University of Waterloo. The title of his research was “The Influence of Grindr, a Geosocial Networking Application, on Image in Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: An Exploratory Study”.

The WHRFC gave awards for three of the four levels at the MSSS 2019 (not grade 9-10). Two awards were given for ties at both the Elementary (4-6) and at the Junior (7-8) levels. The judging was held on Saturday April 27, 2019, and the awards were given on Sunday April 28, 2019.

The Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Inc (WHRFC), dedicated to improving women’s health through research, education and raising awareness, held its fifth successful Dance For Your Health (DFYH) fundraising gala at the Masonic Centre at 420 Corydon Avenue on Thursday March 7, 2019.

The main hall was bathed in green lights for the St. Paddy’s Day Party and smelled of the Spring flowers on the tables !  Chrissy Troy from 103.1 Virgin Radio steared the event with her enthusiastic presence. Past-President Dr. Lynn Scruby introduced the Foundation and welcomed everyone to join in the evening of fun and dance. Three of our four 2018 WHRFC graduate student Scholarship winners, all doing research on women’s health at the University of Manitoba reminded us of why we need to raise funds for women’s health research.  Janelle Boram Lee an MSC student in Community Health Sciences, her supervisors Dr. Marni Brownell and Dr. Nathan Nickel, told us about her project ‘Maternal justice involvement and childhood outcomes of child protective services and maltreatment indicators in Manitoba’. Lindsey Mazur, an MSC student in Community Health Sciences, her supervisor Dr. Deborah McPhail, spoke about her project “Experiences of stigma in prenatal/postnatal dietetic care among women with high BMI”. Kerry Dust our part-time award winner and a PhD student in Medical Microbiology, her supervisor Dr. Alberto Severini, spoke about “The significance of HPV E6 PDZ binding domain on transformation of primary human neonatal keratinocytes”.  WOW Catering presented us with a tasty Irish Buffet, including roasted beef brisket with Irish stout, Colcannon potatoes and Bailey’s Irish cream trifle, which was enjoyed by all. Dinner was accompanied by wine Sponsored by Manitoba Liquor Mart. After dinner a dance troupe from the McConnell School of Dance swept in and astounded us with their ‘hard shoe’ Irish step dancing. Over 20 dancers took turns impressing us with their energy and precision.  They capped their performance with an instruction session which brought many guests onto the dance floor where they learned five different steps including how to bow correctly at the end of a peformance. Truly a healthy active experience for our guests !

The funds raised through ticket sales, sponsorships and raffles combined with our corporate campaign, our annual target mail campaign, and a bequest, helped to raise over $17,000 in 2018-2019 to fund the Foundation’s activities, in particular the endowment of a second annual scholarship and funds for a third scholarship for the best research project on women’s health by a full-time graduate student at the University of Manitoba (www.whrfcinc.com). The evening was enjoyed by all !