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.”