Ottawa – The National Women’s Health Research Initiative (NWHRI), a joint initiative between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Women and Gender Equality Canada, was announced as part of the 2021 federal budget to advance a coordinated research program that addresses under-researched and high-priority areas of women’s health and to ensure new evidence improves women’s, girls’, and gender-diverse people’s care and health outcomes. The initiative aims to ensure that all people in Canada navigating the health system have access to gender-sensitive, culturally appropriate, trauma-informed, non-stigmatizing, evidence-based, high-quality health care throughout their lives.
Through the NWHRI, 24 research projects were funded in the following areas: polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), rural and Indigenous perinatal care and breastfeeding, heart health, gender-based violence, mental health, eating disorders, reproductive care and pregnancy, gender-based violence, cancer and HPV, vestibulodynia (chronic vaginal pain) and endometriosis, and many more high-priority health areas for a total investment of $13,743,903.
| Principal Investigator | Project Title | Theme | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Implementation Science | |||
| Jamie L Benham University of Calgary | Optimizing Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Self-Management: Implementing International Evidence-Based Guidelines in Alberta | POS | $600,000 |
| Melissa Brooks Dalhousie University | It’s My Choice: A mixed methods implementation evaluation of a patient decision aid to support abortion care in Canada | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $584,216 |
| Emmanuel Bujold Université Laval | L’inversion de la pyramide des soins anténataux pour améliorer l’accès aux soins et la santé des mères et des enfants vivant en région éloignée (PROJET PYRAMIDE) | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $599,003 |
| Jennifer L Couturier McMaster University | National Implementation of Highly Efficient Evidence-Informed Treatment for Youth with Eating Disorders | Eating Disorders | $599,126 |
| Natalie Dayan Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre | PREGTRIAL (Inclusion of PREgnant and lactatinG people in clinical TRIALs) | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $598,561 |
| Nicole L Letourneau University of Calgary | The Alliance against Violence and Adversity (AVA): Strengthening the Implementation of Evidence-Based Solutions to Improve the Health of Women, Girls, and Gender-Diverse People across Canada | Gender based violence | $599,395 |
| Stephanie R Montesanti University of Alberta | Closing the Gap in Perinatal Health Disparities in Rural, Remote and Northern Indigenous Communities: Implementation of a Community-Led Mobile Perinatal Health Clinic Model | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $579,720 |
| Nathan C Nickel University of Manitoba | THRIVE: Transforming Healthcare through Research to Improve Breastfeeding and Advance Women’s Health | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $597,960 |
| Stephanie R Penney Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto) | What are the unique mental health needs of women in correctional and forensic mental health settings? A virtual community of practice model | Mental Health | $583,022 |
| Garry X Shen University of Manitoba | Protecting and supporting breastfeeding and lactation equity in Manitoba through community-integrated education and care using novel technologies, culturally safe and gender affirming approaches | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $600,000 |
| Alexa R Yakubovich Dalhousie University | Implementing evidence-informed strategies to identify and respond to violence against women and gender diverse people in Canadian health systems | Gender based violence | $599,257 |
| Karen Yeates Queen’s University | Listening to our Women: Understanding barriers, enablers, and strategies to cervical cancer screening uptake using HPV DNA self-sampling through participatory, community-based approaches among Indigenous women living remotely in Ontario | Cancer / HPV | $600,000 |
| Translational Research | |||
| Sylvain Chemtob Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (Montreal) | A Breakthrough Solution to Effectively Prevent Preterm Birth | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $599,500 |
| Li Wang McMaster University | Development of a novel risk prediction model for chronic postsurgical pain after breast cancer surgery | Cancer / HPV | $600,000 |
| Caroline F Pukall Queen’s University | Examining the efficacy of a multimodal virtual program on pain and sexual outcomes in individuals with provoked vestibulodynia: A randomized clinical trial | Vestibulodynia / Endometriosis | $599,086 |
| Tania Di Renna Women’s College Hospital (Toronto) | Let’s not wait 11 years: Development and rapid adoption of a screening measure for endometriosis in young Canadian adults | Vestibulodynia / Endometriosis | $594,250 |
| Jacob L Jaremko University of Alberta | Improving equity and access to a universal newborn screening tool for hip dysplasia in rural, remote and Indigenous communities | Reproductive care / Pregnancy | $597,980 |
| Paul van Donkelaar University of British Columbia | Development and validation of a clinical assessment tool to improve detection of brain injury in intimate partner violence | Gender based violence | $495,144 |
| Sofia B Ahmed University of Alberta | Hormonal route of administration and cardiorenal health | Heart | $420,000 |
| Louise Pilote Research Institute/McGill University Health Centre | Social Prescribing to Improve Adherence and Outcomes in Women with Heart Failure | Heart | $600,000 |
| Linda McLean University of Ottawa | Does repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduce pain associated with endometriosis more effectively than a sham rTMS intervention? A randomized controlled trial. | Vestibulodynia / Endometriosis | $600,000 |
| Jean-Sébastien Paquette Université Laval | Klotho, a new biomarker to improve breast cancer screening programs by reducing false-positive results. | Cancer / HPV | $300,000 |
| Mathew Leonardi McMaster University | Development of a Novel Non-Surgical Endometriosis Diagnostic by Combining an Ultrasound-Based Procedure with Single Molecule Arrays (SIMOA) | Vestibulodynia / Endometriosis | $598,183 |
| Sandy Shultz Vancouver Island University | Psilocybin-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors | Gender based violence | $599,500 |