The Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI) is very pleased to congratulate the recipients of the 2024 Graduate and Fellowship Research Awards in Women’s Health. This competition was supported thanks to the dedicated funding provided by the BC Women’s Health Foundation.
The WHRI launched this award in 2020 with a goal of creating a funding opportunity specific to our outstanding trainee community. This award provides salary support to WHRI-affiliated graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are engaged in women’s and/or newborn health research under the mentorship of a WHRI member.
The WHRI typically funds one award at each trainee level (Master’s, Doctoral and Postdoctoral), valued at $21,000, for a one-year period. However, this year, there was a two-way tie for the top-ranked application in the Master’s-level category. With the generous support of the BC Women’s Health Foundation, the WHRI has been able to fund three graduate-level awards (two Master’s and one Doctoral-level) and one Postdoctoral Fellowship-level award.
Fellowship-level Award Recipient
Recipient
Dr. Haley Vecchiarelli, Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria
Project Supervisor
Dr. Marie-Ève Tremblay, Professor, Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria
Project Title
Alterations in (Dark) Microglia Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection—Potential Contributors to the Female Bias in Long COVID Neurological Symptoms.
Project Aims
Since the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and start of the COVID-19 disease pandemic, there has been a call by funding and regulatory agencies to investigate sex differences, focusing on girls, women, and sexual and gender minorities, in the manifestation and treatment of this disease. Long COVID—the complex multi-organ postacute infection syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection affecting approximately 10-20% of individuals who contract SARS-CoV-2 in Canada—represents an urgent healthcare crisis. Long COVID exhibits a robust female bias, in particular, its neurological symptoms. Therefore, understanding the underlying mechanisms and identifying therapeutic targets for the neurological symptoms of Long COVID is of vital importance for women’s health. The goal of this project is to investigate outcomes on microglia, the central nervous system’s innate immune cells, following SARSCoV-2 infection, focusing on females, to better know how they may be targeted therapeutically.
Doctoral-level Award Recipient
Recipient
Gentille Musengimana, Graduate Student (PhD), School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
Project Supervisor
Dr. Gina Ogilvie, Professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
Project Title
Implications for Community-Based Cervical Cancer Screening in Rural Uganda: Steps Toward Elimination in a Low- and Middle-Income Country
Project Aims
The WHO has established the ambitious 90-70-90 target for countries (also known as the “triple-intervention” strategy) to eliminate cervical cancer. However, this cancer still poses a significant health challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like those in Sub-Saharan Africa. Persistent infection with the high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV), particularly types 16 and 18, is responsible for most cervical cancer cases. Uganda has one of the highest rates globally, with 56.2 cases per 100,000 women. Despite efforts to make cervical cancer screening and treatment available to women in Uganda, those in rural and remote areas of the country lack awareness and encounter difficulties accessing screening and treatment facilities. Only about 9 to 10 percent of women had ever screened for cervical cancer, and only 7.5% were screened in the past five years. In addition, HPV vaccine coverage among eligible girls is still low, with 75% coverage for the 1st dose and only 44% for the second dose. HPV-based self-collection screening and treatment is essential for community integration and screening access in rural and remote areas. The goals of this project are 1) to conduct a systematic literature review of studies conducted in LMICs that explore strategies for enhancing cervical cancer screening and treatment coverage at the community level and 2) to conduct a primary data analysis of an HPV self-collection-based test-and-treat integrated community model in the Malongo sub-country (ASPIRE Malongo)
Master's-level Award Recipient
Recipient
Jasman Gill, Graduate Student (MSc), Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia
Project Supervisor
Dr. Laura Schummers, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia
Project Title
“How Far is Too Far?” A population-based cohort study of post-abortion haemorrhage to inform abortion services for people living far from emergency services
Project Aims
The introduction of medication abortion (MA, using the mifepristone-misoprostol abortion pill) in 2017 promised to address the wide urban-rural disparities in abortion access in Canada. However, current Canadian and global MA guidelines require access to emergency services for 7-14 days post-intervention. Therefore, populations living in rural and remote areas, far from health facilities offering procedural abortion (PA) or emergency services, face disparities in access to abortion care. MA and PA are equally effective and acceptable. MA and PA have low rates of post-abortion intervention (<5%, <3%) and very low rates of blood transfusions (0.1%, <0.02%). There is a critical gap in real-world epidemiological evidence on the safety of MA for individuals living far from emergency services. This project aims to determine the frequency, timing, urgency, and associated risk factors for post-MA hemorrhage requiring blood transfusion to inform national and global clinical practice guidelines.
Master's-level Award Recipient
Recipient
Mahfuza Sreya, Graduate Student (MSc), Women’s and Children’s Health Sciences Program, University of British Columbia
Project Supervisor
Dr. Paul Yong, Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of British Columbia
Project Title
Mechanisms of Neuroproliferation: A Potential Etiology of Endometriosis-Related Pain
Project Aims
Project Aims: Endometriosis is defined as endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus. Cardinal symptoms are infertility and pelvic pain, with the latter including painful periods (dysmenorrhea), painful sex (deep dyspareunia), and chronic pelvic pain. The pathophysiology of pain in endometriosis is multifactorial and complex. One etiology of endometriosis-related pain may be an increase in local neuroproliferation in the endometriosis microenvironment. This concept is based on findings of increased nerve bundle density around endometriotic lesions due to a neuroinflammatory microenvironment. Our lab’s previous work using archived surgical pathology samples and retrospective chart review showed initial evidence that more severe deep dyspareunia is associated with significantly higher nerve bundle density around endometriosis. Furthermore, we found evidence of increased expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) by endometriosis epithelium and stroma, which correlates with higher nerve bundle density around endometriotic lesions. The aims of this project are 1) to prospectively validate the correlation between biomarkers of neuroproliferative endometriosis and patient-reported pain scores in an endometriosis cohort, and to explore the role of genetic variation in NGF; and 2) to develop a novel co-culture model of endometriosis-associated neuroproliferation, which will allow investigation of underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.