In The Media: Dr. Jessica McAlpine on Gynecologic Cancer Awareness

Dr. Jessica McAlpine pictured in a BC Cancer lab coat

WHRI member Dr. Jessica McAlpine was featured on CityNews on September 23, 2025, offering an expert perspective on how stigma and shame can cause people to delay medical attention for gynecologic cancers such as cervical, ovarian, and endometrial. Dr. McAlpine validated the experiences of Carly Allen, a vulvar cancer survivor and awareness advocate.

Dr. McAlpine stressed that seeking care as soon as something feels off helps to normalize conversations with medical providers and reduce shame. Gynecologic cancers are often treatable when detected early — and early detection is becoming easier thanks to recent progress in screening methods.

The Women’s Health Research Institute would like to acknowledge that we are uninvited guests on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lo, and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-waututh) Nations.

As a provincial research institute committed to improving the health outcomes of women, including those across the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, we recognize our responsibility in the collective effort towards establishing culturally safe health care systems and services that address health inequities among Indigenous peoples, especially Indigenous women, girls, and Two-spirit peoples.

We encourage all people involved in research to read both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action and the In Plain Sight Report, and reflect on ways we can incorporate the recommendations into our work. As we gather in spaces together, we encourage you to reflect on your positionality on these lands and your personal commitments to reconciliation.

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