Dr. Crystal Karakochuk receives a CIHR Spring 2018 Project Grant

Despite the strong evidence that iron supplementation can benefit women who are iron deficient, there is little known about the safety of iron supplementation for women who are not. However, a guideline set in 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends daily iron supplementation as a public health intervention to prevent and control anemia in areas where the prevalence of anemia is 40% or higher.

Dr. Karakochuk and her team aim to address this knowledge gap by studying a group of Cambodian women who, in accordance with the WHO policy, have been administered daily iron supplementation. Their findings will help inform future global policy for blanket iron supplementation in non-pregnant women worldwide.

The project grant will provide $187,424 over three years.

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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