Register now for the 5th Annual Women's Health Research Symposium

The 2020 WHRI Symposium is focusing on the exciting arena of digital health.

Join us on March 4th and discover how digital technologies and digitization of information are changing health care world-wide and enabling ground-breaking research.

Beyond the binary: An interview with Dr. Lori Brotto

Last month, we wrote about the EC Ella study. In that piece we explored a few of the reasons it’s important to challenge cisnormativity and the meaning of the ‘W’ in women’s health research. If you haven’t read it yet, we encourage you to start there.

For the second installment in our series on gender-inclusive women’s health research, we’re turning the conversation over to Dr. Lori Brotto. As the Director of the UBC Sexual Health Research Lab, and the Executive Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI), she is ready to lead the charge to more inclusive research by example.

#HerHeartMatters

In honour of Heart Month, we spoke to Dr. Tara Sedlak, one of Canada’s only women’s heart health cardiologists, about her research and what women should know about their heart health.

Each year in Canada, approximately 31,000 women are killed by heart disease and stroke.

Dr. Sedlak, a cardiologist at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), has been at the forefront of addressing women’s unique heart health concerns in British Columbia. After completing a fellowship at Cedar Sinai Medical Centre with Dr. Bairey Merz, the world’s leading expert in women’s heart health, Dr. Sedlak returned to Vancouver to help expand the work encompassed by the women’s heart centre at VGH.

Congratulations to the recipients of the Fall 2019 CIHR Project Grants competition

Project Grant recipients, who are members of the WHRI, included Drs. Gillian Hanley, Tim Oberlander, William Honer, Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Liisa Galea, Christopher Maxwell, Wendy Norman, Stuart Peacock, Wendy Robinson, Kate Shannon, Aline Talhouk, and Jessica Mcalpine, and Dr. Nichole Fairbrother was awarded a Bridge Grant.

Advancing patient & public engagement

WHRI Strategic Plan 2019 – 2024: Strategic Framework for Patient & Public Engagement

As an accompaniment to the WHRI Strategic Plan, the Strategic Framework for Patient & Public Engagement ultimately seeks to transform the role of patients and the public from a passive receiver of services to partners who work alongside clinician scientists and policy makers to shape healthcare and health research.  Through this framework, the WHRI is committed to supporting members to engage with patients and the public across the entire spectrum of engagement throughout all stages of the research process.  We are also committed to fostering institutional level partnerships and have some very exciting initiatives coming soon!

Read the strategic framework here.

Save-the-Date for the first WHRI Patient Oriented Research Workshop!

Are you a researcher or member of a research team interested in conducting patient-oriented research (POR)?  If so, the WHRI is pleased to announce that on Wednesday April 8, 2020 we are co-hosting a FREE full-day POR workshop with the BC SUPPORT (SUpport for People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials) Unit’s Larry Mroz and Lynne Feehan.

Due to the specific nature of the workshop content, we will be asking you to submit learning goals related to POR and a specific research project or program.  The call for registration will be announced mid-February. 

New to POR?  Check out the BC SUPPORT Unit’s self-assessment tools that guide patient partners and researchers to assess their readiness to engage in POR and to find online learning resources to acquire competencies. 

Any question or concerns?  Please contact Heather Noga.

Present your research!

The Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI) is now accepting submissions for the poster session that will take place at the 5th Annual WHRI Symposium on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre at UBC.

Posters must be focused on women’s or newborn health research and should reflect the Symposium’s theme of digital health. Posters can be ‘repurposed’ from previous conferences or presentations within the last two years. This call is open to researchers and trainees.

The Biostatistics core as part of the Clinical Research Support Unit within BC Children's Hospital Research Institute is currently planning a number of education and workshop activities for the coming year. These activities will be open to everyone associated with Children’s and Women’s.

We are interested in finding out what previous statistical knowledge researchers, residents and trainees have and what particular topics would be of the most benefit to them. To aid this planning please complete the short survey at the following link: https://rc.bcchr.ca/redcap/surveys/?s=DTT8D7NP4D