We are preparing to re-apply for our core funding program. As part of this application, we require some information about our cluster members. To help us get funded, faculty can click here to provide information about their recent work (~5 min), and faculty + student + community members can click here to share their demographic information (~1 min). Demographic information will remain confidential. We ask that you kindly share as much information as possible because this data is critical for us to receive renewal funding. Thank you!

Our cluster has quickly expanded. Because of this, we are inviting members to join our Slack Workspace to give them a place where they can easily connect with one another to share research, find new collaborators or communicate with quick messages that would otherwise crowd your inbox. Cluster members will soon receive an email invitation to join, so watch out for it! Learn more about how to join and use this workspace to your advantage.

Dec TBA - Research Facilitation Workshop



The WHRC is excited to partner with Action on Sepsis to host a series of Research Facilitation Workshops that aim to catalyze new research at the intersection of sepsis and women’s health. These workshops will serve as a place for you to discuss grants, share your research ideas, and meet multidisciplinary faculty and students that are interested in working on similar issues as you. 

For our first workshop, we are seeking Early Career Investigators interested in the CIHR Operating Grant: ECI’s in Maternal, Reproductive, Child & Youth Health (2020). If you are applying for, interested in applying for, or interested in collaborating with someone on this grant, we highly encourage you to join! Register here.

Dec 7 - Town Hall & Strategic Priority Session



We will be hosting our annual Town Hall & Strategic Planning Session over Zoom on Monday Dec 7th from 9:00-11:00 am PST and we want you to be there. In addition to reviewing our current initiatives and future plans, we’ll be using this time to 1) discuss and define our strategic priorities 2) form working groups around priority areas and 3) form an EDI Advisory Committee. We need everyone's input to ensure our annual goals address the most current and pressing issues in women’s health! We highly encourage you to attend and look forward to seeing you there! Register here.

Dec 7 - Women’s Health Seminar Series
Intergenerational Transmission of Domestic Violence and Gender: Walking in Their Footsteps

Register here for Dr. Nisha Malhotra’s talk on gender-based violence and the intergenerational transmission of domestic violence happening Dec 7, 12-1pm PST. Attend 90% of seminars in this series and get a certificate! 

Dec 11 - Women’s Brain Health Virtual Holiday Cocktail Hour

Looking for the perfect opportunity to meet other people interested in women’s brain health research? Grab a drink and come join us for a networking session on Dec 11 from 4-5 pm PST! 🍸🍹🧉🍷. Get your tickets here! 

The WHRC is seeking individuals with diverse personal and professional experiences that can help keep our work rooted in the unique needs of diverse people. This committee will meet twice each year and be refreshed on an annual basis. Committee members are welcome to serve for more than one year. If you’re interested in joining, register to attend our Town Hall & Strategic Planning Session or get in touch by emailing us at womenshealth.res@ubc.ca.


Women’s Health Blog: Seeking Writers & Reviewers

We are looking for trainees of all levels (undergraduate to post-doctoral) to share their work on the Women’s Health Blog. In addition, we’re looking for professionals (trainees included!) who can join us as a reviewer to help ensure our blog content remains credible. 

• If you have an idea about a blog you’d like to write, fill out our pitch form
• If you have expertise related to women’s health and want to be a blog reviewer, connect with us at womenshealth.blog@ubc.ca  

Do you experience sexual desire difficulties? If so, you can participate in an online study examining the role of sexual motivation or sexual goals and their impact on sexual well-being. This study is seeking English-speaking individuals who are 19+ and identify as women or non-binary who are currently residing in Canada. An honorarium will be provided for your participation. Contact faith.jabs@vch.ca or visit this website for more details.

The Pandemic is Taking Women’s Breath Away: Intimate Partner Violence and Strangulation on the Rise During COVID-19 

Community cluster member Karen Mason is an advocate for women survivors of intimate partner violence and Co-founder for Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR). She is a special guest author on our most recent blog, which shares terrifying insights about the impact of COVID-19 on women who are in abusive relationships. This blog, which was released on the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, seeks to raise awareness about these issues and help readers learn what they can do to help. 
 

The BC Women’s Health Foundation in partnership with Pacific Blue Cross recently released a new report that reviews how socio-economic factors including gender-based violence influence how the pandemic is impacting women’s health across British Columbia, Canada. “Early research in Canada suggests that women are experiencing greater mental health issues, including higher levels of depression and anxiety since the onset of the pandemic. Emerging evidence shows this trend reflected in BC with increased rates of depression and anxiety compared with pre-pandemic levels, a burden seen most significantly in young women.” Follow the conversation on Twitter #UnmaskGenderInequity

Congratulations to Dr. Ismalia de Sousa who has received the  2020 Graduate and Fellowship Research Award from the WHRI! 
 

The pandemic has made it difficult for students to afford additional professional development opportunities like our Women's Brain health Conference. That's why we launched the Women's Brain Health Virtual Conference Trainee Award, which provided students with free registration to our conference. Congratulations to all the winners!

• Julia Terreros-Roncal,  Graduate Student, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) (Spain)
• Dr. Gayatri Saraf, PDF, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Holly Hunsberger, PhD, Columbia University (USA)
• Laura Pritschet, Graduate Student, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)
• Miguel de la Flor García, Graduate Student, Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain)
• Laura Gravelsins, PhD, University of Toronto (Canada)
• Lindsay Cameron, Graduate Student,  University of California, Davis (USA)
• Christina Metcalf, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (USA)
• Ismalia De Sousa, Graduate Student, University of British Columbia (Canada)

If you’ve published a new paper, are presenting at an event, won an award or have done something else that you are proud of — we want to know. Get in touch with us by emailing womenshealth.res@ubc.ca.

We’d like to formally welcome the following new members to our cluster. We’re happy to have you working alongside us to support women’s health!

• Alyssa Robinson, MS Nursing, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Gabrielle Booth, Undergraduate in the School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Dawn Poh, 4th year med student at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (Malaysia)
• Ianna Folkes, Masters student at the University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Dr. Burcu Zeydan, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Neurology, Mayo Clinic (USA)
• Jenny Smith-Wymant, Health Engagement Officer, Shine Charity (United Kingdom)
• Sharna Jamadar, PhD student at Monash University (Australia)
• Dr. Alesia Prakapenka, PDF at Syracuse University (USA)
• Danielle Watson, Naturopath at The Mother Doctor (Canada)
• Dr. Alexandra Williams, PDF at the University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Dr. Kendall Soucie, Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor (Canada)
• Amy Hobbs, Epidemiologist at the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA)
• Samantha Neilson, Clinical Research Assistant, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Jennifer (Jia Yu) Zhang, Undergraduate student, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Natasha Zippan, Undergraduate student, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Rubee Dev, PhD student, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Christie MacLeod, PhD student, McMaster University (Canada)
• Maya Iturra, PhD student, Antioch University New England (USA)
• Hani Rukh E Qamar, BSc student and founder of the Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants, McGill University (Canada)
• Lianna Wat, PhD student, Life Sciences Institute, UBC (Canada)
• George Brownrigg, Masters student, University of British Columbia (Canada)

If you know anyone who would be interested in joining the cluster, please feel free to share the online membership form or invite them to email us for more information.

If you feel passionate about the work we are doing and are in a position to give, consider making a one-time or monthly donation. 100% of proceeds will be used to promote women’s health research across public, government and academic domains.