Congratulations to the 2026 Mid-Career Excellence in Women’s Health Research Awardees!

• Dr. Paul Yong, Women’s Health Research Institute
• Dr. Margie Davenport, Women and Children’s Health Research Institute
• Dr. Joanne Kotsopoulos, Women’s College Hospital
• Dr. Allana Munro, IWK Health 

Save the date: Meet the 2026 Mid-Career Excellence in Women’s Health Research Awardees

Join us for an informal discussion to learn more about the 2026 Mid-Career Excellence in Women’s Health Research Awardees, what inspires them, and their career trajectories.

EVENT DETAILS:
Date: September 22, 2026
Time: 9-10AM PT/10-11AM MT/12-1PM ET/1-2PM AT
Location: Virtual

The 2025-2026 PWHR impact report is here!

We're thrilled to unveil our 2025-2026 Impact Report, showcasing a year of remarkable progress in advancing health research for women, transgender, and non-binary people across Canada and beyond.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE REPORT INCLUDE:

• Supporting the Future of Women’s Health Research: We honoured our inaugural cohort of Mid-Career Excellence in Women’s Health Research Award recipients and partnered with the Women’s Health Collective Canada and CanWaCH to convene the Vitally Important: National Women’s Health Summit in Toronto. 
• Knowledge Mobilization: Building on the Beyond the Binary in Canada Guide, PWHR is coordinating a national knowledge mobilization initiative to guide researchers and institutions in conducting gender-inclusive and equitable research. In 2025, PWHR also began our partnership with ScienceUpFirst to address sexual and reproductive health misinformation through research-informed social media campaigns.
• Key Publications: PWHR launched our refreshed strategic framework and contributed expertise to Leading Beyond the Gap: Closing the Women’s Health Gap in Canada, a national Blueprint for Action developed by Women’s Health Collective Canada. 

Introducing the Women’s Health Research Institute’s Mapping Menopause Report

Menopause is a universal life transition for individuals assigned female at birth. In Canada, women spend up to one-third to one-half of their lives in post menopause. Despite its widespread impact on health, quality of life, and workforce participation, menopause research and care remain underdeveloped. Evidence gaps, fragmented care pathways, and persistent stigma contribute to unmet needs for individuals experiencing menopause symptoms and for clinicians who support them.

Better Aging in BC: Mapping Menopause Research Priorities was developed to address these gaps by identifying the most important unanswered research questions related to menopause in British Columbia. Led by the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI) in partnership with BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, the project convened clinicians, researchers, health system partners, and people with lived experience of menopause to co-develop a provincial Research Agenda.

The WHRI is thrilled to promote the release of the first ever Provincial Menopause Research Agenda and report from the Mapping Menopause project.

U of A research team helps scale team-based primary care across Canada through $3M national initiative

A University of Alberta research team, led by Stephanie Montesanti, is leading Alberta’s role in PRIME (Primary Care Reimagined: Impact, Mobilization and Engagement), a national initiative designed to improve access to primary care across Canada. Supported by a $3-million investment from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the project embeds researchers within front-line practices to test and evaluate innovative solutions in real-world settings. In Alberta, participating clinics are exploring new approaches to reduce barriers to care, including team-based models that expand the roles of nurses, mental health professionals and patient navigators. Findings will be shared across a national network to help scale successful innovations in other provinces. Ultimately, the initiative aims to improve access, continuity and quality of care for Canadians.

A Conversation with Dr. Tania Di Renna About Pelvic Pain

At Women’s College Hospital (WCH), teams within the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI) are advancing research, early intervention and interdisciplinary care to improve outcomes for patients living with pelvic pain. For Pelvic Pain Awareness Month, WCH spoke to Dr. Tania Di Renna, Medical Director of TAPMI, about the importance of Pelvic Pain Awareness Month, WCH’s work to support earlier diagnosis of endometriosis in young adults, and the future of pelvic pain care and research.

In this conversation, Dr. Di Renna highlights the need to challenge the normalization and minimization of pelvic pain and increase awareness of conditions such as endometriosis. She also discusses how researchers at TAPMI are developing a questionnaire to help identify endometriosis earlier in adolescents and young adults with the goal of reducing delays in diagnosis and improving long-term outcomes.