Annual Report Template

The BEACON program (Biologic basis of contracEptive choice Associated ovarian Cancer risk: from

populations through cells to actiON), led by GCI Members Drs. David Huntsman, Gillian Hanley, and Wendy

Norman, has been awarded $2M from CIHR’s Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants to

integrate cancer prevention into precision contraception. Read the full award announcement here. Tune in

to the GOSH podcast, where the Principal Investigators share their vision and the anticipated impact of the

BEACON program.

A recent study led by Dr. Gillian Hanley and Dr. David Huntsman shows that removing the fallopian tubes during routine gynecologic surgery can reduce the risk of serous ovarian cancer by nearly 80 per cent, offering a powerful new approach to cancer prevention.

Published in JAMA Network Open, the population-based study analyzed health data from more than 85,000 individuals in British Columbia who underwent gynecologic surgery between 2008 and 2020. The findings provide the strongest evidence to date supporting opportunistic salpingectomy as an effective strategy to prevent the most lethal form of ovarian cancer.

This study reinforces the Department’s commitment to advancing women’s health through research-driven innovation with direct impact on clinical practice.

Read the full story on the UBC Faculty of Medicine website:
Canadian surgical innovation cuts ovarian cancer risk by nearly 80 per cent

Dr. Gillian Hanley, faculty member and Associate Co-Head – Research of the department, was recently featured in The Vancouver Sun for her leading role in advancing a preventive surgical approach that significantly reduces the risk of ovarian cancer.

Dr. Hanley’s research focuses on opportunistic salpingectomy, a procedure that involves removing the fallopian tubes during other planned gynecologic surgeries, such as hysterectomy or permanent contraception. Growing evidence shows that many high-grade ovarian cancers originate in the fallopian tubes rather than the ovaries themselves. By removing the tubes when surgery is already being performed, patients can substantially lower their lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer remains one of the most lethal gynecologic cancers due to the absence of effective screening tools and the fact that it is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Dr. Hanley’s work has been instrumental in translating research findings into clinical practice, positioning British Columbia as a global leader in ovarian cancer prevention.

The Vancouver Sun article highlights how this made-in-B.C. approach is improving patient outcomes without increasing surgical risk or affecting hormonal function. As a result of this work, opportunistic salpingectomy has been widely adopted across BC and increasingly recognized nationally and internationally.

Dr. Hanley’s research exemplifies the Department’s commitment to evidence-based care, prevention-focused innovation, and improving women’s health outcomes through collaboration between research and clinical practice.

Read the full Vancouver Sun article here:
https://vancouversun.com/health/bc-preventative-surgery-lowers-ovarian-cancer-risk

Coralie Bergeron joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in January 2026 as a Departmental Research Coordinator.  She will provide support for faculty members and trainees whose research activities take place at sites other than BC Women’s Hospital.

Coralie completed her Master’s degree in the Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences program, where her research focused on the metabolic impacts of micronutrient deficiency during adolescence. Prior to joining the department, she coordinated pediatric clinical studies in type 1 diabetes. She brings expertise in project coordination, data management, ethics submissions, and protocol development. She is thrilled to step into her new role and to contribute to impactful women’s health research.

Congratulations to Dr. Ulrike Dehaeck and Dr. Katrina Bouchard on receiving the 2024 Team Grant Award from the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI)! Their project, “Developing and testing a patient education video series for VLS“, is funded by the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and VCHRI.

More details about the VCHRI Team Grant Awards can be found here.

In partnership with the Ministry of Health, UBC Health awarded funding through the Ministry of Health Research Seed Grant Program for research projects that responded to pertinent health-related questions identified by the Ministry.

Dr. Munro and their research team will be undertaking a project responding to a specific research question posed by the Ministry of Health with the intent for this work to directly impact policy or practice – Exploring the impact of policy interventions on equitable access to contraception for teens and young adults in British Columbia.

Ministry of Health Research Seed Grant

The Ministry of Health Research Seed Grant Program provides funding to universities in British Columbia to produce research that responds to the Ministry of Health’s research questions. The goal of this program is to generate new research that responds to the Ministry of Health’s current needs. Furthermore, it supports the building of knowledge transfer pathways from researchers to policy makers in the Ministry of Health.

More details can be found here.

We are pleased to report that our PROcedure-specific MOdular Training and Evaluation randomized controlled trial (PROMOTE), led by principal investigator Dr Roxana Geoffrion over the past decade, is completed and recently published. This research produced the first ever fully validated vaginal surgery training curriculum, successfully implemented in the first junior Obstetrics and Gynecology resident cohort at the University of British Columbia this year.

Vaginal surgery has a superior outcome profile compared with other surgical routes, yet skills are declining because of low case volumes. Graduating residents’ confidence and preparedness for vaginal surgery has plummeted in the past decade. We completed a randomized controlled trial of didactic and procedural training via low fidelity vaginal surgery models for anterior repair, posterior repair, vaginal hysterectomy, recruiting novice gynecology residents. We evaluated performance via global rating scale in the real operating room and for corresponding procedures by attending surgeon blinded to group. Prespecified secondary outcomes included procedural steps knowledge, overall performance, satisfaction, self-confidence and intraoperative parameters. Compared to usual training, procedure-specific didactic and low fidelity simulation modules for vaginal surgery resulted in significant improvements in operative performance and several other skill parameters.

Based on results of the PROMOTE trial, Dr Hanna Ezzat, the Obstetrics and Gynecology residency program director at UBC, facilitated implementation of a vaginal surgery training curriculum into routine resident education at the Foundations of Discipline level. The curriculum consists of a didactic portion, followed by a multiple choice test; supervised training on low fidelity simulation models and independent practice, followed by post-intervention testing of timing and error scores on the models.

Eight residents obtained protected time and participated in the curriculum over a period of two months, guided by six faculty preceptors and one proctor trained to administer the PROMOTE tests and score performance. All residents completed and passed their final evaluation. Their feedback will be invaluable for future cohorts.

REFERENCE: Geoffrion, R., Koenig, N. A., Cundiff, G. W., Flood, C., Hyakutake, M. T., Schulz, J., Brennand, E. A., Lee, T., Singer, J., & Todd, N. J. (2024). Procedure-specific simulation for vaginal surgery training: A randomized controlled trial. Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica, 10.1111/aogs.14810. Advance online publication.

The manuscript “Establishing obstetrics-specific metrics and interventions for antimicrobial stewardship” of Dr. Jeffrey Wong – the current Reproductive Infectious Diseases Fellow, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 JAMMI Trainee Published Manuscript Award.

Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (AMMI) Canada is the national specialty association that represents physicians, clinical microbiologists and researchers specializing in the fields of medical microbiology and infectious diseases.

The Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada (JAMMI) is a quarterly journal that publishes scholarly articles pertaining to infectious diseases, and particularly those affecting humans.

The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine announces the recipients of the UBC National Research Prizes, recognizing three of Canada’s leading researchers in heart health, brain health and cancer.

The tenth annual Dr. Chew Wei Memorial Prize in Cancer Research is awarded to Dr. David Huntsman for his outstanding accomplishments and influence in advancing the global standards for subtype-specific approaches to gynecologic cancer research and care, transforming the way several oncological diseases are diagnosed and managed.

Find out more details from this FoM announcement.

Each year, the Faculty of Medicine recognizes faculty members who exemplify exceptional contributions in the areas of education, research and/or service, and who are dedicated to advancing both the Faculty’s values and vision of transforming health for everyone.

David Huntsman is one of the 2023 Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award recipients in the category of Excellence in Clinical or Applied Research, which recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of research, education, and service.

A full list of the 2022 FoM Distinguished Achievement Award recipients can be found here.