Research News


Highlights from the 9th Annual Fred Bryans Faculty Forum
February 5, 2019
The 9th Annual Dr. Fred Bryans Faculty Forum took place on Thursday, January 31, 2019 at the SFU Harbour Centre in downtown Vancouver. We started the Forum with a workshop on grant proposal development co-led by Amber Hui (WHRI/BCCHR) and Dawn McArthur (BCCHR). Amber and Dawn led 30 department members through the grant development process. […] Read More >


Congratulations to Alex Beristain, Gillian Hanley and Regina Renner on their CIHR project grants!
February 4, 2019
Three of our department members were successful in obtaining CIHR Project Grant funding from the fall 2018 competition cycle. Alexander G Beristain for his project “Cellular dynamics at the maternal-placental interface” – a five year project to examine the effects of obesity in altering the cell make-up of the fetal-maternal environment in early human pregnancy. Gillian […] Read More >


Predicting mortality in pregnant women in the ICU – CIPHER model cited as the best tool to use
December 11, 2018
The CIPHER collaboration brought together researchers from 13 countries around the world to tackle the problem of identifying risk of death or severe morbidity for critically ill pregnant women. Traditional models, such as APACHE, used in the ICU vastly overestimate risk for women due to the unique physiology of pregnancy. This leads to unnecessary stress […] Read More >


Dr. Jennifer Hutcheon awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Population Health.
December 10, 2018
Dr. Jennifer Hutcheon, an Associate Professor in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, was recently awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair. Her program of research “Using ‘Big Data’ to Improve the Health of Mothers and Their Babies” aims to identify pregnancies at risk and to understand impacts of maternity care policies with the ultimate […] Read More >


The Folic Acid Clinical Trial “FACT” Study is now published!
November 29, 2018
The Folic Acid Clinical Trial “FACT” Study is now published! This study was based out of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and had 70 participating obstetrical centres in five countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom). BC Women’s Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital participated under the direction of Drs. Julie Robertson and Valerie […] Read More >


Drs Gina Ogilvie & Marette Lee receive on of MSFHR’s new Implementation Science Team Program Development Grants.
September 26, 2018
Drs Ogilvie & Lee have received a Micheal Smith Foundation for Health Research new Implementation Science Team (IST) Program Development Grant for their project “At-Home Cervical Cancer Screening & Strategies To Enhance Engagement With The Care Pathway For Under-Screened Populations“. The new IST Development program is designed to address a gap in understanding how research findings and […] Read More >


Featured Researcher – Dr. Merry Gong
August 28, 2018
What is your day job? I am a fellow in urogynecology. My work is divided between clinical care, research, and resident and medical student education.  What is your primary research focus? Research opportunities are endless in the field of urogynecology. I’m at the beginning of my career, and I’m open to all research opportunities that […] Read More >


Giving Voice to Women’s Silent Health Issues
July 25, 2018
The VCRI summarizes “Her Health Dialogue”—a public health talk they hosted on June 25, 2018. Read more about the presentations by Drs Marette Lee, Paul Yong and Lori Brotto and patient advocate, Lana Barry. Read More >


Gillian Hanley: MSFHR Scholar Award recipient for her Health Services project “Population-based ‘big data’ research to improve women’s health”.
July 23, 2018
One June 13, 2018 the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) announced the recipients of the 2018 Scholar Award competition. Dr. Gillian Hanley, an Assistant Professor, in the Division of Gynaecology was one of 17 Scholars funded for her Health Services Research project “Population-based ‘big data’ research to improve women’s health”. Gillian continues to […] Read More >


Dr Beristain awarded a CIHR Catalyst Grant : Sex as a Variable in Biomedical Research
July 11, 2018
In May 2018 CIHR awarded Dr Alexander G Beristain and his Co-Investigator, Dr Wendy Robinson $149,020 over two years  to study the “Effect of trophoblast sex on uterine immune cell function.” Drs Beristain and Robinson plan to examine how placenta cells of either male or female sex differ from each other with respect to the genes they express […] Read More >