$93.5M gift to the University of Alberta will fund research into health care for women, kids

A historic $93.5 million donation has been made to the University of Alberta for research on women and children's health.

The University of Alberta-based Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI), Canada’s only research institute dedicated to investigating women’s, children’s, and perinatal health, has received a gift of $93.5 million.

The record-setting gift was made by the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation (SCHF) and the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation (AWHF).

The WCHRI operates through the University of Alberta through a partnership with the SCHF and AWHF.

“We need to have the best possible care for our kids, and we can only do that if we invest in research and innovation,” Karen Falkner of the SCHF told reporters on Monday. “We’ll attract the best and the brightest, we’ll grow the best here, and we’ll retain them.”

“We’re now the most specialized children’s hospital in western Canada. That only happens when you invest in the people.”

Monday’s donation will secure another decade of research with a goal of closing gaps in care for women in children.

Research topics include reducing pain in children and care for women with polycystic ovary syndrome, who are three times more likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Sharlene Rutherford says research into women’s health used to primarily focus on pregnancy and delivery, but that focus is changing.

“Those are very important things, and they still are,” she said.

“Not every woman even has a baby. And women spend two-thirds of their life post pregnancy. There is a lot more living that needs to be done, and there is a lot more research that needs to be had to ensure that those years are spent in quality health.”

This is the third time the two organizations have partnered to support the WCHRI, donating $112 million since 2006.