Canadian research teams hope to transform women's heart and brain health over next five years

Researchers from across the country represent best in women's health

TORONTO , Sept. 23, 2024 /CNW/ - Heart & Stroke is excited to announce the winners of the Research Networks of Excellence in Women's Heart and/or Brain Health. The researchers will focus on creating a better understanding of women's risk factors for heart conditions during pregnancy and improving diagnosis and treatment of women living with the effects of stroke.

Congratulations are extended to the following two teams that will each receive $5M in funding over five years, led by:

1. Dr. Rohan D'Souza, McMaster University: The Canadian Network of Networks to Reduce Cardiovascular Mortality and Morbidity in Pregnancy (CaNCaM-Preg). [Research area: Women-specific risk factors for heart and brain conditions across life stages]
2. Dr. Amy Yu, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto: Stroke in Women: Growing Opportunities to Realize optimal Evaluation, Diagnosis, and outcomes (StrokeGoRed). [Research area: Diagnosis & treatment of heart and brain conditions that are more prevalent among women or that impact women differently and that have been under-studied]

"We are thrilled to fund the important research of these collaborative teams," says Doug Roth, CEO, Heart & Stroke. "We are hoping to get even closer to closing the gap on the inequities women face when it comes to their heart and brain health. These teams represent some of the best Canadian minds, and I am looking forward to what we will learn from their research and how we can apply it to advance women's heart and brain health."

Reducing deaths and serious illness from heart conditions during and between pregnancies 

Dr. D'Souza's project, CaNCaM-Preg, will establish a large network of clinicians, researchers, social scientists, economists and persons with lived experience from across Canada to work together towards reducing heart-related deaths and serious illness during and after pregnancy. This involves in-depth reviews of all serious pregnancy-related cardiovascular events in Canada; assessing pregnant people with heart conditions after their pregnancies to ensure that they recover fully, so that they have fewer complications later in life; and ensuring pregnant people with heart valve disease receive specialized care when needed, to improve outcomes for them and their babies.

Improving stroke care, treatment, and recovery for women

Dr. Yu's project, StrokeGoRed, will be the first formal research network in Canada dedicated to studying stroke in women. They represent a diverse group of champions for women's brain health, including clinicians, researchers, an Ininiw scholar, people with lived experience, engineers, computer scientists, data scientists, statisticians, knowledge mobilization experts, educators, decision makers, and knowledge users. The team will work together to advance knowledge on how and why stroke affects women and men differently and will provide training and mentorship to the next generation of researchers and clinicians working with patients who had a stroke. StrokeGoRed studies hope to lead to new discoveries on how to individualize stroke care and treatments to improve outcomes in women.

Heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of premature death in women in Canada, but gaps in awareness, research, diagnosis, and care threaten women's heart and brain health. Women face distinct risk factors at different points in their lives including pregnancy and menopause. They are also more likely to experience certain types of heart and brain conditions which can impact their health.

Winning teams were evaluated by an independent peer review panel that included specific considerations for Indigenous health, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender identity/2S/LGBTQI+, and women living with disabilities.

Funding for the Research Networks of Excellence in Women's Heart and/or Brain Health has been made possible by the generosity of Heart & Stroke's committed donors, Canada's leading health charity devoted to heart disease and stroke, Canada's federal funding agency for health research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Gender and Health, and the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation.

About Heart & Stroke

Life. We don't want you to miss it. That's why Heart & Stroke has been leading the fight to beat heart disease and stroke for more than 70 years. We must generate the next medical breakthroughs, so Canadians don't miss out on precious moments. Together, with the generous support of our donors, partners, and volunteers, we are working to prevent disease, save lives, and promote recovery through research, health promotion and public policy. Heartandstroke.ca @heartandstroke

SOURCE Heart and Stroke Foundation

Media Contact: Alicia D'Aguiar, [email protected], 647-426-8410