Strategic investments matched by partners including the Women’s Brain Health Initiative, the Krembil Foundation, Heart and Stroke, and the Erika Legacy Foundation have put Brain Canada at the forefront of enhancing capacity and addressing gaps in women’s brain health research.
The result is a strong foundation for improving women’s brain health; for example: one team has identified a cause of sex-dependent vulnerability in Alzheimer’s disease, which is now a promising target for new treatments. Another team is identifying why women participate less than men in stroke rehabilitation research, which will ensure women benefit equally from new innovations. Yet another is laying groundwork that will enable the first Canadian clinical trials network capable of testing therapies tailored separately for men and women. These are just a few examples of progress – and promise – in this important area of research.
Brain disorders and diseases are complex, and we must all play a role in encouraging researchers to look at them with an equity lens. In order to help everyone, we must include everyone. Research approaches that consistently account for differences drive innovation and reduce health inequities for previously overlooked groups.
Viviane Poupon, Brain Canada President and CEO
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Sex and gender brain science
Sex and gender brain science considers sex and gender related factors in its design, methods, and analyses. It contributes to understanding and filling evidence gaps on the biological and social factors affecting both sexes and all genders on the mechanisms and experiences linked to brain health and disease.
Sex and gender-based analysis plus (SGBA+)
Sex and gender-based analysis plus (SGBA+) is the process of using a lens to examine the impact of sex, gender, and a range of intersectional factors on funding programs, research projects, and organizational policies. Integrating this process into Brain Canada covers a wide range of areas of both internal and external activities.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies and initiatives increase diversity and inclusion of a wide range of people and groups and to improve outcomes for federally designated underrepresented groups (women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, individuals from the 2SLGBTQ2+ community, and persons with disabilities) in recruitment, engagement, and impact.
Magazine
Mind Over Matter
Mind Over Matter is a magazine, published by the Women’s Brain Health Initiative, in partnership with Brain Canada, focused on the evidence-based Six Pillars of Brain Health.
In partnership with Heart & Stroke and CIHR, the objective of the competition is to increase the number of highly qualified Black trainees across Canada committed to working in the fields of heart and brain research. By investing in Black researchers, we hope to strengthen representation in the Canadian research community.
Brain Canada-WBHI Expansion Grants: Considering Sex and Gender Program
The Brain Canada-WBHI Expansion Grants: Considering Sex and Gender Program provided additional funding to expand existing research projects through the inclusion of sex and/ or gender considerations in their study design. In doing so, we can contribute to overcoming existing barriers in research while creating a foundation for sex and gender considerations to become customary in scientific research.
Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately affected by heart disease, stroke, and other brain conditions. However, they are underrepresented when it comes to addressing these conditions through research. In partnership with Heart & Stroke and CIHR, this program is increasing the number of highly qualified trainees working in heart and/or brain research from Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) communities whose traditional and ancestral territories are in Canada.
This program funds basic research that provides insight into the causes and onset of mental health conditions, explores the neuropathological changes and information-processing deficits that may eventually lead to new directions for treatments and interventions, and explores the role of sex and gender in mental health.
The Brain Canada SGBA+ and EDI Action Plan identifies key activities to enhance the quality and relevance of brain research in Canada by addressing sex and gender brain science and integrating sex and gender-based analysis plus (SGBA+) and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts into all of Brain Canada’s work.
