May 03, 2005
Minister Dosanjh Announces Over $7 Million for the Study of Gender and Sex in Circulatory and Respiratory Health and Disease

OTTAWA, ON, May 3, 2005 - On the occasion of World Asthma Day, the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health, Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in partnership with Sally Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Deirdre Freiheit, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Lung Association, today announced over $7 million to support four health research projects directed at studying the role of gender and sex in circulatory and respiratory health and disease.

"Heart and lung diseases affect the lives of millions of Canadians every year," said Minister Dosanjh. "The projects announced today will build health research capacity to better understand and address the impacts of the gender and sex factors in circulatory and respiratory health."

"Health is ultimately governed by the complex interplay between biological, genetic, psychosocial, economic and environmental determinants," said Dr. Bernstein. "These health research projects will help deepen our understanding of this interplay and transform how we diagnose, treat and prevent disease and promote health.

Heart and lung diseases are among the leading causes of illness and deaths in Canadians. While the main causes of these diseases are the same among women and men, a number of sex and gender differences exist such as age at onset of the condition, access to health services and treatment options. These 5-year projects will help researchers study the role played by gender and sex in coronary heart, cardiovascular and lung diseases.

"There is increasing interest and recognition that women's and girls' health issues, just as men's and boys' health issues, benefit from a gender perspective," explained Dr. Miriam Stewart, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health (IGH). "The projects we are announcing today will boost our knowledge and understanding of how gender and sex interact with other health determinants to ultimately affect the health of Canadians."

"It is crucial to understand the causes, mechanisms, and routes to control of circulatory and respiratory ailments in all Canadians. Comparative assessment of the ways in which females and males differ in the way they are affected will help us progress toward better and more personalized care and prevention," said Dr. Bruce McManus, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH).

The four funded research projects are:

• Drs. Sonia Anand, Heather M. Arthur, Eva Lonn and Salim Yusuf (McMaster University) who are examining the role of sex and gender differences in heart disease and diabetes;
• Dr. Allan B. Becker(University of Manitoba) who is studying the biological and sociological factors associated with the development of obesity and asthma in adolescent girls, which influence the development of asthma as a chronic disease throughout their adult lives;
• Drs. Susan M. Kennedy and Donald Sin (University of British Columbia) who are investigating the role of biological, social and cultural differences in the development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; and
• Dr. Louise Pilote (McGill University) who is researching differences in cardiovascular disease between men and women using a new framework, which includes sex and gender determinants.

"It's not always well known that women and men are affected equally by heart disease and stroke," said Sally Brown, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. "However, there are differences in how both genders experience these diseases and how they're treated, and this research will help us better understand how women and men are affected."

"The Lung Association is very pleased to participate in this important research initiative. The more opportunities we can create to address sex and gender issues related to lung health, the better equipped we will be to provide assistance to Canadians suffering from lung disease," said Deirdre Freiheit, President and CEO of The Lung Association.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to close to 10,000 researchers and research teams in every province of Canada.

CIHR's Institute of Gender and Health supports research to address how sex (biological-genetic factors) and gender (socio-cultural experiences) interact with other factors that influence health to create conditions and problems that are unique, more prevalent, more serious or different with respect to risk factors or effective interventions for women and for men.

CIHR's Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health supports research into causes, mechanisms, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions associated with the heart, lung, brain (stroke), blood, blood vessels, critical care and sleep.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a leading funder of heart disease and stroke research in Canada. Our mission is to improve the health of Canadians by preventing and reducing disability and death from heart disease and stroke through research, health promotion and advocacy.

The Lung Association is a registered charity that provides information, support programs, funding for medical research and advocates on behalf of people with lung disease in order to improve lung health. We provide information and programs in disease areas such as: asthma, chronic lung disease, tobacco control, sleep apnea, lung cancer, infectious diseases and air quality in relation to effects on lung health. For more information please see www.lung.ca or call 1-888-566-5864 (LUNG)

The following documents are available at: www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/

Grant Allocations Chart

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Adèle Blanchard, Office of Minister Dosanjh, (613) 957-0200
Janet Weichel, CIHR, Communications, (613) 941-4563
Luc Lapointe, CLA, Communications, 613-569-6411 ext. 223
Heather Rourke, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, (613) 569-4361, ext 318