Working Groups

Our working groups bring together researchers, practitioners, trainees, and community members to tackle key challenges in women’s health. By fostering connections and collaboration in priority areas such as perinatal mental health, our working groups are at the forefront of driving impactful advancements that align with our vision of achieving sex-and-gender health equity.

Each group meets monthly to share ideas, develop projects, and implement innovative solutions. Members can contribute as much or as little as they wish, making it easy to get involved at a level that works for you. Explore the achievements and initiatives of our groups below.

While our Socioeconomic Status and Sex and Gender-Based Analysis groups are currently at capacity, the Perinatal Mental Health Working Group is open to new members. If you’re passionate about making a difference in this area, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at management@womenshealthresearchcluster.com to get involved.

Current Working Groups

Perinatal Mental Health Working Group

Co-led by Dr. Anna MacKinnon and Dr. Tina Montreuil, this group is dedicated to raising awareness about and advancing research in the field of perinatal mental health. Since 2021, they have organized the perinatal mental health theme and networking sessions at the Canadian National Perinatal Research Meeting (CNPRM), exposing hundreds of academics to cutting-edge research, and fostering collaboration and dialogue among them. Additionally, this group co-authored a position paper to highlight critical issues and future directions in the field, and is working towards facilitating science communication among members.

The Perinatal Mental Health Working Group is currently welcoming new members. To get involved, please email management@womenshealthresearchcluster.com.

Past Working Groups

Socioeconomic Status Working Group

Led by Dr. Marina Adshade, this group is focused on raising awareness about the profound impact of socioeconomic factors—such as income, occupation, and gender—on women’s health. One of their key contributions is a podcast mini-series on Women’s Health Interrupted called Field Trip, which explores essential insights every women’s health researcher should know about socioeconomic status. Topics covered include intimate partner violence, refugee healthcare, and health policy. All five episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major platforms.

In addition to their podcast, the group co-organized a public event titled What is the Cost of Care?, which addressed the inequitable burden of unpaid caregiving often placed on women. This event, part of UBC’s Dialogue series, was a collaborative effort with UBC’s Alumni Department, Sauder School of Business, School of Economics, and the Faculties of Arts and Medicine. It successfully attracted over 300 registrants from the public and academic sectors.

Please note that this group is not currently accepting new members.

Sex and Gender-Based Analysis Working Group

Co-led by Dr. Elizabeth Rideout and Dr. Jennifer Williams, the SGBA Working Group provides essential guidance to faculty and trainees on how to effectively integrate sex and gender-based considerations into human and animal research. To support this, they launched the How to SGBA workshop series, offering case-study talks, panel discussions, and breakout sessions aimed at demystifying SGBA across all research areas. To date, the group has hosted three workshops, attracting 350 participants and over 4,000 YouTube views. You can explore these workshops below:

In addition, they introduced a How to SGBA: Ask Me Anything series, offering 1-hour Zoom sessions where participants could connect with experts, including Dr. Elizabeth Rideout, for personalized guidance on SGBA in their research.