Research has been proved to save and enhance lives. Many health disorders in both children and women affect multiple body organ systems and most need complex medical care and collaborative quality research. The clinicians and researchers at the Women's & Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) are giving their focus to more effective methods of improving the health and care of such patients. Additionally, research that is focused on children and women’s health could lead to reduction and prevention of long-term medical complications for them as adults and mothers respectively.
Research that leads to healthier kids produces a positive cycle of development in human beings that includes healthy pregnancy, birth, development and growth all through the stages of childhood and young adolescence to the phase of adulthood. The WCHRI researchers probe into the fundamental aspects of this health cycle and then guide the translation of newly generated information into useful clinical understanding, better health care and a population that is generally healthier.
The WCHRI History
The Women's & Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) is a fully independent research establishment that is dedicated to the improvement of the health of children and women. Founded in 1989, then known as the Child Health Research Institute, the Institute now got over 60 health staff and medical students engaged in clinical and medical research that is solely focused on maternal and child nutrition; blood and immune system diseases, growth and management of childhood allergies; the repair of the human digestive system and all forms of craniofacial abnormalities.
In January 2013, WCHRI formally came together with the University of Adelaide now being a controlled unit. The Institute continues operating as an independent institute of medical research and under a Board that is appointed by the Adelaide University. The Institute integrates early stage of medical research with the later stage, utilizes strategic research and then applies that newly acquired knowledge towards the growth and development of preventative health strategies or new therapeutic approaches. The WCHRI brings together quality research and relevance to human wellbeing and health.
The Women's & Children's Health Research Institute is also a partnership that exists between the Alberta Health Services and the University of Alberta together with the kind support coming from the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. WCHRI’s academic membership is made up of nearly 340 academics, clinician-scientists, leading researchers, health care experts and other allied service providers.
The Women's & Children's Health Research Institute Governance
The WCHRI Council brings together a diverse collection of expertise coming from research, finance and business. The council is the body that provides governance principles and assesses the performance of the Institute.
The WCHRI Vision
Improved health and medical outcomes for kids and women through quality health research
The Mission
To produce significant health outcomes via cutting-edge and trans-disciplinary medical research
The Goals
- Facilitating applied and basic health research activities that are focused on children and women’s health.
- Encouraging translational and collaborative research inside the university and even outside.
- Promoting training in health and medical research focusing on children and women.
- Providing a united team approach that facilitates useful communication and set ups representation to the authorities, public and granting agencies.
- To eventually have this knowledge translated for the goal of offering the best clinical practice and health outcomes.
- Impacting locally, regionally, nationally and globally as a catalyst for medical research and as a strong advocate for children and women’s health.
- Providing machinery for accountability in performance.
- Being a vehicle for the communication of the clinical and medical research outcomes.
The Power of Partnerships
The best world class hospitals having the best health care are those ones investing in clinical discovery through research. They become the leaders and innovators, shaping the entire health system for years to come. The WCHRI plays the role of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women and Stollery Children’s Hospital research arm, and is the sole steward of their respective health research investments.
The Women's & Children's Health Research Institute is a joint partnership among the Alberta Health Services, University of Alberta together with several powerful Foundations like the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Stollery Children’s Hospital. As the base faculty, the Medicine & Dentistry Faculty provides in-kind and operating support.
The WCHRI vision of improving health outcomes for children and women through research is a vision jointly shared by the Alberta Health Services and the University of Alberta. With core funding from the SCHF and the RAHF, the Women's & Children's Health Research Institute vision can be achieved. This distinctive structure has created a healthy collaborative environment having a shared clinical and medical focus on foetal and new born, maternal health and the whole families of the affected patients. In Edmonton, the WCHRI value is particularly significant as some of the most complex pregnancies get delivered, and the newborns get catered for at the top ranking Lois Hole Hospital for Women, as the Stollery Hospital takes care for kids from their birth through to the adolescence phase.
