AHFMR News

New initiative allows mothers to return to research

(Edmonton, AB) Friday September 23, 2005... Dr. Susan Andrew is an AHFMR researcher and a new mom. She has just returned to work after a one year maternity leave. Her biggest anxiety? That she regain her research momentum so that she can receive further research funding.

Dr. Andrew's concerns are shared with many women health researchers across North America trying to balance families and careers. The pace of research, the pressure to publish plus the responsibilities of teaching, managing a lab, and submitting first class applications for coveted funding have led to many women delaying childbirth or being left behind should they choose to start families.

Statistics show that while women have almost the same success rates as men for entry level research funding, there is a considerable drop in women's success rates in the more senior award levels. This is common across Canada. The time away from research in order to start their families puts women at a disadvantage in terms of competitive funding at senior levels.

AHFMR has developed a new approach to increase balance the current inequities of time between men and women researchers. All women researchers currently funded by AHFMR who take a maternity leave will automatically qualify for a one-year fully paid extension of their Heritage award. The extension will allow women researchers to regain their competitiveness before they have to reapply for funding. The new policy is among the first in Canada to recognize the fundamentally different research careers paths of men and women.

What:		Media opportunity to interview Dr. Susan Andrew (a genetics researcher) & Dr. Jacques Magnan, VP Programs, AHFMR
When:		Friday, September 23, 2005
Time:		10:00 AM to 12:00 noon *
Where:		Medical Sciences Building - Lab 833 University of Alberta, Edmonton

* Please call Dwayne Brunner, AHFMR Communications Coordinator, at (780) 966-1518 in order to arrange an interview.

Backgrounder

• Dr. Susan Andrew has been investigating the instability of DNA and how it relates to human disease. Her particular interest is the role certain proteins play in fixing mistakes in DNA. Our DNA is constantly mutating. In order to maintain genome integrity, our cells have devised mechanisms to correct mutations and to initiate cell death if damage is extensive. DNA instability results from the loss of such DNA repair mechanisms sometimes leading to tumorigenesis, and the development of cancer. Dr. Andrew studies the genes involved in DNA instability and how they prevent cancer development. Dr. Andrew welcomes this new initiative as it will make it less burdensome for her when she needs to reapply for research funding and support.

• AHFMR Personnel Awards have shown that as a woman progresses through the ranks the numbers between male and females grow further apart. In the more junior research roles, the numbers are almost equal but as the male counterparts go on an assume faculty positions and more senior roles, the numbers for female researchers drastically decline.

• The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) currently provides funding for over 600 researchers and researchers in training at the Province's three main universities. The foundation supports a community of researchers who generate knowledge that improves the health and quality of life of Albertans and people throughout the world. AHFMR's commitment is to fund health research based on international standards of excellence and carried out by new and established investigators and researchers in training. Total AHFMR funding over 25 years is in excess of $800 million. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca