Kayla Sinnamon knew her newborn daughter was in pain - she just didn't know how to help her.
Sinnamon's daughter, Natalie, was born with hydrocephalus, a condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up inside the brain. Natalie underwent surgery at eight days old to have a shunt installed, but the procedure cascaded into a complication-ridden seven-week stay at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton. Every day, Sinnamon watched her daughter's tiny body writhe, and eventually seize, with the discomfort of each new needle.
Sinnamon knew the needles were necessary, but she wondered: "How can we do it in a way that's better for her?"
She didn't know it at the time, but researchers at the Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) and the hospital's medical team were already finding answers to her question.
Based at the University of Alberta, WCHRI is Canada's only research institute dedicated to investigating women's, children's and perinatal health. It operates through a partnership with the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation, Alberta Women's Health Foundation and Alberta Health Services.
Today, that partnership is making history. The Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation and the Alberta Women's Health Foundation announced a landmark gift of $93.5 million to WCHRI over the next 10 years - the largest gift in the U of A's history. This commitment marks the third consecutive decade of the collaboration, adding to the foundations' combined support of more than $112 million since 2006.
WCHRI executive director Sandra Davidge says the renewed partnership reflects the organizations' goals of bringing research-driven change to patients.
"It reinforces that children and women's health is not a niche interest but a top-tier academic and clinical priority," Davidge says.
U of A president and vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan notes that the university has the research expertise, infrastructure and talent necessary to translate scientific discovery into improved care for patients and families. Such transformational progress, he says, does not happen in isolation.
"It is built through strong, sustained partnerships," Flanagan says. "Together, we are advancing a future where health is more than the absence of illness. It is the opportunity for every woman and child to thrive. Supported by this historic gift, we are shaping the wellness of generations to come."
The partnership has supported the research of clinician-scientists such as Samina Ali, a pediatric emergency physician at the Stollery Children's Hospital whose research focuses on reducing children's pain and distress in the hospital. In 2025, under Ali's leadership, the Stollery became certified by ChildKind International - a distinction shared by only 20 others worldwide that recognizes the hospital's use of evidence-informed practices to alleviate pain in its young patients. Following Natalie's hospital stay, Ali recruited Sinnamon to a parents' advisory board that helps inform the hospital's new pain management protocols.
Natalie is now a thriving six-year-old, and Sinnamon, now a peer-support volunteer at the hospital, sees the tangible difference this research has made. Children can now inhale nitrous oxide (laughing gas) during painful procedures, for instance, and mothers can choose to breastfeed while their babies have blood drawn.
Seeing the real-life impact of such research breakthroughs motivated the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation's most recent $70-million commitment to WCHRI.
"Through WCHRI, we're able to support clinicians and researchers who are pushing the boundaries of children's health and turning bold ideas into real breakthroughs," says Karen Faulkner, president and CEO of the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation.
Sharlene Rutherford, president and CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and Alberta Women's Health Foundation, has witnessed the partnership generate powerful results far beyond the province, and is proud to support a $23.5-million commitment over the next 10 years.
"The gap in women's health is a national concern, but we can be the generation that closes it," Rutherford says, sharing a striking statistic: Only seven per cent of health research in Canada is specific to women's conditions and diseases. As a result, women are often left with more questions than answers about their health.
Sarah Chambers knows this feeling too well. After the Edmonton resident was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), her family doctor didn't have much medical advice to share beyond what would be useful if she were trying to have a baby.
WCHRI researcher Donna Vine, however, has upended the misconception that PCOS is mainly a reproductive condition. After finding that women with PCOS are three times more likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease, Vine is now operating clinical trials with patients from the Lois Hole Hospital for Women to establish methods of detecting and treating these diseases.
Chambers finally came to understand the steps she can take to manage her PCOS after enrolling in one of Vine's clinical trials. Later, Vine consulted Chambers as she developed two resources: one guiding doctors in diagnosing and treating the condition, the other explaining the process to PCOS patients. Today, these resources are being used in more than 30 countries. Chambers says the experience helped her finally feel she had control over her body.
As WCHRI's Davidge says, Sinnamon's and Chambers' experiences are just two examples of how this landmark gift will enable the U of A and its partners to continue empowering women and children traditionally overlooked by health research.
"With our strategic funding partners, researchers and health-care teams, we aren't just closing these gaps - we're creating limitless potential for the future of children's and women's health around the world."
Learn more about how WCHRI is transforming lives to help women and children thrive
