Celebrating Historic Gift

This morning, I am pleased to announce a remarkable, historic gift that is helping the University of Alberta, with the support of Alberta Health Services, to create top-line research into the health of women and children.

Today, we celebrate a combined gift of $54.5 million to the Women and Children's Health Research Institute. The Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation is donating $40 million, the largest gift in the university's history, and the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation is donating $14.5 million.

On behalf of the University of Alberta, I extend our warmest thanks and gratitude to the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation and the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and their donors for their vision and generosity. We are honoured to partner with them to further research in this historically underfunded area.

The $54.5 million gift from the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation and Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation will be used to accelerate research at the Women and Children's Health Research Institute in three ways:

  • Approximately one-third will be allocated to peer-reviewed grants. These grants are researcher-driven, and the peer-review is a method for ensuring excellence.
  • Another third of the gift will be dedicated to research catalysts, including recruiting international-calibre researchers. This part of the budget also leverages other grants with matching funds.
  • The last third will help the institute serve as an incubator for health research. It subsidizes an expert research support team that includes nurses, coordinators, biostatisticians, data management staff, knowledge translation, patient engagement, qualitative research and more, enabling research to get off the ground sooner.

This gift and this remarkable partnership are great examples of how our shared belief in work for "the public good" unites us and inspires us to greater efforts, bringing a brighter future to women and children.

David H. Turpin
President and Vice-Chancellor