University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing's Dr. Colleen Norris Involved in New Personalized Medicine Project on Gender Outcomes, GOING-FWD

The unique collaboration amongst Canadian and European researchers aims to maximize risk prediction through the integration of sex and gender analysis in research

6 March 2019


An exciting research project focused on improving the health and well-being of men and women worldwide will be co-led by Dr. Colleen Norris, Scientific Director for the Cardiovascular Health and Stroke Strategic Clinical Network (SCN), Professor in Nursing, Medicine and Public Health Science, University of Alberta. The project will be based at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), the coordinating site of an international consortium for the next three years.


Gender Outcomes International Group: to Further Well-being Development (GOING-FWD) is a Data Science, Personalized Medicine project funded by Canadian Institutes of Health and Research (CIHR) and GENDER-NET+ which is part of the European EU H2020 initiative, for a total of approximately $1.65 million. The project is led and coordinated by Dr. Louise Pilote, a researcher at the RI-MUHC and James McGill Professor of Medicine, McGill University. Dr. Valeria Raparelli, Visiting Professor of Medicine at McGill University from Sapienza University of Rome co-leads alongside Dr. Norris.

GOING-FWD will analyze data from more than 30 million patients with chronic disease across Canada and Europe, using a sex and gender lens to more precisely predict risk of clinical and patient-relevant outcomes.

A large volume of data gathered through a network of five countries-Austria, Canada, Cyprus, Spain and Sweden-will allow innovative algorithms to be created that will assist in implementing personalized interventions for the management of noncommunicable diseases, such as cardiovascular, chronic kidney or neurodegenerative diseases.

The project is a natural fit for GENDER-NET+, which aims to promote the integration of sex and gender analysis into research, stimulating new knowledge and insights that ultimately benefit both women and men.

A Brief Scientific Summary of the Project

Background: Beyond biological sex, gender is increasingly recognized as a pivotal determinant of health. However, there are no standardized gender measurements. The authors of the study hypothesize that gender-related factors and their effect will vary substantially between countries and diseases.

Aims: The overarching aims of this large Consortium are to integrate sex and gender dimensions in applied health research, to evaluate their impact on clinical cost-sensitive outcomes and on patient-reported outcomes related to quality of life in noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, chronic kidney disease and neurological disease. The research team also aims to construct innovative ways to disseminate the application of gender measurement towards personalized approaches to chronic disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: With a five-country transatlantic network comprised of 30 investigators, the project will benchmark innovative solutions to measure gender in retrospective cohorts. Based on consensus, the researchers will develop a framework to identify gender-related factors, as well as cost-sensitive and patient-reported outcomes, and measure their associations in 32 accessible cohorts of patients affected by cardiovascular, chronic kidney and neurological diseases and metabolic syndrome. Large database analysis and, when appropriate, machine learning approaches will allow the derivation of pan- and within-country disease-specific gender scores, which will be validated through e-Health and m-Health applications in prospective disease groups. Educational modules will be developed to promote awareness, implementation and dissemination.

Innovation: As a five-country multidisciplinary Consortium with access to large granular databases, the project is uniquely positioned to harness an innovative methodology that will provide a framework to close gender gaps in chronic disease management and promote knowledge transfer in the scientific community and clinical practice.


For further information, please contact: GOINGFWD2019@outlook.com