Grant: Dissemination Events - PA: Gender, Sex and Health Research

This application proposes a symposium on "Integrating Sex & Gender into Reproductive Health at the annual meeting of the Chinese Society of Reproductive Medicine (CSRM) to be held in Beijing, China, February, 25-27, 2012. This initiative follows up on the international partnership MOU that was signed in 2009 between the CIHR Institute of Gender & Health(IGH) and the CSRM and subsequent attendance by 5 IGH Board members at the Feb. 2010 CSRM meeting where they led a Sex, Gender & Health Workshop. The goal of the first visit was to inform and sensitize the CRSM about the integration of sex and gender based analysis (GSBA) in reproductive health research. This goal was achieved in that great interest in GSBA was expressed among participants at that meeting and relationships began to develop between researchers in China and Canada (e.g. Dr. Leung played a key role in facilitating the signing of a new collaborative agreement in April 2011 between Peking University Health Science Centre and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine); we were invited to organize a symposium again on the topic. It is well known in the business community that Chinese culture expects ongoing relationships and several visits to develop and cement proposed projects; relationship building is well recognized as a key component of effective knowledge translation in health research. Specific objectives are to: 1) further our efforts to establish reproductive health research collaborations with China, 2) continue to sensitize the Chinese reproductive health community about GSBA and to demonstrate, using specific examples, how research benefits from the integration of sex and gender. Because this annual meeting will be held in Beijing, China's capital, top government leaders in the health sector will be expected to preside over the conference. Dr. Leung will be meeting with CSRM executive in China, August, 2011 at which time he will make formal arrangements for our presentation.