Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Researchers considered to be among Canada's most powerful women

Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, an expert in genetic diseases who championed DNA-based diagnostics in Winnipeg, and Janice Ristock, a women?s and gender studies professor who was among the first to research partner violence in same-sex relationships, have made the 2012 list of Canada?s Most Powerful Women: Top 100.

The Toronto-based Women?s Executive Network includes in their list women with various roles, from business owners to bureaucrats, from journalists to scientists. Top 100 award winners are proven achievers who are strong contributors to their organizations, their fields of endeavour and their communities.

The University of Manitoba researchers each earned a spot in the trailblazers and trendsetters category.

Rockman-Greenberg recognized the importance of molecular medicine early on and was the driving force behind the opening of the first lab in Winnipeg for the diagnosis of genetic disease with DNA testing two decades ago. The pediatrician is now head of the department of pediatrics and child health, a professor within that department, a professor in the department of biochemistry and medical genetics, the medical director of the child health program within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and a scientist at the Manitoba Institute for Child Health.

She and her colleagues have identified the molecular source of some of Manitoba?s most devastating inherited diseases, including those most prevalent in the province?s Aboriginal, Mennonite and Hutterite communities. As a clinical geneticist at the Winnipeg Children?s Hospital, she is the principal investigator of an international, multi-centre clinical trial involving a new treatment for hypophosphatasia, a genetic bone disease that is rare worldwide yet common in Manitoba and select communities in Canada. Most infants born with this disease die shortly after birth. Dedicated to helping children and families in crisis, Rockman-Greenberg and her team successfully treated the disease in 2008 with a new investigational drug.

Ristock, a community psychologist, is an international leader in the development of gay and lesbian studies and an advocate for some of society?s most marginalized members. Her work in gender and sexuality has changed how society thinks about domestic abuse. She began researching violence in lesbian relationships in the late 1980s when there was only one trade book on the topic and very little academic research. She treaded through uncharted territory in her ground-breaking 2002 book No More Secrets: Violence in Lesbian Relationships. Her research has helped inform policymakers about the lack of services that exist for these women; her efforts have changed the landscape of support programming. In other areas of her community-based research program, she has made crucial contributions to our understanding of how diversity and discrimination affects the health and wellbeing of individuals from women?s, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, and Aboriginal communities. Committed to human rights and social justice, Ristock collaborates with many community groups and is currently the University of Manitoba?s vice-provost (academic affairs).

?We are extremely proud of Dr. Rockman-Greenberg and Dr. Ristock. In their own way, they have proved themselves as individuals who think outside of the box. They are leaders whose hard work has benefited many people,? said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) at the U of M.

Two faculty members have made the list in previous years (also in the trailblazers and trendsetters category): the university?s President Emeritus Em?ke Szathm?ry in 2004 and Wanda Wuttenee, native studies professor and director of Aboriginal Business Education Partners, in 2011.

For more information contact Janine Harasymchuk, marketing communications office, University of Manitoba, at 204-474-7300 (Janine_harasymchuk@umanitoba.ca).

Source: http://umanitoba.ca/news/blogs/blog/2012/12/04/researchers-considered-to-be-among-canadas-most-powerful-women/

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