Annual Report 2025-2026
A Message From Dr. Nathan Nickel, MCHP Director
Transcript
I'm Nathan Nickel. I'm a professor in the College of Community and Global Health and I'm the Director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.
The Manitoba Population Research Data Repository is a world class resource that supports population level research on the health and wellbeing of Manitobans.
It contains close to 100 datasets on the entire population in areas such as education, social services, the legal system, and health services.
Our databases go back several decades with some going back to the 1970's, and one goes all the way back to the 1940's.
All of this information can be linked together at the individual and family level, allowing us to construct a holistic picture of what supports health and wellbeing in Manitoba.
This year, MCHP reached a significant milestone with the release of our 150th study commissioned in trusted partnership with the provincial government using data held in the Repository.
This marks 35 years of MCHP's leadership in partnering with the government and health and social services to co-create actionable evidence that informs decision making and advances a learning health system.
Government commissioned research is just one stream of research that MCHP conducts. We also provide access to the data for a wide range of other projects including graduate student theses, investigator driven research, funded through programs like CIHR and community-initiated projects.
MCHP recognizes the tremendous potential of the data housed in the Repository.
We're committed to expanding the access and opportunity for its use to researchers across the University of Manitoba to community partners, and to other collaborators.
We also recognize the Repository is a platform for spurring new innovations in computer and data science.
By welcoming new ideas, partnerships, and approaches to harness the data in the Repository, MCHP aims to expand the impact of population science in Manitoba, across Canada and internationally.
The potential to generate new evidence that improves outcomes and advances data science is what makes the Repository one of Manitoba's greatest assets.
MCHP Highlights
Description
MCHP Year in Numbers
4,921,542 total files accessed on our Concept Dictionary and Glossary
1,272 new followers across MCHP social media platforms
249 ongoing government-commissioned or grant-funded research projects
103,196 government-commissioned report downloads
415 concepts defined in our Concept Dictionary and Glossary
2,767 glossary terms listed in our Concept Dictionary and Glossary
113 total data sets in the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository
38 new researcher projects using Repository data
11 new student projects using Repository data
Between April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026
Research highlights
The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy conducts projects commissioned by the provincial government, and grant-funded research.
MCHP research harnesses the rich administrative data held in the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository to explore a variety of research topics on the health and wellbeing of Manitobans.
This year, MCHP celebrated releasing its 150th study commissioned by the provincial government.
Government-commissioned research
Select grant-funded projects
A longitudinal study of operational stress injuries (OSIs) for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Renewal) (Public Works Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Contract Award Renewal)
Dr. Lisa Lix, Dr. Tracy Afifi (Co-Applicants)Can we classify natural health products and evaluate their impacts on health? A CLSA study using machine learning (CIHR)
Dr. Lisa Lix (Co-Applicant)CanFos: Improving the Health of Canadian Children in Foster Homes (CHIR Project Grant)
Dr. Marcelo Urquia (Co-Applicant)CREATE - Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program (NSERCC)
Dr. Lisa Lix (Co-Applicant)Predicting the effects of weight loss drugs on childhood obesity growth trajectories and health care costs in Canada (Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba)
Dr. Lisa Lix (Co-Applicant)Length of stay among hospitalized older adults with and without dementia: A cohort study using a 30-year time frame (Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba New Investigator Grant)
Dr. Lisa Lix (Co-Applicant)Long-term care admission among persons with and without dementia in Manitoba: A cohort study over a 30-year timeframe (Manitoba Medical Service Foundation Operating Grant)
Dr. Lisa Lix (Co-Applicant)Pediatric outcomes of children whose mothers experience violence (CIHR Project Grant)
Dr. Marcelo Urquia (Co-Applicant)2026-2028 Manitoba SPOR SUPPORT unit phase II extension (Centre for Healthcare Innovation)
Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods (Principal Applicant) & Dr. Nathan Nickel, Dr. Mina Nouredanesh (Co- Applicant)SPOR National Data Platform – extension: Strengthening multi-jurisdictional health data access and use (CIHR SPOR National Data Platform – Extension)
Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods, Dr. Lisa Lix, Dr. Nathan Nickel (Principal Applicants)Manitoba access to joint replacement surgery (MAJRS): A mixed-methods study involving First Nations Peoples (CIHR Project Grant)
Dr Amanda Fowler-Woods (Principal Investigator)Reclaiming the traditional practice of breastfeeding for First Nations, Inuit and Métis families: Breaking down barriers within the healthcare system (CIHR Team Grant)
Dr. Nathan Nickel (Nominated Principal Applicant) & Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods (Principal Applicant)Expanding our understanding of First Nations Peoples’ access to and experience with hip and knee replacement surgery in Manitoba (George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation Preparing for Research by Engaging Public or Patient Partners award)
Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods (Nominated Principal Applicant)This is medical transport: The impact of medical transportation on health and healthcare of First Nations Peoples in Manitoba (CIHR Catalyst Grant)
Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods (Nominated Principal Applicant)Investing in matriarchal power, access, care and traditional wellness (IMPACT) (CIHR Project Grant)
Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods (Co-Investigator)Characterizing antidepressant use and research priorities among Manitoba youth (University of Manitoba Research Grants Program)
Dr. Amani Hamad (Principal Applicant)Familial associations in childhood mood and anxiety disorders and the role of poverty (Manitoba Medical Service Foundation Operating Grant)
Dr. Amani Hamad (Principal Applicant) & Dr. Lisa Lix, Dr. Tracey Afifi, Ruth-Ann Sooden, Aaron Goss (Co-Applicants)Validating case definitions of youth mood and anxiety disorders in administrative data (Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba Operating Grant)
Dr. Amani Hamad (Principal Applicant) & Dr. Lisa Lix, Dr. James Bolton, Dr. Laurence Katz, Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie (Co-Applicants)A population-based cohort study on adolescent substance use: Adverse childhood experiences, protective factors, and longer-term health and social outcomes (Research Manitoba New Investigator Grant)
Dr. Tamara Taillieu (Nominated Principal Investigator) & Dr. Nathan Nickel, Dr. Tracey Afifi, Dr. Jennifer Enns, Dr. Laurence Katz (Co-Investigators)A population-based examination of the impacts of the legalization of recreational use of cannabis on vulnerable children and youth from Manitoba (Research Manitoba New Investigator Grant)
Dr. Tamara Taillieu (Nominated Principal Investigator) & Dr. Nathan Nickel, Dr. Tracey Afifi, Dr. Laurence Katz, Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods, Dr. Jennifer Enns, Dr. Anita Durksen (Co-Investigators)- Indigenizing epidemiology: Examining the impact of Canada’s first Indigenous-led safer consumption site in Winnipeg, Manitoba (CIHR Fall Project Competition, Priority Announcement: Population and Public Health – Pandemic and Health Emergencies Research)
Dr. Nathan Nickel, Dr. Tamara Taillieu (Co-Investigators)
Recent peer-reviewed publications
Education
Students are vital to MCHP, contributing to a range of research activities. Our researchers are actively involved in the University of Manitoba community, teaching graduate-level courses within the College of Community and Global Health. Drs. Malcolm Doupe, Amanda Fowler-Woods, Amani Hamad, Nathan Nickel, Mina Nouredanesh, Tamara Taillieu, and Marcelo Urquia all contribute to graduate education through their teaching and mentorship.
In addition to teaching, MCHP researchers supervise master’s and doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral fellows. MCHP staff further support student learning and research by providing access to Repository data for research projects and delivering introductory and intermediate SAS training workshops.
MCHP award recipients
Evelyn Shapiro Award for Health Services Research
Recipients: Essence Perera, Nafiseh Kiamanesh, Yen Vuu, Hassan Maleki Golandouz and Noor Breik
Roos Prize for Best Publication in Population Health
Not awarded in 2025/26
Dr. Patricia Martens Memorial Travel Award
Recipients: Elsie Gork & Nicole Herpai
Other MCHP student award recipients
Nasiba Ahmed (supervised by Dr. Lisa Lix) - Dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Student Achievement Prize, University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship.
Breanna Amoyaw (supervised by Dr. Tamara Taillieu) - Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master (CGS-M) ($27,000), Carolynne Boivin Scholarship for Research in Family or Gender-Based Violence ($4,000), Women’s Health Research Foundation of Canada Graduate Scholarship ($3,000).
Desmond Bartholomew (supervised by Dr. Lisa Lix) - Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Judy & Gerry McDole Entrance Scholarship, STAGE Prairies Training Program in Molecular Epidemiology and Statistical Omics Fellowship, OsNET Clinical Research Day.
Shantanu Debbarman (supervised by Dr. Marcelo Urquia) - MITACS Accelerate Award ($15,000).
Maria Godoy (supervised by Dr. Marcelo Urquia) - P.E.O Scholar Award ($25,000), Dr. Ed Kroeger Travel Award, University of Manitoba ($2,500), Dean of Graduate Studies Award for Excellence, Poster Competition ($200).
Mikayla Hunter (supervised by Dr. Nathan Nickel) - 2025 Health Sciences Graduate Students’ Association Graduate Student Excellence Award
Kathleen Kenny, Postdoctoral Fellow (supervised by Dr. Marcelo Urquia) - University of Manitoba Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow Award.
Sam Kisil (supervised by Dr. Tamara Taillieu) - Undergraduate Research Award ($7,000).
Hassan Maleki Golandouz (supervised by Dr. Lisa Lix) - AI4PH Research Training Platform Scholarship Award, Jack Boan Student Essay Competition winner, doctoral, Mila, IVADO and Cinvestav, Summer School in Responsible AI & Human Rights (North Campus of Cinvestav in Mexico City).
Barret Monchka (supervised by Dr. Lisa Lix) – Vanier Scholar, AI4PH Trainee Scholarship Program.
Tracey-ann Spence-Golaub (supervised by Dr. Marcelo Urquia) - Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Travel award, Graduate Student Association Travel Scholarship
Yen Vuu (supervised by Drs. Lisa Lix and Amani Hamad) - Dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Student Achievement Prize, Faculty of Graduate Studies Research Completion Scholarship, Jenny Fraser Memorial Award, Manitoba Family Year 1994 Legacy Scholarship.
Melanie William (supervised by Dr. Marcelo Urquia) - University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship ($20,000), University of Manitoba Faculty of Graduate Studies Research Completion Scholarship ($5,000)
Sepideh Yousefiasl (supervised by Dr. Marcelo Urquia) - Lois M. Brockman Graduate Student Thesis Research Fellowship
Knowledge translation
Evidence to Action (E2A) Day 2025
E2A is an annual one-day workshop bringing together MCHP’s partners and collaborators to engage in conversations about how data can be used to improve the lives of Manitobans. E2A 2025 focused on our latest government-commissioned study, which explores the use of data to deepen understandings of mental health needs-based planning across the province. The day also included sessions on new and ongoing government-commissioned studies, and a panel discussion on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare decision making. More than 220 people attended across government, academia, and community. This annual event is sponsored by Manitoba Health.
MCHP at events and conferences
ADR UK Conference 2025
AI4PH Research and Implementation Symposium
CAHSPR (Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research) 2025
CPHA (Canadian Public Health Association) conference 2025
CSEB (Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics) Conference 2025
Manitoba Métis Federation Annual General Assembly 2025
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation presented by Ongomiizwin at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr. Nathan Nickel, along with other members of the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) team including Dr. Josée Lavoie, Leah McDonnell, Dr. Adriana Mudryj, Judy Clark, Elder Tagaaq Evaluardjuak-Palmer, and Dr. and Elder Levinia Brown, put on an Inuit Data Sov’ty Workshop at the Nunamed 2025 conference
Stanford AI in Healthcare Summit 2025
The Centre on Aging Speaker Series, presentation by Dr. Mina Nouredanesh
- Dr. Malcolm Doupe led a workshop helping personal care home staff build capacity to lead change and improve residents’ quality of care through a project supported by SHIFT (Supporting Healthcare Improvement through Facilitation & Training) & SOARR (Supporting Older Adults Healthcare Reform through Research)
MCHP in the news
Why autism advocates are celebrating Barbie’s first-ever autistic doll — CBC News
Autism and Tylenol: what the sciences says — Front Burner, CBC Radio
Opinion: Complex problems require complex solutions — Winnipeg Free Press
Social media highlights
Since launching in early 2023, MCHP’s LinkedIn profile has become a leading platform for sharing knowledge with an audience heavily concentrated in government, higher education, research, and healthcare sectors. In 2025/26, our page gained 747 new followers, bringing our total to 2,411—with about half located in Manitoba. Our posts were viewed 59,255 times by 34,931 different users. Our content generated 1,759 engagements (clicks, likes, comments, or shares), which constitutes a rate of 7.11%, over double LinkedIn’s average and well above sector benchmarks.
MCHP events and conferences 2025-2026
Manitoba Population Research Data Repository
The Manitoba Population Research Data Repository (Repository) remains a cornerstone of Manitoba’s health research infrastructure. Developed over three decades, the comprehensive, de-identified, individual-level database supports hundreds of research projects across Manitoba and Canada.
This year, MCHP advanced the Repository by strengthening analytic capabilities, increasing automation in data linkage processes, and updating IT infrastructure to support emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
Repository highlights
Infrastructure Modernization: Upgraded to high-performance NVMe storage and expanded GPU capacity to support AI and machine learning projects.
Automated Data Linkage: Advanced PHIN scrambling automation, improving crosswalk file transfers, and standardizing linkage processes.
Metadata Innovation: Enhanced the Metadata Dictionary platform and launched an AI-driven roadmap to improve data discovery and reporting.
Data Expansion: Updated Vital Statistics agreements to incorporate enhanced family relationship data and maintained key provincial health and socioeconomic measures.
R and Python Support: MCHP now supports over 2,200 R packages and over 560 Python packages for users of our analysis systems. We continue to explore alternative solutions to simplify the task of package management.
New data set
PRVS (Provincial Respiratory Virus Surveillance) will replace PHIMS data sets moving forward. MCHP has received PRVS data from January 1981 to November 2025. We are working on a process to bridge the relationship between PRVS and PHIMS.
Staff highlights
Dr. Amy Freier, new Associate Director – Equity, Engagement, and Impact
In April 2025, Dr. Amy Freier stepped into a new role at MCHP as Associate Director – Equity, Engagement, and Impact. Since 2021, Amy has led the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Team for Health Data Research Network (HDRN) Canada (MCHP is a member organization within the network), with a focus on designing data systems with equity in mind. She sees equity, engagement, and impact as intertwined: “MCHP’s mission is to conduct collaborative research that has an impact on Manitobans; this requires deliberate engagement with government, communities, and other academics. Our impact is greater when we understand the needs of diverse Manitobans, conduct research that accurately reflects their experiences, and help governments and organizations in positions of power use that evidence.”
Dr. Freier is excited to undertake new initiatives in data equity and engagement. A public advisory council will be reconvened, and a new public webinar series launched in the coming year. Her goal is to create more opportunities for people to understand what MCHP does, why the Repository is an important and unique resource in Manitoba and has opportunities for meaningful collaboration. She will also be actively engaging researchers from social science backgrounds, noting that MCHP’s Repository contains data beyond health and is primed to be used by researchers from different disciplines.
Amy will continue to work closely with HDRN Canada where she is developing core competencies in IDEA, enhanced metadata templates, IDEA benchmarks for data research, and examining the Fives Safes from an equity lens. Her work with HDRN Canada will feed into MCHP’s operations and data infrastructure. She notes, enthusiastically, that baking equity in will ultimately make the research more engaging and impactful.
Achievements
MCHP co-founder Dr. Noralou Roos was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025.
MCHP co-founder Dr. Les Roos was named a University of Manitoba Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2025.
Dr. Marni Brownell was named a 2025 Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, recognizing her leadership and advancement in Canadian health sciences.
Dr. Lisa Lix is the 2025 recipient for the Long-term Career Award from the Health Policy Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association.
Dr. Lisa Lix was named a Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Lisa Lix received renewal of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Methods for Electronic Health Data Quality.
Dr. Nathan Nickel, MCHP Director, and Dr. Marcelo Urquia, MCHP Senior Research Scientist, were promoted to full Professor in the College of Community and Global Health.
Dr. Amani Hamad received the Kerry Bittner Communications award and the Manitoba Medical Services Foundation award.
The MCHP Data Analyst Team continued to expand its programming expertise this past year. Through the RFHS Personal Development Fund, several team members received training in Python, R, machine learning, data visualization, and mapping. The team completed analyses for numerous projects, including the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) Indicators Atlas in partnership with OCN First Nation, as well as several HDRN Canada initiatives. These included two rapid-turnaround CAN-ASK projects examining healthcare costs for immigrants with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and evaluating drug utilization and costs among people with diabetes with the Canadian Diabetes Association.
- The MCHP IT Team is improving the management of R and Python packages in a privacy-compliant environment and evaluating tools to streamline delivery and enhance the user experience. The team is also optimizing how R and Python workloads run alongside SAS, improving performance, resource utilization, and support for large data sets. MCHP’s VMware infrastructure is being upgraded to increase reliability and add new capabilities. With growing demand for GPU resources across research and internal projects, the MCHP IT Team is exploring ways to improve resource management and expand capacity.
New to team MCHP
Dr. Xiaofei Deng, Data Access and Management Lead
Dr. Yihong Bong, MCHP Research Scientist and Assistant Professor at the College of Community and Global Health.
Retirements
Dr. Marni Brownell, MCHP Senior Research Scientist, Professor, and former Associate Director, Research
Dr. Alan Katz, MCHP Senior Research Scientist, Professor, and former MCHP Director
Dave Towns, Senior Data Management Analyst
- Ken Turner, Repository Data Analyst
Funding managed at MCHP
Description
Funding managed at MCHP
Additional Funds: 33%
Province of Manitoba: 31%
Endowed Gifts: 2%
Tri-Council: 15%
Contract Revenue: 18%
University of Manitoba: 1%
Contact us
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy
Rady Faculty of Health Sciences,
Room 408-727 McDermot Ave.
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5 Canada