McMaster Health Policy PhD graduate awarded REDI Early Career Transition Award

Manisha Pahwa, a 2023 graduate of the Health Policy PhD program at McMaster University, was awarded the Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Pahwa was ranked first in the competition.

First launched in 2022, the CIHR REDI Early Career Transition Award aims to support members from underrepresented groups in academia to launch their research faculty careers in Canada. The award provides researchers with six years of salary funding and a research stipend for a postdoctoral fellowship, along with partial funding for a faculty position.

Pahwa earned her PhD under the supervision of Meredith Vanstone, an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine. Pahwa’s doctoral dissertation questioned the ethical dimensions of population-based lung cancer screening in Canada. Outside of her thesis and during her PhD, Pahwa led several community-engaged research projects at McMaster. Her PhD was funded, in part, by a CIHR Frederick Banting & Charles Best Canada Graduate award.

“I’m delighted for this opportunity to establish my program of empirical bioethics research and health equity for culturally diverse communities in Canada. The REDI award supports my scientific and leadership development with a strong focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion in research. I’m also excited to be part of the REDI awardee community where we can support each other on our research careers,” said Pahwa.

Pahwa has started her postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University under the supervision of Matthew Hunt. Her postdoctoral research will contribute an understanding of the ethical considerations and social values impacting the decisions of South Asian communities in Canada to participate in personalized breast cancer screening (PBCS). Her community-engaged, empirical bioethics research will help inform the development of culturally responsive PBCS policies and equity in breast cancer prevention for South Asian people.