Improving public health through action-oriented information

Our mission is to provide timely and high-quality information needed for decision-making, planning and evaluating vaccine and prescription drug programs by:

  • conducting collaborative interdisciplinary research on uptake, safety and effectiveness of the vaccines and drugs used in Manitoba;

  • carrying out mathematical modeling and cost-effectiveness studies;

  • conducting disease burden and trend studies necessary for planning the introduction of new vaccines; and

  • performing ad hoc investigations of vaccine and drug adverse events.

The Centre at a glance

  • 12 scientists, programmers and research associates
  • 6 trainees
  • Over 50 ongoing projects
  • $7.0 million in external funding (>$48 million in collaborative projects)
  • 113 peer-reviewed publications
  • More than 150 peer-reviewed abstracts and presentations

In the Media

Sep. 5, 2019

Press Release: Uniting Diverse Groups to Improve Adult Influenza Vaccination in Canada

May. 8, 2019

More than a third of all cancers affecting Canadians can be prevented by a combination of sound policymaking and health education

Sep. 12, 2017

Duo inducted into Royal Society of Canada’s college

May. 28, 2015

Cancer stats sound alarm bell

Feb. 3, 2015

Preventing cancer: Research into the use of common medicines might help

Oct. 24, 2014

Winnipeg data a factor in developing vaccine

Mar. 28, 2014

Study: Mutations during egg step cut last year's flu vaccine effectiveness

Mar. 27, 2014

Mutations explain poor showing of 2012 flu vaccine

Mar. 25, 2014

Flu vaccine offered only modest protection in 2012-13: study

Jan. 13, 2014

Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Provides Poorer Protection in Women 18 and Older or with Abnormal Cytology

Jan. 6, 2014

HPV Vaccine: The Earlier, the Better

Jul. 1, 2013

Old drugs, new treatments

Latest Posts

Maternal antibiotic use and childhood cancer

Several epidemiological studies have found an association between maternal antibiotics use during pregnancy and increased risk of certain cancer types, although conclusions differ between studies. We examined this association in a cohort study including 262,116 mother‐child pairs of Manitoba births between 1996 and 2013. We published our results in Cancer Medicine.

Human papillomavirus vaccination against cervical dysplasia

The effectiveness of a vaccination program is influenced by its design and implementation details and by the target population characteristics. Using routinely collected population‐based individual‐level data, we assessed the effectiveness (against cervical dysplasia) of Manitoba’s quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) routine school‐based vaccination program and a short‐lived campaign that targeted women at high‐risk of developing cervical cancer. We published the results of our study in the International Journal of Cancer.

Statins, metformin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma incidence

Non‐Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are a group of cancers with highly heterogeneous biology and clinical features. Statins are increasingly prescribed to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Early evidence shows a preventive effect of statins for some cancers, but their effect on NHL risk is unclear. Several epidemiological studies have shown a positive association between diabetes and increased risk of NHL, but the effect of diabetic treatment drugs such as metformin on the risk is unknown. We conducted population‐based nested case–control studies to study the effect of both drugs and published the results in the International Journal of Cancer and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.