Your health matters. To you, your loved ones, and to Manulife.

April 4, 2023

For business owners, plan sponsors and administrators

Manulife is committed to improving health for all and has been investing in health research for more than 3 decades. We celebrate our collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a Canadian based, global research organization with more than 400 researchers from 161 institutions in 18 countries, including 20 Nobel Prize winners. They are recognized as a worldwide leader in the research community for their groundbreaking discoveries and dedication to tackling fundamental challenges to human society.

The relationship began 35 years ago, when Manulife and CIFAR partnered to promote innovation and research collaboration on Population Health. Since then, Manulife has invested over $3 million in support of pioneering research in health and social sciences to empower sustained and equitable health and well-being for all.

Our most recent donation supports the Manulife Population Health & Well-being Grant Program — one that addresses key issues affecting population health and well-being at individual and community levels.

When considering projects to be funded by the grant program, alignment to Manulife’s Impact Agenda is critical. Manulife’s Impact Agenda has three interconnected areas of focus: Empowering sustained health and well-being, driving inclusive economic opportunity and accelerating a sustainable future. Grant selection must contribute to one of these pillars to benefit our business, our planet, and the future of health. 

Check out the wide-ranging and exciting projects Manulife has selected for funding:

• The transformation of healthcare: Productivity, performance, and labour effects of the adoption of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data 
  – Exploring the impact of robotics and AI in hospitals / healthcare facilities and with healthcare workers
  
  
• Measuring the impact of early-life conditions on chronic disease and healthy aging
  – Learning how early childhood development shapes our biological aging processes during childhood

• Equitable vaccine production and distribution - Lessons from a global pandemic 
  – Investigating the effects of recent controls and capacity scale up of vaccines
  
  
• Stable and dynamic home environment predictors of learning engagement and success
  – Aims to gain better understanding of how children engage with technology
  
  
• Revealing the causal mechanisms of environmental perturbations on gene regulation
  – Exploring how environmental exposures change genetics
  
  
• Microbiome studies within distinct communities
  – Exploring interconnections between the microbiome, lifestyle, environment, and health
  
  
• Environmental determinants of the human milk microbiome
  – Learning how breast milk contents impact newborn development and health
  
  

These projects aim to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration for early-stage or seed initiatives that push research boundaries. Their findings have the potential to make a profound impact on society for generations to come.

Manulife’s support will help researchers answer some of the most compelling health-related questions of our time and may ultimately guide people to improve how long and well they live.