Queen’s University PhD candidate Amanda Timmers (Psychology) is one of only 10 university scholars to earn an Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Award.

Ms. Timmers' research investigates physiological and subjective aspects of sexual arousal in men and women and examines variations between, and within, genders in sexual responding.  Her research also involves identifying important factors that influence women’s sexual response processes across the menstrual cycle.  The aim of this research is to develop gender-specific models of sexual response that inform treatments of sexual dysfunction. 

“Sexuality is really fundamental to human life - in reproduction, obviously, but also to mental and physical health, and relationships,” she says. “This is a really important and relevant area of research, and I’m incredibly excited to join a community of scholars dedicated to improving the health of women.”

Ms. Timmers has been awarded a scholarship of $35,000 plus a research grant of $2,000. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the program made three awards at the master’s level, five at the doctoral level and two at the post-doctoral level in 2016-17.

The award program was created to attract and retain emerging scholars who are creating new knowledge about women’s health and helping translate these findings into improved services and products for women. Ms. Timmers is a member of the Sexuality and Gender (SAGE) Laboratory in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s. The SageLab is directed by Ms. Timmers’ supervisor, Meredith Chivers.

The Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Award program is administered by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU). Read more about the scholarship on COU’s website.