As property values in surrounding neighbourhoods have increased, not-for-profit organizations in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, which provide services to some of Canada’s most vulnerable people, have felt tremendous pressure to secure spaces where they are needed most.

Originally, matching donors to preferred causes was done manually by a member of Dexterity Venture’s team of philanthropy advisors. The task was monumental and the need to turn to advanced database technology grew as quickly as their list of cross-Canada clientele.

Every year, thousands of Canadian children are diagnosed with, or treated for, brain disorders such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and cerebral palsy. As a national scientific research network, NeuroDevNet has dedicated its mission towards finding the root causes of these disorders.

Some might say the wintery land of Canada could be likened to the magical kingdom of Narnia. But this summer, Brazilian undergraduate student – and C.S. Lewis fan—Alonso Lira likely won’t see the snowy side of the country as he undertakes a biomedical research project at McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences.