Gustavo Betini, a PhD student in the school of Public Health Science at the University of Waterloo, has spent the past year immersed in studying the mental health effects of COVID-19. His research has shown that, even though fear of contracting the virus is waning, almost a quarter of Canadians continue to report having high anxiety and depression related to the pandemic.

Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), the Canadian-led consortium of pharmaceutical companies, clinicians and academia, supports open-access drug discovery around the world. And it’s bringing hope to the 300 million people afflicted by rare diseases and a world ravaged by COVID-19. 

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked an urgent need for innovation in all aspects of our lives – and researchers rose to the challenge. From COVID-19 diagnostics and treatments to changes in how we work and receive healthcare, the pandemic has fast-tracked innovation across sectors. 

High-potential researchers and businesses around the world did a pandemic pivot, shifting their work and resources to respond to the world’s pressing need for solutions. In Canada, Seyyedarash (Arash) Haddadi’s story is a standout example of innovation partnerships helping to counter the COVID-19 threat. 

Sophie Charron’s childhood interest in the queens of Europe drove her to pursue a master's degree in Medieval Studies. Working under Professor Shami Ghosh at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Medieval Studies, Charron’s highly original research focuses on the queens and noblewomen of medieval Bohemia.  

When 31-year-old Jason Deglint was completing his PhD in systems design engineering at University of Waterloo, he decided to tackle a problem that costs an estimated $2 billion in damages and losses in the aquaculture industry: the harmful algae blooms that kill fish.

Deglint dedicated his thesis research to developing a smart, low-cost prototype imaging system to analyze samples in the lab. With support from the Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur program, his efforts resulted in the creation of Blue Lion Labs, a new small business based in Waterloo, Ontario.

When Vladyslav Los, an undergraduate student at RWTH Aachen University, in Germany, applied to the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship program, he knew he wanted to study in the area of quantum physics and quantum computing. It was during an interview with Dr. Adrian Lupascu, Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing, that he began to see an exciting path forward.

Dr. Lupascu had a project for an intern that wanted to look at how to do optimal control in multi-level systems, or how to control quantum systems that have multiple states.

Indumathi Prakash, a 21-year-old undergraduate student at Harvard University, is working remotely from home under the guidance of Dr. Robert Colautti, who heads a lab at Queen’s University devoted to the study of genetics and biological invasions. Prakash is helping to develop a first-of-its-kind device to quickly extract and purify DNA from ticks in the field as part of a project for rapid detection of pathogens using on-the-spot gene sequencing.

For Toronto-based Dose Biosystems, a focus on researching and developing the next generation of probiotics brings a hiring challenge: finding and onboarding highly specialized talent. Coming directly from doctoral programs, new employees encounter an unfamiliar environment that requires new skills and different ways of working.

There are few words more painful to imagine than “your child has cancer.”

Overhearing these life-altering words prompted Mitacs research intern Taylor Jamieson-Datzkiw to pursue a career in pediatric oncology — that is, cancer treatments for children and young adults.

With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, CAMufacturing Solutions Inc. knew they needed to bring their expertise in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to support the rising demand for quick production of personnel protective equipment (PPE) for the health care community.