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. 

Many of Canada’s most pressing public health issues are complex and significantly affected by factors such as gender and sexism, systemic racism, economic inequality, and other social determinants. African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities have long been unfairly affected by health inequity due to historic racism and on-going disparities built into governmental, financial, and educational institutions.

Sofia Addab, Jean-Gabriel Lacombe, and Georgia Powell are master’s students in the Department of Experimental Surgery at McGill University in Montréal. During a shared internship shadowing medical staff in the emergency room at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the trio quickly identified that the time-consuming practice of calculating correct doses of IV medication by hand was leading to potential mistakes and disrupting workflow at critical points during the intake of trauma cases in the hospital’s emergency room, posing serious safety risks to children.  

An Indigenous-led research team at the Sanyakola Foundation, situated in Port Hardy, B.C. has initiated a multi-faceted, collaborative effort to recover Kwak’wala. Led by Sara Child, a professor of Indigenous Education at North Island College, the Sanyakola Foundation is undertaking work that involves Kwakwaka’wakw Elders and Knowledge Keepers and is engaging a younger generation in its work. 

Dr. Moneca Sinclaire is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation bordering the Saskatchewan River in Northern Manitoba. Having recently completed a postdoctorate under Professor Stephane McLachlan in the department of Environment and Geography at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Dr. Sinclaire has been an integral member of the team responsible for Our Data Indigenous, a one-of-a-kind mobile app that collects important survey data that Indigenous communities can use to address health and wellness concerns. 

Many young artists dream of working in animation, bringing to life beloved characters that children all over the world watch every day. But following that dream is not as easy as it might seem.  Breaking into the world of animation requires connections to the industry that not every young artist possesses.

21-year-old Emily Carr University animation student Lia Fabre-Dimsdale wasn’t expecting to find a summer job opportunity working in an animation studio, despite her aspirations in the field.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, food insecurity issues were only exacerbated for Nisga’a members living on Coastal Ts’msyen Territories in northwestern BC, Prince Rupert, and Port Edward communities.

Even before the crisis, there were pressing challenges in addressing food security. For the past three years, the North Coast Innovation Lab, a place-based initiative by Ecotrust Canada, and the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society, a social enterprise that supports members of the Nisga’a Nation living in Prince Rupert, collaborated on a Mitacs-funded project.

Quebec entrepreneur and former Mitacs intern Azadeh Dastmalchi developed a medical-grade smartwatch after struggling to find a device that could help her father monitor his hypertension. Now, in addition to targeting the one in three adults suffering from high blood pressure in North America, her company VitalTracer is pivoting its solution to assist with early detection and monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms.

Who could have foreseen that humanitarian activities during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti would, 10 years later, guide the way for researchers, entrepreneurs and Mitacs interns during the COVID-19 crisis?

During his deployment at a Red Cross field hospital after the earthquake, Dr. Abdo Shabah saw the potential for greater use of technology in emergency health interventions.

Long before hosting the second largest port in the Pacific, the territory around Prince Rupert, British Columbia, was home to the Metlakatla First Nation. Rich in resources and with a history of productive economic opportunities, this region has gone through many changes as a result of development projects and human activities, impacting not only the environment, but the wellbeing of the community.