Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

29670 Completed Projects

2811
AB
4990
BC
801
MB
663
NL
825
SK
8841
ON
9197
QC
95
PE
568
NB
1088
NS

Projects by Category

Endoscopic Laser Raman Spectroscopy for Colorectal Cancer Detection in IBD Patients

Inflammatory Bowel disease (IBD) affects over 200,000 Canadians. Individuals with IBD have significantly greater risk of developing colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, the screening for colorectal cancer that is currently provided to the general population is inadequate for this group. White light colonoscopy is currently the gold standard but is challenging, as lesions are sometimes difficult to identify. Thus, random biopsies, in addition to targeted biopsies of abnormalities visualized by white light, are often performed. This leads to complications and patients suffering, as well as significant healthcare cost. Our objective is to develop a novel endoscopy approach to improve the clinical management of IBD. An endoscope probe based on a technology called Raman spectroscopy will be developed that analyzes the tissue biochemistry before biopsy. We expect that this new technology when successfully developed will greatly improve the accuracy of biopsy, saving health care cost and improve colorectal cancer detection in IBD patients.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Haishan Zeng

Student:

Partner:

Vancouver General Hospital

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea a Novel Risk Factor for Cancer?

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is an important disease characterized by recurrent blockages of the upper airway during sleep leading to breathing cessations (up to 100 times per hour); OSA is common and is widely under-diagnosed. OSA might cause cancer or lead to cancer progression, potentially mediated through low oxygen levels; however, evidence for this association is limited. This research study will use rigorous methods to determine if there is a potential link between OSA and cancer; specifically, we will link our large database of approximately 1800 patients with suspected OSA. We will assess rates of both prevalent and incident cancer as well as rates of specific types of cancer in these patients by linking to the BC cancer agency registry

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Faculty Supervisor:

Najib Ayas

Student:

Partner:

Vancouver General Hospital

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Characterization of adverse events, health-care costs and real-world survival outcomes with the introduction of ibrutinib for chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma patients in British Columbia

Ibrutinib has proven to be very effective in newly diagnosed and relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. However, it can cause certain side effects that can lead to early discontinuation of treatment and worse outcomes for patients. The goal of this study is to determine the frequency of side effects in the “real-world” associated with ibrutinib compared to standard therapy using provincial administrative data. We further aim to assess the impact of ibrutinib dose interruptions and reductions on survival outcomes, as well as the impact and cost of the side effects of therapy on the public health care system. As a subproject, we aim to determine survival outcomes of patients based on predictive markers analyzed at diagnosis and at time of treatment. Results from our study will provide information to health care organizations regarding “real-world” risks of ibrutinib and the value of predictive markers to the health of CLL patients.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Alina Gerrie

Student:

Partner:

Vancouver General Hospital

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Methods for detection of emergent gameplay

Games are no fun to play if there is a perfect winning strategy so that a player can always win by playing it. Game designers are aware of this, but it is notoriously difficult to predict when such strategies exist for a given rule set. This project is about studying the effects of changing the rules of a game or adding new rules, especially non-traditional ones like giving away points, in order to predict the existence or likelihood of a perfect winning strategy. We are also interested in studying the effects of modifying traditional interactions between individual games within multiplayer tournaments to determine whether these changes, additions, or modifications lead to undesired emergent behaviour. We use virtual robots called agents to evolve strategies to determine whether a game or tournament is susceptible to perfect winning strategies. The research done in this project will help to design interesting and robust games/tournaments.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Raymond Spiteri

Student:

Partner:

Experience First Design Inc

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

A novel multi-echo MRI technique for prostate cancer detection and grading

We propose to develop a novel, clinically relevant MRI based technique for prostate cancer detection. We also propose to develop a novel reporting system that would be more accurate and easier to use by the radiologists. The new technique will be first developed on a research MRI scanner at UBC, and subsequently implemented on the clinical MRI scanner at VGH. The main benefit to the hospital will be a new, improved MRI technique for prostate cancer detection and grading. The novel MRI protocol will require shorter acquisition time, as compared to the current mp-MRI standard, which should allow to scan more patients. We also believe that the new reporting system, developed throughout this project will be more accurate and easier to use by the radiologist, which should speed up the image interpretation process, and result in higher accuracy of diagnosis.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Piotr Kozlowski

Student:

Partner:

Vancouver General Hospital

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Transformer les pratiques de la municipalité de Petit-Saguenay en matière de développement durable et de participation citoyenne

La municipalité de Petit-Saguenay souhaite élaborer une politique audacieuse de participation citoyenne, une politique intégrée de développement durable, ainsi que les outils et mécanismes simples qui permettront de les opérationnaliser. Petit-Saguenay souhaite ainsi opérer une transformation de ces pratiques municipales, pour les rendre plus inclusives et plus cohérentes avec leurs enjeux. La recherche consiste à développer un processus d’accompagnement d’une municipalité rurale éloignée dans l’élaboration collective de politiques et d’outils avant-gardistes. Le processus se basera sur les connaissances les plus à jour et sur les meilleures pratiques en la matière, puis sera élaboré, expérimenté et adapté avec les différents acteurs mobilisés de la collectivité. La démarche sera enfin analysée afin de formaliser les nouvelles connaissances acquises. Les pratiques municipales avant-gardistes en participation citoyenne et en développement durable contribueront à la notoriété et la vitalité de Petit-Saguenay. Cela augmentera l’attractivité de la municipalité auprès des jeunes familles.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Olivier Riffon;Sabrina Tremblay;Pierre-André Tremblay

Student:

Partner:

Municipalité de Petit-Saguenay

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Public administration

University:

Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Program:

Accelerate

AI-powered Wearable Health Patch for Non-Invasive Respiratory Illness and Infection Symptom Detection

XCO is a local company that specializes in wearable devices designed to improve health and human performance. The influenza, COVID-19, and other respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease require a unique need for constant monitoring of patient symptoms temperature while reserving hospital space for critically ill patients. XCO will design and produce a wearable health patch capable of detecting changes in symptoms associated with respiratory illness and infection including oxygen saturation and temperature that can be monitored remotely by health care professionals. Dr. Philip Ainslie’s laboratory will test the wearable health patch against laboratory gold standard measurements (i.e. arterial blood gas samples and core temperature) to validate the device. XCO will benefit from this partnership as they will have access to testing performed by experts in the field and will have a market ready device by the end of the project. This will benefit the community and Canada as a wearable health patch would help to reduce the workload burdening our health care system during the current pandemic as well as annually during “flu season”.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Philip Ainslie

Student:

Partner:

XCO Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Développement d’un outil de valorisation des données d’historiques de prescriptions médicales

Les projet se veut une exploration des données historiques. L’objet de la recherche est de valoriser les données de profil des patients, de consultation, de prescription et de facturation. Les données considérées sont volumineuses et complexes, elles évoluent dans le temps, avec des paramètres fixes et d’autres variables. À terme, la valorisation des données disponibles vise notamment à mieux comprendre les liens entre certaines pathologies, certains traitement, la race, l’âge et les autres variables disponibles, et permettre la mise en place d’actions préventives avec les patients.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Bruno Agard

Student:

Partner:

Centre vétérinaire DMV

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Polytechnique Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

A Review of Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Centre Frameworks for the Nshwaasnangong Child Care and Family Centre in the City of London, Canada

The Nshwaasnangong Child Care and Family Centre in partnership with Western University and CityStudio London provide an internship opportunity for a Western University graduate student to research, what the tensions and debates are when establishing an early learning and child care framework from an Indigenous perspective. Specifically, the intern will complete: 1) a literature review with descriptive annotated bibliography focusing on research concerning early learning and child care frameworks and ,Indigenous perspectives and such frameworks, 2) an inventory of Indigenous early learning and child care centres across Canada and their framework reports, and 3) report recommendations for the development of Nshwaasnangong Child Care and Family Centre’s early learning and child care framework. The research will be completed by searching, screening, and reviewing academic articles, reports, policy documents, and Indigenous early learning and child care outcomes frameworks across Canada and more broadly the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Rachel Heydon;Erica Neeganagwedgin

Student:

Partner:

Pillar Nonprofit Network

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program:

Accelerate

Enriching firefighter training through the development of a novel virtual reality training simulation

Virtual reality simulation is increasingly becoming a valuable tool in the training of highly-skilled and dangerous professions. Firefighting requires individuals to work in extreme environments that can be difficult or impossible to adequately train for due to cost and safety considerations. This project, in collaboration with the Oshawa Fire Services and City of Oshawa, will develop a virtual reality simulation for firefighters to train within a building collapse scenario. The interns will take part in the development of the virtual reality simulation and advance the knowledge dissemination capacity through various media and social media platforms. Overall, the Oshawa Fire Services and City of Oshawa will receive a state-of-the-art simulation that will ensure safety and complement current real-life training.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Williams-Bell

Student:

Partner:

City of Oshawa

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services; Public administration

University:

Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology

Program:

Accelerate

Calcul de dose pour la curiethérapie par diffusion d’émetteur alpha.

La curiethérapie est une technique de traitement de tumeur cancéreuse qui vise à insérer des grains radioactifs dans la tumeur ou très près de celle-ci, pour livrer une dose de rayonnement élevée dans le volume-cible tout en réduisant la dose aux tissus sains environnants. La technique de curiethérapie par particule alpha est sur le point de révolutionner le domaine, car elle offre une efficacité radio-biologique plus élevée pour le traitement de la tumeur, couplée à une réduction des effets secondaires. Par contre, il n’existe pas de logiciel de planification de traitement pour une telle technique, car le calcul de la dose n’est pas simple à effectuer. Nous comptons développer et valider un tel logiciel de planification de traitement, basé sur un algorithme de calcul de dose qui combine la modélisation de la diffusion des atomes radioactifs et la modélisation du transport des particules (alpha/beta/gamma) dans le tissus.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jean-Francois Carrier

Student:

Partner:

Centre de recherche du CHUM

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

Université de Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

Developing a machine learning-based diagnostic strategy to detect early onset of double negative prostate cancer by integrating SEMA3C-associated genomic variations and blood biopsies

The main goal of this research project is to study if a protein named SEMA3C can be a biomarker for early detection of an aggressive and lethal form of prostate cancer, named Double Negative Prostate Cancer (DNPC). To test if SEMA3C is a contributing factor in the progression of DNPC, we will compare SEMA3C level in tissues from patient and healthy individuals. Then, we will study if SEMA3C level changes in parallel to genetic variations, happening in tumors with cancer growth. If successful, the results can help us figure out SEMA3C’s correlation to contributing genetic factors that are involved in DNPC growth and resistance to drugs. This new diagnostic strategy will improve patient care and management and may improve survival of men with one of the worst forms of prostate cancer.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Christopher J Ong

Student:

Partner:

Vancouver General Hospital

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

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