Innovative Projects Realized

Information Extraction from Data Visualizations

Regulatory agencies publish several documents that outline the approval process of drugs. These contain valuable information on a drug’s safety, efficacy, etc. along with the feedback of reviewers from the agencies. Current technologies apply machine learning techniques to extract and categorize the unstructured text found in these documents. However, it does not accurately capture information from data visualizations such as tables, graphs, charts, etc. The data present in these elements are important for drug development teams to decide what clinical trial designs to use, which safety and efficacy data to gather for approval, etc. If solved, this can lead to quicker and more accurate decision-making by regulatory professionals, and in turn, result in faster drug approval and lowered drug development cost.

Development of a tele-health rehabilitation system to provide automatic assessment of patients’ performance, improve patients’ adherence and enable remote rehabilitation-(market and competitor analysis, regulatory & software design)

Poor physical recovery, especially in remote rehabilitation, is the problem that will be addressed in this project.
This project is Phase I of development of Fun-exercise module. Fun-exercise system uses gamification to boost patients’ adherence to their prescribed home-exercises. To achieve this goal, Fun-exercise will use mentally stimulating and customizable games paired with a set of wearable sensors to provide feedback to ensure activities are being done correctly. In phase I, patient study and conceptual design of the Fun-exercise module will be undertaken. Patient study determines and characterizes the target exercise and patient groups. This project will help the partner organizations to drive innovation and technology development in Canada. The work conducted by intern will inform the broader community about industry trends, the impact of different present and emerging technologies on various industries, as well as foster the growth of innovative technologies within the Canadian economy.

Evaluation of novel antiviral compounds against SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 appears to be poised to become endemic, meaning that we can expect continuous risk of exposure to infection. Despite highly effective vaccines, people still become infected, and some people become severely ill. Antivirals that can reduce symptoms and decrease the levels and duration of infection can aid in reducing onward transmission of the virus. As part of a Canadian antiviral development pipeline led by Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, candidate antivirals identified in high throughput screens will be evaluated for their activity against SARS-CoV-2 in live virus assays using cell culture models. Compounds with high antiviral activity will then be further investigated for their effectiveness using small animal models of SARS-CoV-2. Effectiveness in small animal models serves as proof-of-concept for further development, including moving the compounds into clinical trials. Identification and verification of the effectiveness of novel antivirals remains a key component of preparing a long-term strategy for dealing with SARS-CoV-2.

Anatomical fiducials and their relevance to stereotactic neurosurgery: quality control and improving surgical targeting

Ultra-high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (UHF-MRI) allows for visualization of deep brain regions in exquisite detail, unlike any other imaging modality. In Canada, there are only a few MRI machines that can generate magnetic fields strong enough (7T or higher) to obtain UHF-MRI scans. The ability to visualize and locate deeper brain regions with millimetric accuracy is crucial to achieving optimal therapeutic outcomes during an invasive neurosurgical procedure called deep brain stimulation (DBS). DBS involves delivering electrical stimulation via electrodes to relieve symptoms of a wide variety of disorders like Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia, depression, and addiction. Neurosurgeons often target deeper brain regions without seeing them due to limited access to UHF-MRI images.

The goal of my research is to develop a machine learning model (allowing computers to make decisions beyond their initial programming) to utilize the locations and distances between 32 points on brain images called anatomical fiducials (AFIDs) placed on UHF-MRI images to locate common DBS surgical targets with millimetric accuracy. I hypothesize that the 32 AFIDs survey deep brain anatomy enough to allow for predicting the location of multiple DBS targets.

Addressing the Discrimination experienced by Somali Canadians and Racialized LGBTQ Persons in Toronto

Addressing Racism in Toronto’’ is a one-year project to be conducted by Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR). The aim of this community-based research venture is to identify issues of access, equity and inclusion for two highly vulnerable and marginalized groups in Toronto: the Somali Canadian community and racialized LGBTQ persons who are homeless. Specifically, we will be hoping to uncover the barriers and challenges these communities face in relation to the following key areas: 1) employment, 2) health, 3) justice, 4) education, 5) housing, and 6) any other areas derived during the research process. We hope that by identifying the key social problems faced by the diverse communities that make up the Greater Toronto area, the Urban Alliance on Race Relations will be able to maximize its role and give voice to some of the most pertinent issues as related to race relations, access and human rights. The proposed research model, which will depend on the collaboration of the research group with various community stake holders, hopes to identify and review the current opportunities, needs, and challenges faced by the aforementioned communities.

Data and Visual Analytics for Prediction of Health Care Utilization Involving Musculoskeletal Disorders in BC

This study will establish the utilization rates of musculoskeletal services, for example, low-back pain, across healthcare systems in BC. To capture the utilization rates of musculoskeletal services, we can detect and establish the current frequency of these services related to the most recent healthcare expenditures. Knowing the utilization and expenditures would allow BC Chiropractor Association to update their allocation of funding with BC Ministry of Health to improve services while mitigating costs during the pandemic. Waves of COVID19 infections impact people’s health and could increase the burden of care and services by musculoskeletal practitioners. Moreover, the COVID19 pandemic increases the number of musculoskeletal disorders, especially lower back pain, arthritis, and other bone and spinal conditions of patients with moderate-to-severe cases in post-intensive care.

Building a global strategy for ERP software implementation

The research project (internship) will be hosted by The Cansbridge Fellowship, a non-profit organization, regarding ERP software implementation and demand generation. As a consultant intern, I am responsible for customer success for ERP software for small and large businesses and demand generation for ERP software on a global level. These objectives will be achieved through client engagements, benchmarking analysis through user surveys, and recommendation reports/presentations. The expected benefit for The Cansbridge Fellowship is support in funding for the fellowship program, which increases the quality of experience the fellow receives. By increasing the quality of experience the fellow receives, Cansbridge fosters a stronger community and internal culture, thus improving its presence and future outreach opportunities. Furthermore, by funding Cansbridge, Mitacs helps the organization reach its mission: to equip students with an entrepreneurial ambition to change large-scale problems.

The Fertility Partners

The Fertility Partners helps leading IVF clinics achieve the best clinic outcomes by providing back-office support through a collaborative synergistic medical-scientific, professional and business environment. By having over 100 years of fertility experience, the team provides clinics with strategic and tactical insights to help achieve the best outcomes and top-tier patient experiences. The opportunity with this internship would be to collect, organize, and interpret data from the network of clinics to create dashboards. There is a large amount of data available at the clinics, but it needs to be organized in an effective way that can be easily communicated to the management teams. For example, meaningful insights will be drawn that will include key information on the operations of the clinics, financial forecasts, and patient treatment/capacity. The dashboards will be used to support the business with real-time business-level decisions, vendor negotiations, and building stakeholder relationships. The Fertility Partners is rapidly expanding, and these innovative dashboards that summarize the key data from the clinics will be vital to the company’s future success and growth.

Support groups gamification and immersive virtual reality

Honest Empathy Innovations Inc. aims to build sustainable mental healthcare solutions with groundbreaking development and innovation in machine learning. We plan to build a next-generation machine learning platform that Canadians can access for their mental health with this project. Our solution is supported by the Canadian Mental Health Association, NEXT Canada, and Yukon Government. Our solution research aims to help folks affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and those who encounter anxiety, depression, and OCD daily. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, By age 40, about 50% of the population will have a mental illness. Two out of three Canadians won’t have access to treatment. This project aims to significantly reduce this statistic by innovating CBT with machine learning.

Project Horizon – Technology Team, Executive Residency Program

Project Horizon is a significant campus redevelopment project being undertaken by SickKids in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care over the next decade in the heart of Toronto’s downtown core.

The redevelopment project for a renewal of clinical care and support areas of the hospital will increase inpatient hospital beds and treatment spaces, increase the capacity for clinical supports and new integration spaces that will connect emerging healthcare technologies and expand on their ability to provide virtual care.

As part of Project Horizon, a digital strategy and roadmap report was developed which described an ambitious digital vision for SickKids. To ensure that all Information, Communication, Automation, Technology solutions and investments identified by the digital strategy report have both qualitative and quantitative business value, the Project Horizon Technology Team would like to hire a student to help develop business cases and technology assessments to support the digital strategy report and vision.

Clinique MultiSens-L’intelligence artificielle au service des lecteurs en difficultés d’apprentissage

L’innovation sociale proposée consiste à apporter aux jeunes ayant des difficultés un soutien à la compréhension et à l’effort cognitif en lecture en appliquant la technologie FROG-(FRee yOur coGnition) à une nouvelle bibliothèque de livres numériques d’auteurs québécois. Aucun outil technologique équivalent n’est actuellement offert au Québec. Le présent projet vise à adapter cette application technologique innovante en français québécois et en anglais et ainsi permettre une avancée considérable pour tous les élèves normaux lecteurs ainsi que pour ceux présentant des difficultés d’apprentissage.

Modèles neuro-inspirés de la prise de décision collective

Les humains ont une capacité exceptionnelle à collaborer sur une grande variété de tâches. Pour y parvenir, ils doivent être capables de prendre des décisions collectives : décider où se déplacer ensemble, quelle stratégie ils vont utiliser, etc. Actuellement, nous ne savons pas très bien comment nos cerveaux sont capables de se coordonner entre eux pour prendre ces décisions collectives. Dans ce projet, nous allons modéliser la dynamique cérébrale des personnes qui prennent des décisions collectives. En ajustant ces modèles et en les comparant avec des données obtenues pendant des expériences psychologiques, nous voulons découvrir comment concevoir des systèmes artificiels, tels que des essaims de robots, qui soient également capables de prendre des décisions collectives dans de nombreuses situations. Ces essaims de robots pourraient alors nous aider à accomplir de nombreuses tâches importantes, comme la lutte contre les incendies.