Innovative Projects Realized

The land should lead us: Acknowledging community viability to practice Indigenous health sovereignty in northern Manitoba – Year two

In Canada while health disparities in Indigenous communities are getting much attention and Indigenous peoples are determining the path to healing using land based knowledge, the approach to health is still holding the reductionist and paternalistic global health philanthropy with the idea of the poor, traditional societies in need of charity and technology for better health. This contrasts with the growing realization that Indigenous health problems have strong sociocultural, political, and economic determinants that demand comprehensive approaches. This research intends to take a strength based approach using community viability framework to: a) link food and health; b) address the need for an Indigenous Health Sovereignty paradigm modelled on Indigenous food sovereignty. Using Indigenous research methodology, the study will take place in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation and Opaskwayak Cree Nation where communities will lead a strong youth and women focused land-based knowledge and health education intervention plan with their respective health authorities.

The land should lead us: Acknowledging community viability to practice Indigenous health sovereignty in northern Manitoba

In Canada while health disparities in Indigenous communities are getting much attention and Indigenous peoples are determining the path to healing using land based knowledge, the approach to health is still holding the reductionist and paternalistic global health philanthropy with the idea of the poor, traditional societies in need of charity and technology for better health. This contrasts with the growing realization that Indigenous health problems have strong sociocultural, political, and economic determinants that demand comprehensive approaches. This research intends to take a strength based approach using community viability framework to: a) link food and health; b) address the need for an Indigenous Health Sovereignty paradigm modelled on Indigenous food sovereignty. Using Indigenous research methodology, the study will take place in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation and Opaskwayak Cree Nation where communities will lead a strong youth and women focused land-based knowledge and health education intervention plan with their respective health authorities.

Innovation and characterization of plant-based ingredients for the emerging protein markets

Research within this project will focus on the innovation and characterization of plant-based ingredients arising from pulses and cereals for the protein ingredient market. The global protein ingredient market was valued at $31.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to rise to $46.4 billion by 2022 with the greatest growth occurring in the plant protein ingredient sector. Consumers are looking towards alternative proteins, other than from animals (e.g., whey/casein from milk; ovalalbumin from eggs) and soy, because of allergen concerns and the rising costs of dairy proteins. Pulse and cereal proteins fill this gap; however, there is no comprehensive technical report for industry (or clients of the Food Centre) to point to during product development or re-formulations by companies. TO BE CONT’D

The making of a woman feature filmmaker: Gender and cultural production in a Montreal-based film school – Year two

In Canada, women have made significant inroads in television, web series, documentaries, and experimental films. But few women directors and screenwriters participate in big-budget feature film production. This study explores the marginalization of women in the feature film industry through the lens of film production training. As previous studies have shown, film education can shape student filmmakers’ professional identity and aesthetic repertoires. Situated in a Montreal-based film education center, my project will analyze socio-structural arrangements that influence women student filmmakers’ subject formation, career choices, and artistic approaches. Also, this study will explore the strategies that women students employ to succeed in the film school and in the job market. Using qualitative research methods, such as participatory photography, interview, focus group, and on-site observation, this study will generate new insights to promote a gender-sensitive approach to film education. TO BE CONT’D

The making of a woman feature filmmaker: Gender and cultural production in a Montreal-based film school

In Canada, women have made significant inroads in television, web series, documentaries, and experimental films. But few women directors and screenwriters participate in big-budget feature film production. This study explores the marginalization of women in the feature film industry through the lens of film production training. As previous studies have shown, film education can shape student filmmakers’ professional identity and aesthetic repertoires. Situated in a Montreal-based film education center, my project will analyze socio-structural arrangements that influence women student filmmakers’ subject formation, career choices, and artistic approaches. Also, this study will explore the strategies that women students employ to succeed in the film school and in the job market. Using qualitative research methods, such as participatory photography, interview, focus group, and on-site observation, this study will generate new insights to promote a gender-sensitive approach to film education. TO BE CONT’D

Improving Primary Care in Older Patients: a Focus on Safe and Appropriate Medications – Year two

Seniors take many medications during their lifetime. As seniors age, some of these medications may become unnecessary or even harmful. The process of stopping a medication that has the potential to cause more harm than benefit is called deprescribing. Physicians are more in the habit of prescribing than deprescribing, even though patients like the idea of getting off some of their pills if they can. The goal of this project is to use technology to support physicians in the deprescribing process. We intend to create a new program in the Omnimed electronic medical record system that will remind physicians to deprescribe, will provide them with tools and education on deprescribing, and that will automatically send patients educational material on drug safety. We will evaluate the utility of the software by tracking how many patients end up discontinuing unnecessary medication. TO BE CONT’D

Remote Sensing of the forest biomass available for energy productionin central Ontario

As part of Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan, Ontario Power Generation seeks to increase

the supply of renewable energy, including wind, solar, and biomass. It is estimated that 7.6-9.5

million metric tons of unused wood is available to produce bioenergy in Ontario, above that

which is currently harvested for wood products. Yet, the exact magnitude and spatial distribution

of this untapped resource is not well known. In central Ontario, a considerable amount of

unmerchantable wood (including small trees, large branches, diseased trees, and undesirable tree

species) is left behind after harvesting. But much of this unmerchantable wood is not inventoried

because traditional ground-based inventory methods are not designed to quantify this new

resource. The objective of this project is to test the feasibility of using a remote sensing

technology called Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) to measure the amount unmerchantable

wood in hardwood forests of central Ontario.

Improving Primary Care in Older Patients: a Focus on Safe and Appropriate Medications

Seniors take many medications during their lifetime. As seniors age, some of these medications may become unnecessary or even harmful. The process of stopping a medication that has the potential to cause more harm than benefit is called deprescribing. Physicians are more in the habit of prescribing than deprescribing, even though patients like the idea of getting off some of their pills if they can. The goal of this project is to use technology to support physicians in the deprescribing process. We intend to create a new program in the Omnimed electronic medical record system that will remind physicians to deprescribe, will provide them with tools and education on deprescribing, and that will automatically send patients educational material on drug safety. We will evaluate the utility of the software by tracking how many patients end up discontinuing unnecessary medication. TO BE CONT’D

Virtual testing of composites in aerospace

Canada’s aerospace industry relies on expensive and time-consuming testing campaigns to introduce new composites or obtain baseline material properties. Design allowables (e.g., strength used in design phases) are obtained from empirical knock-down factors that account for temperature, environment, etc. This approach is over-conservative and disconnected from physical grounds; it also leads to situations where different teams in the same company (e.g., Bombardier) use different factors for the same part. Having accurate predictive models could reduce testing and decrease knock-down factors. Composites failure is a complex multi-scale process and no “simple” theory can accurately predict composites failure. At this stage, no framework seems to emerge as more suitable.
The principal objective of this project is to plan how using existing and novel composite failure predictive models and techniques can reduce testing and determine more accurate design factors. TO BE CONT’D

Acoustic and Speaker Modeling Using Deep Learning

There is a rapidly growing need for voice powered human-machine interaction modalities for varieties of devices. Despite enormous investment in research and development in this area by a number of companies, significant limitations remain which prevent the ubiquitous proliferation of speech recognition. These limitations include poor performance in the presence of noise, inability to handle variability in accents, and not reliably recognizing the speaker. Fluent.ai is investigating novel neural network architectures for solving aforementioned issues with a primary target market of personal smart devices such as wearables, smart-toys and smart-home devices. Two key aspects of a successful voice user interface solution for such devices include high recognition accuracy even in the presence of noise and ability to adapt to speakers with difference speaking styles and accents. It is crucial for Fluent.ai’s business that these challenges are addressed effectively. TO BE CONT’D

Développement et validation de nouvelles cibles épigénétiques de la douleur chronique chez l’animal arthrosique – Year two

La douleur arthrosique est la première cause de morbidité et de douleur chronique dans nos sociétés occidentales, source de pertes économiques et de productivité énormes. L’arthrose est aussi la maladie dégénérative la plus commune chez les animaux de compagnie et un sujet de consultation vétérinaire fréquent. Malgré des analyses extensives, l’origine et le développement de cette douleur demeurent mal compris. Ce projet de stage post-doctoral en partenariat entre ArthroLab Inc. et le GREPAQ de l’Université de Montréal a pour objectif de détecter des cibles épigénétiques de la douleur arthrosique sur des modèles expérimentaux rongeurs, de tester différentes voies de signalisation cellulaire suspectées d’être impliquées dans la genèse de la douleur et modulées par ces éventuelles cibles épigénétiques. Par la suite, les résultats les plus probants seront transférés sur les modèles naturels d’arthrose rencontrés chez le chat et le chien. TO BE CONT’D

Développement et validation de nouvelles cibles épigénétiques de la douleur chronique chez l’animal arthrosique

La douleur arthrosique est la première cause de morbidité et de douleur chronique dans nos sociétés occidentales, source de pertes économiques et de productivité énormes. L’arthrose est aussi la maladie dégénérative la plus commune chez les animaux de compagnie et un sujet de consultation vétérinaire fréquent. Malgré des analyses extensives, l’origine et le développement de cette douleur demeurent mal compris. Ce projet de stage post-doctoral en partenariat entre ArthroLab Inc. et le GREPAQ de l’Université de Montréal a pour objectif de détecter des cibles épigénétiques de la douleur arthrosique sur des modèles expérimentaux rongeurs, de tester différentes voies de signalisation cellulaire suspectées d’être impliquées dans la genèse de la douleur et modulées par ces éventuelles cibles épigénétiques. Par la suite, les résultats les plus probants seront transférés sur les modèles naturels d’arthrose rencontrés chez le chat et le chien. TO BE CONT’D