Innovative Projects Realized

Informing the delivery of modern therapies for therapies improving cardiorenal outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes

Per clinical guidelines, patients with Type 2 diabetes and certain co-morbidities should initiate modern glucose-controlling therapies that also reduce the risk of cardiovascular and renal adverse events, such as GLP-1 RA and SGLT2i medications. But many indicated patients have not initiated these therapies, in part because some primary care doctors are uncomfortable with the complex clinical considerations for initiating these therapies. Since 2022, the DECIDE-CV clinic at the McGill University Health Centre has used an innovative “synchronized care” approach, in which three specialists meet with patients at the same time to facilitate quick and safe initiation of guideline-directed therapies. In this project, an intern will use simulation modelling and economic evaluation methods to evaluate the DECIDE-CV clinic model, quantifying the health-economic impact and the long-term clinical benefits. This analysis will inform decisions to sustain, expand and/or modify the DECIDE-CV clinic at the MUHC. This project will also provide data to support other health systems that are considering ways to improve treatment for multimorbid patients with Type 2 diabetes.

ReaderBound

This project will be concerned with improving the sales and marketing effectiveness of ReaderBound, and enhancing its ability to reach and engage with book publishers in Canada. This project will therefore focus on two specific areas: 1) Improving and expanding our social media footprint, including the development of a comprehensive social media strategy and creative assets and templates. 2) Strengthening ReaderBound’s prospect pipeline and establishing internal systems for prospect management.

Développement d’un robot mobile autonome comprenant la coordination d’un robot collaboratif et d’actionneurs auxiliaires

Les opérations de peinture, de sablage et de plâtrage des murs et plafonds dans les bâtiments résidentiels et commerciaux ont toujours été des tâches pénibles, répétitives et à haut risque de lésions professionnelles. La pénurie croissante de main-d’œuvre spécialisée aggrave encore cette problématique. Pour y répondre, NIO Robotics développe un robot mobile complexe capable d’exécuter ces tâches de manière autonome. Ce développement technologique ambitieux requiert d’importants efforts en recherche et développement. Le projet MITACS s’inscrit dans cette initiative en ciblant un enjeu fondamental en robotique multi-système : la génération de trajectoires coordonnées entre sous-systèmes. En d’autres termes, le projet cherche à répondre à la question suivante : « Quelles doivent être les trajectoires synchronisées de la base mobile et du bras robotisé pour permettre l’exécution optimale d’une tâche, par exemple, peinturer un mur situé à l’autre extrémité de la pièce? »

The Dual Effect of Normobaric Hypoxia on Heart Rate Variability and Substrate Partitioning During Exercise and Recovery

)The research proposal is designed to examine the relationship between metabolism and the autonomic nervous system during exercise and recovery. This randomized, controlled crossover design experiment will consist of three sessions. The first session is a familiarization session. The second and third sessions will be the same, except the exercise portion will be done in either hypoxia or normoxia. For the second and third sessions, participants will first complete a basal metabolic rate, and then the participant will cycle (intervals) for an hour. Following cycling, they will complete a post-exercise metabolic rate. This study shall examine the cumulative effect of exercise and hypoxia on the sympathovagal balance (using heart rate variability) and its potential association with the shift in substrate partitioning during recovery. It is hypothesized that the treatment (hypoxic exercise bouts) will delay vagal nerve reactivation during recovery compared to control (normoxic exercise bouts) and that this autonomic response will affect substrate partitioning to a greater extent. Results from this study will benefit the partner organization because it will help them to possibly create new technology and give them information for further studies

En quoi et comment un accélérateur agroalimentaire peut favoriser la synergie et la collaboration entre les entrepreneurs agricoles sur un territoire donné ?

L’agriculture et l’agrotourisme sont déterminants pour la MRC Rouville. Cependant, les entrepreneurs du secteur agricole et agroalimentaire font face à un double défi : d’une part, transformer et valoriser leurs productions dans un marché en constante évolution ; d’autre part, établir des liens durables avec leurs pairs et les acteurs de la filière. Or, l’isolement et le manque d’occasions de collaboration freinent l’innovation et la croissance. Le projet cherche donc à comprendre comment un accélérateur agroalimentaire peut constituer un cadre privilégié pour stimuler l’échange de savoir-faire, la mutualisation de ressources et l’émergence de synergies entre agriculteurs.

Optimizing Cross-Clinic Operational Systems for Scalable Mental Health Delivery at BrainStim Health

BrainStim Health is launching a new clinic in the Greater Vancouver Area that will specialize in timely, high-quality autism assessments for youth. This Mitacs Accelerate project supports the development of operational systems that will enable efficient, accessible, and scalable service delivery across the new site and future expansion efforts. The intern, Sumana Soma, a UBC Sauder BCom student, will work closely with BrainStim’s leadership and clinical staff to evaluate current processes, help design standardized intake and assessment workflows, and prototype tools that improve coordination and client experience.
The project will involve stakeholder interviews, process mapping, and pilot testing of operational improvements, using a service design approach. The goal is to reduce wait times, streamline intake, and ensure a consistent experience for families seeking neurodevelopmental services.
This work will directly benefit BrainStim Health by enhancing productivity and readiness for growth, and more broadly contribute to improved access to autism assessments in Canada. It also offers the intern applied learning in health systems innovation, preparing them for future work in healthcare strategy and operations.

Assessing socio-ecological benefits of small-scale urban greening projects

The organization, GRAME (Groupe de recommandations et d’actions pour un meilleur environnement), is a Montreal-based environmental NGO leading participatory greening projects through its VIVRE (Ville Inclusive, Verte, Résiliente et Équitable) initiative. GRAME aims to mitigate climate vulnerability and environmental injustices in marginalized neighbourhoods by reducing urban heat islands, enhancing biodiversity, improving stormwater management, and increasing community cohesion. However, despite years of impactful interventions, GRAME lacks a robust, scalable protocol to assess the environmental and social outcomes of its projects in a structured, evidence-based manner. This is emblematic of a larger problem, where despite significant implementation of greening interventions in urban environments, social and ecological outcomes of such projects are typically assumed rather than assessed. This project investigates how participatory urban greening interventions affect both environmental resilience and the social well-being of vulnerable urban populations. Specifically, it asks: What measurable environmental and social impacts result from GRAME’s VIVRE interventions, and how can they be evaluated and improved?

BoneWheel: Effects of a bone-specific exercise and nutrition intervention on energy balance parameters in wheelchair users

People who use wheelchairs are at higher risk for weak bones because they aren’t putting pressure on their bones—something the body needs to keep bones healthy. When bones become fragile, even small accidents can lead to fractures, which may cause serious complications like infections, pain, longer hospital stays, and even depression. Unfortunately, many wheelchair users don’t get enough physical activity or the right nutrients to keep their bones strong.

To tackle this issue, a team of researchers in Norway led a study called BoneWheel. In this study, people who use wheelchairs took part in a 24-week program that combined strength training with nutrition advice. The goal was to see if this combination could improve bone health and physical and mental well-being.

During her internship, Canadian graduate student Sarah Craven will join the Norwegian team to assess how participants’ diets, nutrient levels, and body composition changed over the course of the program. She’ll also examine whether participants were at risk of eating too little to support their health. Sarah’s work will help show whether combining exercise and nutrition support can make a difference for bone health in wheelchair users and help develop practical recommendations to better support this population.

Evaluating the Impacts of Climate Change and Seawater Intrusion on Arsenic Mobilization in Coastal Aquifers

Many rural communities in the maritime Provinces rely on groundwater for drinking water supply. There is concern that the groundwater in these areas may become contaminated with naturally occurring arsenic as the climate changes. Climate change effects including rising sea levels, longer summer droughts, and more intense storms may alter the geochemical conditions in the subsurface and cause arsenic to be released into the groundwater. The objective of this project is to develop and test an advanced numerical model capable of simulating the retention and release of arsenic in coastal aquifers as climate climates. This collaboration between the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg (Germany) will combine the strengths of both institutions to develop and test a model that will provide insight into when and where arsenic may become a potential threat for local groundwater supply. The model will help scientists, engineers and policy makers to develop best practices and guide policy changes that protect drinking water and support climate adaptation strategies for coastal communities. This project will strengthen international collaboration between the two universities by enhancing research, training, and knowledge exchange, while promoting long-term international cooperation in climate change adaptation.

Towards Sustainable Nowcasting: Exploring Lightweight Models for Local Precipitation Forecasting

This project focuses on investigating more efficient and simplified approaches for very short-term precipitation forecasting, known as nowcasting. The goal is to evaluate and adapt lightweight machine learning models that can deliver accurate predictions using fewer computational resources. By reviewing existing models, testing their performance, and exploring ways to simplify their architecture without losing accuracy, the project aims to create practical solutions that can be used even in regions with limited infrastructure. This work is particularly relevant in the face of increasing extreme weather events linked to climate change. It will support both institutions by promoting international collaboration, strengthening expertise in climate data modeling, and generating results that can contribute to disaster prevention and urban resilience. The project also aligns with global sustainability goals, such as climate action and innovation in infrastructure, and enhances Canada’s leadership in developing accessible, data-driven solutions for environmental challenges.

Augmenting NVD-based Attack Path Generation with New Factors for Cloud Environments

To quantitatively assess the security level of a cloud environment, a common method is to construct an attack graph which tracks a potentail attacker’s moves through interconnected computing systems by exploiting vulnerabilities of each system, one after another. The state-of-the-art automatic attack graph generation suffers from two limitations: 1) low quality or inconsistency of vulnerability descriptions (as the generation relies on the description text in an automated manner for scalability), leading to inaccurate attack paths, and 2) the vertical layer of VMs/containers not reflected in the attack paths (as traditional approaches only consider horizontal network links between nodes, not exploits from a hosted environment to a hosting environment). Our project will address the two limitations by 1) using machine learning and specifically large language models to process multiple sources of vulnerability information/description (e.g., the IBM and Redhat reports) so that more accurate attack paths can be generated, and 2) reclassifying vulnerabilities into horizontal exploits and vertical exploits to take into account the hosted and hosting relationship, and constructing 2-dimensional attack graphs.

Director, Ethics Bowl Canada Student Department

The purpose of this project is to provide an Intern with the resources, structure, and support necessary to expand the Ethics Bowl Canada Student Department, a place in which alumni of the activity gain professional development experience, volunteer experience, and exposure to non profit governance. The Intern will be responsible for recruiting students, creating a strategic framework and leading projects which advance that framework.