Innovative Projects Realized

Documenter les dommages causés par la dérivation de la rivière Caniapiscau pour les Naskapis de Kawawachikamach: Un projet collaboratif melant analyse d’archives et entretiens ethnographiques

En 1985, la rivière Caniapiscau a été déviée pour la construction du Complexe hydroélectrique La Grande, créant ainsi le réservoir Caniapiscau. En vertu de l’article 6 de la Convention du Nord-Est québécois (1978), la Nation naskapie a renoncé à toutes réclamations concernant la construction, l’entretien et l’exploitation du Complexe La Grande. Cependant, la quittance n’englobe pas les impacts de la dérivation de la rivière Caniapiscau sur l’utilisation par les Naskapis des ressources fauniques au nord du 55e parallèle. Les dommages causés par la déviation de la rivière Caniapiscau sur le territoire traditionnel des Naskapis au nord du 55e parallèle n’ont ainsi jamais été évalués. Cette recherche propose d’évaluer les impacts ? environnementaux, socio-économiques et sur le mode de vie des Naskapis ? de la dérivation de la rivière Caniapiscau au nord du 55e parallèle. Pour ce faire, l’organisme partenaire (Atmacinta) a accumulé un nombre considérable d’archives qui n’ont jamais été exploitées. De plus, un séjour sur le terrain (Kawawachikamach) de deux semaines sera organisé dans le but de conduire des entrevues avec les personnes concernées ? et leurs descendants (impacts intergénérationnels) ? et d’ainsi pallier aux zones d’ombre que l’on retrouve inévitablement dans une recherche en archives.

Production oh high purity nano alumina from aluminous clay

High-purity nano alumina (HPA) has diverse applications in batteries, LED lights, semiconductors etc. In recent decades, several methods have been developed to produce highly reactive and pure alumina at nano scale. Amongst them, microwave (MW) assisted-based methods have been considered promising. The MW-assisted method can avoid the challenges of other methods by enhancing the energy efficiency of ball milling processes, and enhancing the gelation speed in sol-gel and precipitation processes. The distinctive advantages of MW-assisted processes come from the fact that different materials have varied responses to microwave irradiation, influenced by their structural characteristics. We investigate two MW-assisted processed for producing nano HPA along with their scale-up potential. AEM plans to verify the final product regarding the purity, specifications, and suitability as starting material for applications like ceramics. Following the result of this project, AEM aims to establish a sustainable supply chain for nano alumina in North America, fostering synergy across various actors in the EV materials supply chain.

Fine Motor Skills Training for Catheter Insertions in Virtual Reality

This project involves creating a gamified Virtual Reality (VR) experience that simulates the I catheter insertion, providing users with depth perception and spatial awareness crucial for mastering the procedure. The VR application, will be developed in collaboration with Sononurse, aims to improve nurses’ fine motor skills through immersive training with gaming mechanics. The effectiveness of the system will be evaluated by controlled user studies. By filling the gap in the market for gamified VR training systems, the project seeks to enhance medical education by offering a cost-effective and accessible solution that ultimately benefits both medical professionals and patients by reducing complications and improving patient outcomes.

A participatory citizen engagement analysis tool for co-producing community wellbeing indicators

Existing democratic structures are fragile and insufficient to address the cascading crises of the coming years. Without inclusive opportunities for people to communicate their views in a deliberative way, both communities and policymakers are being held back from co-creating a desirable future for Canada, a need that the Cornerstone Indicator process is aiming to address. The process combines participatory citizen engagement with data analysis to develop a set of community wellbeing indicators. The co-designed indicators combine multiple existing data points into single, intuitively understandable headline indicators. Following pilots in Sweden and Scotland, this iteration, led by core partner David Suzuki Foundation (DSF), takes place in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood in Montreal, with the objectives of (1) developing a rigorous analysis tool that can be shared in an open-source format (2) enabling the rapid and inclusive scaling of citizen-driven indicators of wellbeing.
DSF will benefit from this research as they lack the internal expertise to develop a rigorous analytic methodology for the Cornerstone process which is fundamental to developing tools that can be shared openly with other communities. This research will allow DSF to move the Cornerstone process from a pilot into a scalable tool.??

Product and Pattern Development – Non-strech Curvy Jeans and Pants

THIS IS A GENERIC TEXT PUT IN PLACE AS THERE WAS NO PROJECT OVERVIEW.

Telescope Therapeutics, Maria Del Toro: “Exploring iPSC-Derived Organoids: Leveraging Patient-Derived Models and Biosensor Technologies for Phenotypic Clustering and Signaling Analysis in Cardiovascular Disease”

Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death in Canada and is a progressive disease characterized by heart dilatation and impaired heart function
that can ultimately lead to heart failure, with a rising incidence and a 5-year survival rate of only 50%. Advanced cases of heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are referred for mechanical circulatory support and/or heart transplantation. We are trying to generate a “Heart-in-a-Dish”, allowing us to model disease and test treatments in a large group of
patients with diagnosed cardiovascular disease. This will provide an opportunity to personalize treatments for a range of clinically important cardiovascular diseases. Our primary aims are to
develop a “bedside to bench to bedside” path for cardiovascular disease modelling and to generate tools to evaluate pharmacologic and functional profiles in physiologically relevant
systems in the context of heart disease. From blood samples, we can 1) generate and validate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) generate cardiomyocytes and other relevant cell types in the heart and 2) characterize functional properties of cardiomyocytes as the disease progresses or in response to therapeutic intervention.

Breast Support and Physical Activity for Immigrant Black Girls: Parental Experiences

Sport participation rates are reported to decline during adolescence, specifically among girls and this is even more problematic for Canadian immigrant children. Large breast size and excessive breast movement are frequently associated with barriers to physical activity for them. To address these barriers, health promotion strategies need to employ culturally competent approaches. A focus group study conducted by our partner Bra Girl will analyze the knowledge and perceptions of Alberta’s immigrant Black mothers regarding breast supports for their adolescent daughters related to the physical activity. Research for these in Alberta has not been conducted. We will study the lack of bra knowledge among parents of immigrant Black girls to develop an educational booklet to promote the use of bras for their children. A questionnaire will be provided to understand their knowledge of bra support. The research team will circulate an ethically approved recruitment poster on social media and community boards. In-person information sessions will be organized with community organizations in the immigrant Black communities in Alberta. Through the research results, BraGirl will develop a new education campaign for adolescent girls and mothers about breast support knowledge, and how to increase physical activity to the recommended WHO levels.

Shape-shifting organelles: How does ER-remodelling affect plastid morphology?

Research Question: How does ER-remodelling affect plastid morphology?
The project focuses on unveiling the relationship between the plastid and ER by investigating novel proteins that seem to mediate the contact between both cellular compartments. Besides investigating the possible bridge between organelles key players changing plastid morphological aspects will be analysed in depth to understand if plastidial proteins can regulate the enigmatic protrusions known as stromules.

Endothelial-fibroblastic cell interactions in fibrosis

Organ fibrosis contributes to the top 10 causes of death in Canada, affects >6.5M North Americans, consumes >$25 billion in global healthcare expenses, and is a major burden for patients, families, and our society. One of the main signals driving fibrosis is persistent and excessive production of the growth factor TGF-beta. The Hinz lab identified vascular endothelial cells as a major and yet poorly characterized source of TGF-beta. We propose that, in response to injury and inflammation, endothelial cells ‘hand-over’ active TGF-beta to closely associated perivascular ‘fibroblasts’. Stimulated by TGF-beta, perivascular fibroblasts continuously secrete and contract collagen matrix into stiff fibrotic scar. This undergraduate project aims at deciphering the mechanisms of TGF-beta presentation by endothelial cells and reception by fibroblasts in the perivascular niche to reveal new potential targets for anti-fibrosis therapies.

Developing and validating an anonymization copilot

Training artificial intelligence and machine learning (AIML) models requires a large amount of data. However, access to data for AIML projects has been problematic in practice, largely due to privacy concerns. One approach to enable data sharing and data access is to anonymize the data. However, in the Canadian context, a national standard and a unified definition of concepts such as anonymization, de-identification, and non-personal information do not currently exist. This makes it difficult for privacy professionals to determine what is the appropriate anonymization process to follow and has resulted in a shortage of professionals across the country with the expertise to perform effective anonymization.
The purpose of this project is to use the GPT-4 large language model (LLM) to develop and validate a customized Canadian anonymization copilot to guide professionals through the anonymization process. The use of LLMs to support professionals is a research area that is showing a lot of promise. This copilot would enable privacy professionals to understand how to anonymize data and would generate ready-to-use anonymization plans for them.

Effets du développement sur le comportement de la grenouille Xenopus laevis: transposition du concept de biais posé par l’évo-dévo dans le domaine du comportement animal.

L’évo-dévo est un champ interdisciplinaire en biologie qui part de l’étude du développement embryonnaire pour retracer l’apparition de caractéristiques chez les espèces et leur évolution. Il pose l’idée qu’il existe des biais pendant le développement d’un organisme qui délimitent le champ des possibles (nous n’aurons jamais des roues à la place des jambes). Puisque la sélection naturelle agit sur ces traits, ces biais définissent la direction de l’évolution.
Mon projet cherche à transposer ce concept au comportement animal. En commençant par établir que des biais agissent sur celui-ci pendant le développement. Je chercherai à mesurer la variabilité du comportement chez des grenouilles (Xenopus laevis) juste après leur développement au stade têtard (après l’embryogenèse) et adulte (après la métamorphose).
Outre la transposition des concepts d’évo-devo dans le domaine du comportement, ce travail apporterait un regard sur le comportement des juvéniles, complétant les travaux en comportement qui portent davantage sur le stade adulte. Enfin, comprendre la variabilité comportementale des amphibiens est important dans un contexte où l’adaptabilité comportementale peut leur permettre de faire face aux changements climatiques. La collaboration entre l’UdeM et le Musée d’histoire naturelle m’apportera des expertises en comportement et évolution et servirait à établir des liens entre ces institutions.

Enhancing Data Security and Privacy in IoMT based Healthcare Services

Healthcare has been completely transformed by the spread of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices, which present before unheard-of possibilities for monitoring, diagnosis, and therapy. Since healthcare data is sensitive, these solutions must ensure authorized access to data while maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and the availability of resources. The underlying security vulnerabilities in IoMT systems can compromise the safety and privacy of patients, cause unauthorized data access and breaches, result in service disruptions, and violate regulatory requirements. Thus, implementing robust data security solutions in such systems is essential for their wide adoption. 

In this project, we will research and develop methods to automate repetitive data security tasks, automate the process to identify unauthorized access to data, and develop data-centric access control solutions. We aim to study, develop, and optimize encryption techniques to meet the computing requirements of the HealthSign smart wristband. All methods, protocols, and software developed during this project will benefit from the fact that they will be evaluated and validated on a real-world IoMT device by the partner organization and will also contribute to the knowledge base of cybersecurity pertinent to IoMT devices.