Innovative Projects Realized

Réalité des pères immigrants d’expression anglophone au Québec

Les connaissances sur la réalité des pères québécois immigrants d’expression anglophone sont très peu documentées. Une étude récente menée par le Community Health And Social Services Network (CHSSN) en collaboration avec le Regroupement pour la Valorisation de la Paternité (RVP) a analysé l’expérience de la paternité dans la communauté anglophone au Québec. Les résultats indiquent qu’une grande proportion de pères anglophones (74 %) estime que les services publics (CLSC, hôpitaux, écoles, etc.) ne prennent pas suffisamment en compte leurs réalités spécifiques. Ces pères rapportent des niveaux de stress plus élevés, des difficultés d’adaptation à leur rôle paternel, des doutes sur leurs compétences parentales et un recours plus fréquent aux services des organismes communautaires. D’autre part, l’étude révèle que la culture anglophone valorise davantage l’engagement paternel. Cependant, l’étude souligne aussi une tendance des pères vers des rôles parentaux plus traditionnels et moins d’importance accordée à la collaboration avec la mère dans les tâches parentales, malgré une satisfaction globalement plus élevée concernant la qualité de cette collaboration. En résumé, on connait très peu les vulnérabilités des pères immigrants anglophones au Québec , les réalités et des défis spécifiques auxquels ils sont confrontés et la façon dont ils perçoivent et vivent leur paternité. Ce projet concerne les pères immigrants d’expression anglophone de première génération installé au Québec depuis une dizaine d’année.

L2M – Valorization of wood pulp for sustainable insulation foams

The project focuses on creating and marketing a sustainable insulation foam made of pulp wood, replacing traditional materials like polyurethane and expanded polystyrene. This eco-friendly substitute aligns with the global demand for sustainable products, particularly in the building and insulation sectors.

L2M: Actively Contracting Compression Sock (Smart Sock) for Post-Thrombotic Syndrome

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is the occurrence of blood clots in the deep veins of the lower legs, occurs in 10 million people annually and leads to death in 1 out of 4 people globally. The risk for developing DVT increases exponentially with age, two-thirds of all patients are >60 years of age. Post thrombotic syndrome (PTS) occurs within 1-2 years for up to 50% of DVT patients. PTS has a range of symptoms and clinical indicators related to chronic venous insufficiency, such as chronic swelling, chronic pain, ulcerations, and paresthesia, leading to a reduced quality of life for patients with PTS and an economic healthcare cost per patient of $4527 in Canada. The common non-invasive treatment option for PTS are compression stockings, which have low static compression, lack cyclic pressure, have poor patient compliance and lead to skin breakdown. Additionally, pneumatic compression pumps generate clinically effective compression pressures but are not portable, expensive, and require medical assistance. By combining the portability of the compression stockings and the clinically effective compression pressures of the pneumatic compression pumps, a hybrid, actively contracting Smart Sock composed of an active textile will be developed for patients with PTS. The development of an easy to wear, portable Smart Sock with intermittent and cyclic compression, a wide range of clinical grade compression pressures and a user-friendly interface could aid in improving the quality of life for PTS and at-risk patients.

Veterinary Disease Detection Using Machine Learning and Deep Learning Architectures

In recent advancements, researchers are leveraging deep learning and machine learning for improving medical care, particularly within the veterinary field. The development of smart, wearable biosensing devices, equipped with non-invasive sensors and integrated with machine learning algorithms, facilitates real-time health monitoring. Continuous monitoring of health data through these devices offers valuable insights into adverse health events, such as seizure and syncope patterns, allowing for early detection of subtle physiological changes. This leads to timely veterinary interventions and personalized care, significantly enhancing the quality of life for canines. This research aims to explore the development of innovative deep models that can reliably recognize adverse health conditions in canines based on the collected physiological data to provide timely and accurate interventions when necessary.

L2M – A revolutionary needle-free delivery technology for macromolecular skincare products

Our innovative technology overcomes skin barriers, enabling efficient epidermal and dermal delivery of macromolecules (HA) through a pain-free, needle-free topical application. Therefore, we achieve better hydration with more long lasting. We keep healthy skin (hydrating and plumping, and can fade fine lines) in one step. This technology has great potential for commercialization and it may bring valuable reputation to the partner organization.

Development of Bionanofluid for Commercial Production

The purpose of this 4?month internship is to scale?up the bionanofluid production at McGill University and then transfer this process to Leap Medical Labs for commercialization. At McGill, this will involve the design and implementation of 2 new reactors, as well as testing, optimization and validation of the various process parameters. Once the scale?up is complete, the newly developed manufacturing processes will be transferred to Leap Medical Labs’ production facility. In order for Leap to commercialize the bionanofluid, each of the individual process steps will have to be documented, verified/validated, and pass strict regulatory requirements. This will involve both technical and business related activities.

AI-enabled Psychiatric Chart Summarization

This project was born from the Medventions Atlantic Fellowship where, as a part of the psychiatry team, Chloe Robichaud shadowed Dr. Abraham Nunes to identify any problems that stood in the path of innovation and optimization within the field of psychiatric care. As a psychiatrist in the Mood Disorders Clinic in the NSHA Central Zone, Dr. Nunes works with patients who suffer from difficult-to-treat psychiatric disorders. These psychiatric patients need longitudinal monitoring, personalization of therapy, and early relapse detection to get better care outcomes. To treat these patients effectively, psychiatrists must conduct a comprehensive chart review before seeing each patient. Within this chart review, they must provide immense detail, including all relevant aspects of a patient’s history that provide a rationale for behaviour and/or thought processes. To innovate within the field of psychiatry, we must first help psychiatrists automate their chart summarization, minimizing the amount of time needed to prepare for each patient. Our project, SynopsAI, sought to fill that gap by developing a solution that would allow each patient to have a “running” summary generated using their entire medical/psychiatric history and then continually updated with the notes from each follow-up session.

Development and Evaluation of Novel Small Molecules Targeting Lysophosphatidic Acid Receptor 1 for the Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) expression, exhibits high invasiveness, metastatic potential, and poor prognosis. Current chemotherapy for metastatic TNBC is associated with low response rates and short progression-free survival. It is imperative to find new therapies for this aggressive type of breast cancer. Recent data from our lab suggests that LPA1 antagonists can inhibit the migration and invasion of TNBC cells. In this project, a novel series of LPA1 antagonists with enhanced drug properties will be synthesized and evaluated. The most active and selective LPA1 ligands will be used as molecular probes to investigate the mechanisms underlying LPA1’s involvement in TNBC metastasis. This project has the potential to introduce a groundbreaking therapy for TNBC. The successful application of the proposed LPA1 antagonists in this research will benefit not only the health research community but also the broader community of females struggling with breast cancer.

L2M – IsoStage: bringing Overcoming Isometrics training to general fitness.

IsoStage is a high-tech, revolutionary fitness device inspired by the founder’s background in kinesiology and personal interest in strength training and body building. The idea emerged from the realization that there is a clear absence of devices or convenient methods catering to overcoming isometrics (OI) training – a technique that has incredible potential to build muscle. Traditional approaches to OI training lack the means to objectively measure force exerted during exercises, which makes it impossible to progressively overload or track improvements being made.
IsoStage is an innovative solution to a relatively niche problem, and the other problem being solved is the niche-ness of OI training itself. Over the past ~decade, there has been a significant shift in fitness trends from aerobic-based to resistance training. Many average people (ie. non-athletes or physique competitors) have come to appreciate the benefits of lifting weights, but have never heard of OI. The vision for IsoStage goes beyond the physical product, the founding team aspires to build an entire brand that advocates for OI training through raising awareness, providing education.
The Lab to Market – Validate program presents an invaluable opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the target market and ultimately validate the potential of IsoStage. The immersive process will not only deepen understanding of user needs, but also contribute refining the founders’ research and communication skills. The data acquired will be used towards crafting a compelling pitch with the ultimate goal of securing funding for the project.

Ikimy Recruitment Platform

Rhealize is a start-up strategic Human Resources company. Their mission is to enable longer-term and more stable employment collaborations by identifying what both the candidate and company need to mutually succeed before a hire takes place. To deliver their services large scale, the company is developing a web platform called Ikimy (ee-key-my).

Ikimy is a recruitment automation with a menu-driven process that helps job seekers and employers explain what they require of each other so that their work expectations are met. The platform achieves this by creating a more complete accounting of the “dimensions of job and candidate” that need to line up for optimum candidate-role matches. Secondly, Ikimy reverses the standard recruitment process. In Ikimy, jobs apply to suitable candidates based on the degree of crossover between a candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes (KSAOs) compared to those required by the role. This not only de-incentivizes candidates from lying about their qualifications, it also leads them to identifying what they most enjoy doing.

To perform this matching, Rhealize is developing a proprietary algorithm with a team of social and data scientists. Given the massive calculations associated with generating predictive results in such a system, the company will be utilizing machine learning – a type of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The main technical outcomes the project owners aim to achieve are more effective and faster matching results while also controlling for harmful social biases associated with current recruitment methodologies such as resume-based Applicant Tracking Systems and unstructured manual processes.

A quick-scoping portrait of heat island and green infrastructure vulnerabilities and opportunities for the City of Waterloo

Trees, other vegetation, and engineered water features can contribute to both climate mitigation and adaptation in cities (Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (Ipcc), 2023). Trees, for instance contribute to climate mitigation through carbon sequestration. They can also contribute to climate adaptation through cooling urban areas (Aram et al., 2020; Bowler et al., 2010). Trees provide additional co-benefits, such as physical health benefits through improved air quality, mental health benefits, and preservation of biodiversity (Barton and Pretty, 2010). Yet, cities are challenged to maintain and increase their urban tree canopy (Er, 2021). The benefit of trees for addressing the urban heat island (and equity) of cities is unique to each city and requires individualized tools to evaluate, project, and manage green infrastructure. Further, equity concerns in the provision of green infrastructure are widely recognized. Neighborhoods with a high proportion of residents who have low socio-economic status and have immigrant status are recognized to be more vulnerable for heat island impacts and too often have lower provision of open spaces and green infrastructure (Harlan et al., 2006; Plumer, 2020). To meet these challenges, cities need improved tools to evaluate, project, and manage green infrastructure for urban planning. We propose to complete the following two objectives: (1) provide the City of Waterloo with a summer-time urban land surface temperature mapping using remotely sensed data and (2) provide preliminary analysis to better understand areas of temperature hot spots and low vegetation throughout the city.

Rogers – UW Commercialization Viability Project

This project focuses on assessing the commercialization viability of Rogers Communications’ investments in 5G technology, with a specific focus on connected robotics, smart healthcare, and climate management. The project aims to support ongoing innovation projects in partnership with the University of Waterloo by evaluating their commercialization potential through qualitative research. The project will benefit Rogers Communications by providing them with a better understanding of how to leverage their 5G research findings to develop and productize innovative solutions that can be deployed at scale to serve their customers.