Health Innovation Roundup

The Health Innovation Roundup, sponsored by Health Cities, is written and published weekly by Taproot Edmonton to bring you the latest news and events in research, technology, companies and people changing health for the better in Edmonton.

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Here are some highlights from this week’s Health Innovation Roundup:

Headlines

• The Cross Cancer Institute has started a clinical trial of a machine developed by MagnetTx Oncology Solutions Ltd. to target radiation treatment more precisely. The Linac-MR (LMR) machine uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while doctors deliver radiation. “With an MRI, you can see a lot more soft tissue detail. It’s kind of like going from black and white to colour,” said Dr. Nawaid Usmani, a Cross Cancer radiation oncologist involved in the trial.
• Health Cities highlighted five virtual reality companies working on digital health, including Edmonton’s ELIXR Simulations. The companies demonstrated what they do at the 2023 Digital Health Canada/AHIX Calgary Winter Conference on Feb. 7.
• Alberta Health Services has partnered with Ontario-based InventoRR MD to evaluate AbClo, a non-invasive method to close abdominal incisions.
• A new research project co-led by Andrew Mason of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology shows that Indigenous patients suffering from an autoimmune liver disease face worse symptoms and outcomes than others in Canada. Mason told Folio the next steps include a search for a cure and better treatment options.
• Cree researcher Jessica Kolopenuk has been named the Alberta Health Services Chair in Indigenous Health for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. The role was created to promote research and scholarship in Indigenous health. “It’s not only about including Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in research and policy. It’s about having control over the knowledge production that impacts us — knowledge that is about us, our territories, and our communities and relatives,” Kolopenuk told Folio.
• Researchers at the University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) have published a paper on using artificial intelligence to evaluate a patient’s mortality risk based on electrocardiogram data.
• The Alberta Women’s Health Foundation (AWHF) has released a report called Surveying the Silence: Exploring the Taboos in Women’s Health. “Many women have had their symptoms dismissed by loved ones and health professionals as ‘Just part of being a woman,’ driving them towards isolation and hopelessness and even leading some to consider suicide,” the report says.
• The Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute (ABJHI) has received $250,000 from TD Bank Group to help fund its information hub called MAP to MOTION, which outlines bone and joint health.
• Nominations for the Dr. William Cochrane Health System Innovation Award close on Feb. 28.

Events

• Feb. 9, 7am: Health Cities Breakfast: A New Lens on Health and Prevention at the Foundry Room
• Feb. 9, 4pm: Life Sciences Summit: Top 20 Pitch Night, presented by Startup TNT and API
• Feb 11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science at the TELUS World of Science
• Feb. 16, 4pm: Health Innovators’ Meetup: Get To Know Your Investors at Enterprise Square
• Feb. 21, 12pm: AI Meetup: Tackling healthcare projects using federated learning from Amii
• Feb. 23, 12pm: Digitizing & Automating Mental Health Treatment, presented by Lenica Research Group
• March 10-12: 2023 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Conference at the Matrix Hotel
• March 23: Life Sciences Investment Summit Finale in Calgary

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