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

        • CEO Nir Katchinskiy and executive adviser Lahav Gil spoke about PulseMedica‘s “laser-focused business model” on the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit podcast.
        • True Angle Medical has launched a new show called Enjoy The Life You’re Living. The first episode features Loreen Wales on the three essential pillars of a healthy lifestyle: mind, nutrition, and fitness.
        • Health Cities has increased its sponsorship of Startup TNT to continue to further the health-related startup community in Western Canada. “We are thrilled to officially be BFFs with @Startup_TNT! We look forward to working with the Startup TNT network to support the growth of innovative platforms in our region,” Health Cities tweeted.
        • The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) has already awarded 30 bursaries from its initial $100,000 fund to attract people working in artificial intelligence to Edmonton in May for AI Week. “Without that first visit, it’s tough to know everything that’s going on,” CEO Cam Linke told Taproot. “The goal is to introduce them to the province, make connections to great people, researchers, companies, and then let things grow from there.”
        • The president of the Alberta Psychiatric Association called for more funding of child and adolescent mental health in the next provincial budget in light of chronic underfunding and the increased pressures imposed by the pandemic. “We have this background of youth becoming increasingly sick, struggling with more illness, struggling with more severe illness, and mounting pressures on our health-care system, where that’s leading to significant delays in care,” Sterling Sparshu told Postmedia.
        • According to preliminary data in a University of Alberta study, losing weight before surgery for endometrial cancer seems to lead to fewer complications and shorter hospital stays. “We want patients to feel supported and heard throughout the process, and feel that we’re not just talking about their weight loss, but also giving them options for management for both their weight loss and for their cancer,” assistant professor and physician Sophia Pin told Folio
        • Nursing professor Colleen Norris shared some things women should know about cardiovascular health. For one, women may have different heart attack symptoms than men; hospitals also tend to miss these symptoms half the time.
        • U of A research suggests that cancer patients shouldn’t shy away from healthy animal proteins like eggs, fish, and dairy. Animal proteins are high in amino acids which can help the body rebuild muscle and tolerate some treatments like chemotherapy.
        • Youth with heart defects benefit from learning sessions telling them what to expect once they age out of pediatric care, a U of A researcher said. “Studies have shown consistently that most adolescents have very little knowledge of their congenital heart disease. And without knowledge of your heart condition and what the future might bring, it’s very difficult to enter the adult health-care system,” Andrew Mackie, a pediatric cardiologist and professor in the U of A’s Department of Pediatrics, told Folio.

Events

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Health Innovation Roundup
Health Innovation Roundup