The Health Innovation Roundup, sponsored by Health City, 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. Sign up to get the full edition delivered directly to your inbox. Use the code HEALTHCITY & you’ll get 10% off the first year. Here are some highlights from this week’s Health Innovation Roundup: Headlines According to Dr. Michael Zakhary, medical officer of health for the Edmonton Zone, signs of heat exhaustion like headache, dizziness, and nausea can progress to heatstroke, which can be life-threatening. Zakhary warned that drinking alcoholic could affect the ability to monitor symptoms, reported Global News. U of A researcher Vickie Baracos and her team are among 11 global finalists in the Cancer Grand Challenge. Baracos’ NoMoreCachexia project aims to improve the quality of life by addressing cachexia, an extreme wasting condition experienced in the late stages of cancer. The MacEwan University Board of Governors has elected oncologist Dr. Anthony Fields as its first-ever chancellor. Fields graduated from the U of A’s faculty of medicine and served as a vice-president of cancer care for Alberta Health Services before retiring in 2011, the university said in a statement. U of A speech-language pathologist Teresa Hardy is leading a study to learn how transgender women perceive their voice and non-verbal gestures and how it contributes to their quality of life. U of A occupational therapist Chelsea Jones is helping military members and veterans improve their physical and mental health. An Alberta initiative that supports mental health care for pregnant women and their families is expanding with the renewal of funding from the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the University of Calgary. The initiative initially started with the launch of the HOPE digital platform by Dr. Dawn Kingston. The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and Alberta Women’s Health Foundation announced a new fund for ovarian cancer research. The Edmonton Elks Women’s Ovarian Cancer Research Endowment supports local researchers to develop a new treatment protocol for ovarian cancer. Campus Alberta Neuroscience is offering small grants to help early-stage researchers and entrepreneurs scale their innovation in the fields of neuroscience and mental health. The application deadline is June 30. BioAlberta and Deloitte Canada have launched a new survey to evaluate Alberta’s life sciences industry. The deadline to complete the survey is July 15. The application deadline for Accelerating Innovations into CarE (AICE)–Concepts is June 30. The program, launched by Alberta Innovates aims to advance early-stage health research. U of A professor Dr. Gino Fallone has received the 2021 Gold Medal Award from the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists for his “significant contributions in the field of medical physics in Canada.” According to Andrea Haqq, U of A professor of pediatrics, recognizing obesity as a disease will help alleviate the stigma associated with overweight. Haqq explained that weight stigma may lead to increased activation of physiologic pathways, which can contribute to further weight gain. A new U of A study found that a variant of the prion protein called the S96 variant may reduce the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in white-tailed deer. Researchers said the findings may reduce the spread of the highly contagious disease. Events June 30, 12pm : Developing meaningful research partnerships with Indigenous communities July 7, 9am: Synthetic Data Summit July 7, 5pm: AI in Health Sept. 22-24: Inventures 2021 Startup Pitch Event Oct.26-27: Canadian Computational Neuroscience Symposium Nov. 3-4: i4 2021 Virtual Conference Dec. 2-6: University Hospital Foundation’s Festival of Trees Have a suggestion for a future edition? Send it to hello@taprootedmonton.ca for consideration. Become a “Roundup Cultivator” and sponsor Taproot Edmonton to help them chronicle health innovation in Edmonton. Learn more