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.

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

• • • • Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) announced the new Pfizer Applied Clinical Pharmacology Program, a collaboration with the University of Alberta and Pfizer to increase opportunities for students in pharmaceutical sciences. “Through this partnership, Pfizer, UAlberta and API will work together to harness the talent and potential that exists in Canada to help develop the next generation of leaders in clinical pharmacology,” said Pfizer’s Brian Corrigan, a member of API’s scientific advisory committee and the recent recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award.
      • API will be at the Alberta Economic Development Leaders’ Summit & Conference in Kananaskis on April 6-8 to talk about Alberta’s economic opportunities in life sciences.
      • Folio took a look at a program in which University of Alberta pharmacy students complete their required work placements in smaller communities, which helps fill a health-care gap.
      • Oncology company Pacylex Pharmaceuticals, which is developing an oral drug for use in cancer therapy, announced that the journal Current Oncology has released a paper with data from its first patient. “We are encouraged that the first patient experience with an NMT inhibitor shows the initial dose to be well tolerated and rapidly absorbed, with a PK consistent with a daily oral drug,” said Pacylex CMO John Mackey.
      • New Trail, the University of Alberta’s alumni magazine, took a look at the promise of precision health as outlined by several researchers during Alumni Weekend.
      • Canada need a national strategy for Internet of Things (IoT) technology developed in consultation with businesses, policymakers, and academics to catch up to the rest of the world, writes Eleni Stroulia, director of AI4Society. Health is one of five sectors that could be “substantially amplified” by IoT, she says in a piece for Innovating Canada. ”(Health) care costs could be reduced, and citizen health could be improved, if the variety of data emitted by the devices worn by consumers was analyzed and considered at the point of care.”
      • Alberta has an enormous opportunity to be a leader in data-driven innovation, but it needs a policy framework that gets data out of silos and equips organizations with the education to handle it responsibly and ethically, writes Cory Janssen, co-founder and co-CEO of AltaML. “There is a misconception that data usage is akin to identity theft,” he says in a LinkedIn post. “But an AI model doesn’t need your name, address, SIN. In a healthcare context, once somebody understands that data can be used to give them a better treatment pathway, and potentially save their life, the fear goes way down.”
      • Dr. David Danto has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Health and Community Studies at MacEwan University. He will also teach in the department of public safety and justice studies.
      • The Alberta Wellness Center for Eating Disorders has opened its doors to treat the rise in eating disorders seen over the course of the pandemic.
      • Applications close April 1 for the spring intake of the Canadian Entrepreneurs in Life Science Valley Ready program, which helps companies from pre-seed to Series A navigate Silicon Valley.
      • Beth Kobly spoke to Radio-Canada’s Le café show about what it’s like to work at Drugbank, which has been named a Great Place to Work for Women.
      • PRIMED Medical Products is matching staff donations to the Canadian Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal.

Events

• March 23, 12pm: Accelerators, Incubators, Scale-up and Seed Stage Start-Ups – Dr. Paramita Chaudhuri Basu (for University of Alberta students, postdocs, faculty, and staff)
• March 24, 9am: Rainforest Summit Edmonton
• March 30-31: IoT North Conference
• March 31, 6pm: Alberta Accelerator by 500: Batch 1 Digital Demo Day
• April 27, 12pm: Building a Team for Success – Sandra Spencer (for University of Alberta students, postdocs, faculty, and staff)
• May 24-27: Amii’s AI Week
• June 1-3: Inventures conference in Calgary and online

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