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

• A research group supported by Health Cities and the Institute of Health Economics has published a paper evaluating the feasibility of generating synthetic administrative health data using a recurrent deep-learning model using data gathered from Alberta Health Services databases. “We want to take data generated by the health-care system, convert it into knowledge, and feed it back into the system so that we can improve care and outcomes,” Canadian VIGOUR Centre co-director Padma Kaul told Folio. “That’s the definition of a learning health-care system.”
• The University of Alberta has received government approval to set up a new Innovation Fund, a venture-philanthropy fund that will invest in startups founded by U of A students, alumni, faculty, staff, and other entrepreneurs in the province.
• A clinical trial led by the University of Alberta and Unity Health Toronto has paved the way for approval of a device to rapidly test for HIV and syphilis. “These extremely rapid point-of-care tests for the diagnosis of syphilis and HIV are much needed and a game changer for Canada,” said Ameeta Singh with the University of Alberta. “We were able to save costs associated with an additional clinic visit, reducing the number of cases lost to follow-up, and prevent ongoing disease transmission.”
• The University of Alberta’s nursing program ranked the best in Canada for the second consecutive year in the QS World University Rankings and rose in the global ranking from ninth in 2022 to fifth in 2023. Diane Kunyk, acting dean for the Faculty of Nursing, said the ranking demonstrates the faculty’s excellence, noting that recent research has focused on “meaningful and topical” subjects like vaccine hesitancy, quality of care in long-term settings, and quality of life with chronic illnesses.
• The University of Alberta Library has partnered with Click&Push Accessibility to create an accessibility map of the Cameron Library for the company’s mobile phone app, The Atlas.
• Having demonstrated the existence of systemic racism in emergency care, a team led by researchers at the University of Alberta and eight First Nations organizations are ready to set up partnerships with three emergency departments to ensure patients are treated equitably and with dignity. A $1.75-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research is funding the project.
• The Black Pharmacy Students’ Association from the University of Alberta organized a pop-up dermatology clinic to bring awareness to how dermatological conditions display on darker skin. “Our learning and curriculum was lacking a lot in Black health,” said Aisha Ibrahim, co-president of the Black Pharmacy Students’ Association. “We saw a deficit in that, and we wanted to rectify that and get more information out into the public.”
• The University Hospital Foundation has unveiled a new brand to support its fundraising efforts to advance patient care and innovation.
• Health Cities is planning to hold its next breakfast in Calgary on May 4, on the topic of the power of personal health data.

Events

• March 29, 9:30am: Forging Ahead: Leveraging Tech to Revolutionize Health Care in Canada, presented by CityAge
• March 29, 12pm: Tackling Gender Disparity in Women’s Healthcare: Virtual Panel presented by BPW Edmonton
• March 30, 5pm: NAT Chat: Social Neuroscience online and at the University of Alberta
• March 30, 7pm: What the Health: Let’s Talk about Contraception, presented by the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation
• April 13, 5pm: Health Innovators’ Meetup: Innovation Mixer with Startup TNT at Northern Chicken
• April 18, 5:30pm: Ready. Set. Global: Demo Day for Alberta Accelerator by 500 at the Edmonton Convention Centre
• April 19, 7pm: Building Your Bench Strength with Erin Brennan, presented by Emerging Health Leaders
• April 26-27: Health Gamechangers: The Impact of Digital Technologies in Research at the University of Alberta

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