Waterloo has always been a different kind of university, and relationships with our partners – including a strong alumni base – have been part of our strength from the very beginning.
Today, many of you are part of this strength. You volunteer as mentors or advisors to our students. You create opportunities for co-op students to work with your organizations. You speak at events, share your stories through our alumni publications, and appear on the world stage as our greatest ambassadors. And, of course, you give the gifts that fund scholarships, expansion, and research programs, including the one that brought me back to Applied Health Sciences 15 years ago.
Alumni vision leads healthcare innovation
I graduated from Waterloo in 1996 with a PhD in Health Studies, and worked afterwards as a research scientist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in London, Ontario.
At the time, I was researching rehabilitation strategies for older patients with musculoskeletal injuries. I noticed that while detailed assessments were being collected, no one was using or sharing this data. It meant lost time for clinicians, who were performing duplicate assessments, and frustration and lost recovery time for patients.
Then, in 2004, thanks to an alumni-funded Trust*, I had the opportunity to start a program of research at Waterloo. This program combined my existing research with the new field of health informatics.
This work has since led to many other research projects concerning the health and health care of older persons, and has attracted millions of dollars of additional government funding.
This never would have happened without the vision and generosity of a group of Waterloo alumni just like you.
You are a major part of our success
Thank you for all of these contributions, and for everything you do to help us continue leading new conversations about preventing disease and injury and protecting healthy living.
I look forward to meeting and working with many of you as we build a healthier and more sustainable world.
Paul Stolee
Interim Dean, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
*The J.W. Graham Information Technology Trust, established by alumni and colleagues of pioneering Waterloo computer scientist Wes Graham.
