by Max McKee
Imagine waking up each day to the sensation of broken glass in every joint, exhausted as if you have just ran a marathon although your day has only just begun. In the eyes of millions living worldwide with multiple sclerosis (MS), these are some regular challenges that can present themselves daily. For 2B Waterloo student Lilian Do and a team of fellow Biomedical Engineering students this is an unacceptable reality, one they were driven to improve after an eye-opening co-op work term at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
“During my four months I really grew to admire the incredible work that goes on at the MS Society” said Lilian. “It was a big part of why I wanted to join the Hack4Health competition and was inspired to create a solution for people living with MS.”
The Hack4Health competition held this past September was a brainstorming contest lasting 36 hours in which students from the University of Waterloo came together in an attempt to find ways improve the quality of life for people living with MS, Alzheimer’s and related dementias. With the early stage development of their app, coined “Circle of Care,” Lilian’s team allows people living with MS to record various indicators of day-to-day wellness. By creating an in-app profile, patients can share their information with various health care specialists such as neurologists, rehabilitation specialists, and caregivers, making it easier for the health care team to monitor current symptoms and orient patient care. The collection of this information also helps further research and development as the app’s live updates allow any change in a patient’s condition to be analyzed virtually instantaneously.
Lilian, now in a co-op term working as a researcher at Sunnybrook Research Institute, stressed how her work term at the MS Society equipped her with a strong ability to learn independently and a knack for problem solving, skills she will take with her throughout her career.
“The skills you learn and the connections you make during co-op are things that just aren't possible in a classroom setting alone,” Lilian explained. “I think having real-world experience is so valuable for my future and will definitely open more doors for me later on.”
The efforts of Lilian and her team did not go unnoticed. They were one of two teams selected by a panel of judges that included Dr. Karen Lee, vice-president of research at the MS Society of Canada, as a group that demonstrated potential impact in improving quality of life for people living with MS.
Way to go Lilian, and good luck this term at Sunnybrook!
