Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
From Waterloo undergrad to doctor and health-tech leader
By Sam Charles. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.
Growing up in Cambridge, Ontario, Dr. Doug Kavanagh (BSE ’06) always had a sense of where his future might lead. Long before he arrived at the University of Waterloo as part of the inaugural software engineering cohort, he was already imagining how he might one day follow in the footsteps of his parents, health-tech entrepreneurs who built a company from the ground up.
“I grew up watching both my parents build a company from scratch, which sparked my interest in using technology to improve health care,” says Kavanagh, now the co-founder and medical director of OceanMD. “My dad was a family physician, a programmer and a devoted father. Seeing him balance those roles made a deep impression on me. He showed me that it was possible to care for patients while also creating the tools that support modern health care. He was the one who first taught me how to code in C. I shared his passion right away, eventually writing my first video game in high school. Software engineering at Waterloo was a dream education for me.”
Drs. Doug and James Kavanagh pictured during a tour of Velocity (also pictured are Dr. Fok-Han Leung and Eli Clarke).
After completing his degree at Waterloo, Kavanagh pursued medicine. This path allowed him to bridge two worlds he cared about deeply: technology and patient care.
Before his parents sold their company, PS Suite, to TELUS Health in 2013, Kavanagh and many of his classmates gained early exposure to digital health as co-op students at the family business.
“Working as a co-op student for an electronic medical records (EMR) company showed me how much practical, well-designed technology can help patients and clinicians,” he recalls. “Those experiences drew me into medicine because I wanted to understand the clinical side well enough to build tools that truly support the people delivering care.”
Although health care is often associated with cutting-edge innovation, Kavanagh saw firsthand that many family practices still wrestled with outdated systems and heavy administrative burdens. He believed technology could do far more to make everyday clinical work easier and to help patients connect with care.
Today, Kavanagh is both a practicing physician and co-founder of OceanMD, a cloud-native health technology platform trusted by more than 50,000 health-care professionals across 6,000 clinics and hospitals in Canada.
OceanMD facilitates more than 4 million patient engagements every month and processes 2 million eReferrals annually, helping modernize clinical workflows and improve the way patients move through the health-care system.
The company remains a family venture, with his brother Jeff serving as CEO and co-founder. Victoria Badgley and Greg Taylor (BMath ’92) are also co-founders and leaders at the company.
Throughout his journey, Kavanagh says that Waterloo has remained a defining anchor.
“Waterloo’s engineering and co-op program was a humbling and formative experience,” he says. “Serving real clients while keeping up with my studies pushed me to aim higher and build solutions that worked in the real world. The habits I developed stayed with me through medical training and into entrepreneurship.”
Read the full story on Waterloo News
Grad students encouraged to sign up for FCI International Field Study
The Future Cities Institute is inviting graduate students to sign up for the FCI International Field Study in Singapore from April 27 to May 7.
“This is an in-person, immersive field study in Singapore where we explore how one of the world’s most innovative cities tackles complex urban challenges,” says a note from FCI.
Singapore is a living laboratory for urban innovation. Operating under intense constraints—limited land and resources, climate exposure, and rapid growth—the city has developed integrated, long-term approaches to infrastructure and governance.
This field study focuses on learning from Singapore. Students will explore how coordinated decision-making across government, industry, and civil society has shaped resilient, future-ready urban systems—and what lessons may (or may not) apply to Canadian cities.
Limited spaces are available and early interest is encouraged.
More details are available on the FCI website.
We’ve done the training, so why hasn’t anything changed?
A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (EDI-R).
Equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts are everywhere on campus—from mandatory trainings to public commitments. But many might be wondering: has any of this actually led to real change?
In the opening episode of The Conversations We Need To Have, host Monique Chambers, Senior Training Specialist, brings her thoughtful and engaging facilitation style to a bold conversation with Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor, Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism. Together, they dig into the tough questions: What’s truly shifting? Who is accountable? And how do we move beyond box-checking to meaningful cultural and systemic transformation?
Grounded in the University of Waterloo experience, this episode sets the tone for the series, naming the discomfort, fatigue, and skepticism around equity work while creating space for honest dialogue, learning, and real impact.
If you’re ready to move past surface-level discussions, join Monique for The Conversations We Need to Have now streaming on YouTube and Spotify.
Link of the day
35 years ago: Gulf War ground offensive begins
When and where
The Campus Wellness Student Medical Clinic offers healthcare visits with Physicians and Nurse Practitioners to current undergraduate and graduate students. Services include: vaccinations, immunity testing, naturopathic services and more. Counselling Services offers appointments with counsellors in person as well as via phone and video. Students can book appointments for these services by calling Campus Wellness at 519-888-4096.
The privately-run Student Health Pharmacy (located in the lower level of the Student Life Centre) is now offering new COVID booster shots and flu shots. Covid booster shots are available by appointment only – please call ext. 33784 or 519-746-4500. The Student Health Pharmacy’s summer hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Naloxone kits are still available – pick them up in the pharmacy at no charge.
The Waterloo Eye Institute optometry clinics in Waterloo and downtown Kitchener offer comprehensive eye exams and eyewear, including glasses and contact lenses, with the Waterloo location offering various specialized services including urgent eye care. Discounts apply for University of Waterloo students and employees. The Waterloo Clinic is at a nearby interim location, 419C Phillip St, during construction at the School of Optometry and Vision Science. The Kitchener Clinic remains at the Health Sciences Campus, 10B Victoria St. S. Book online or by phone at 519-888-4062.
Warriors Winter Youth Camps, registration is now open for multi-sport and games, baseball, basketball, eSports, football and hockey camps for boys and girls ages 5 to 18. Register today!
Winter 2026 Student Experience Survey. The Winter SES is now open. Please check your @uwaterloo email or visit LEARN to see if you have been invited. Those that submit their responses will receive $5 on their WatCard. The survey is open until February 27.
The Black Book Fair, Monday, February 23 and Tuesday, February 24 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Hagey Hall Project Cube.
Dating and Neurodiversity, Tuesday, February 24, 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Systematic and Scoping Review Methods, Tuesday, February 24, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon, online.
Accessibility and GenAI - Online (CTE7554), Tuesday, February 24, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., online.
GIS Speed Run: Essential Analysis Tools, Tuesday, February 24, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
CIGI Signature Lecture: Emerging Dual-Use Technologies in an Era of Strategic Competition, Tuesday, February 24, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., CIGI Campus.
Cooperathon 2026 Information Session, Wednesday, February 25, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., Virtual (hosted by Velocity at the University of Waterloo in partnership with Desjardins) — learn how to win up to 100K in cash prizes.
Fruit and Veg Market, Wednesday, February 25, 12 noon to 4:00 p.m., SLC lower atrium, PSE 1st floor, EV3 1st floor. $10 for a bag of assorted produce while supplies last.
AI & Tech Facilitated Deepfake Abuse Workshop, Wednesday, February 25, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. and Thursday, February 26, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Noon Hour Concert: Wondrous Winds, Wednesday, February 25, 12 noon, Conrad Grebel Chapel. Free admission.
Teaching Critical Engagement with AI - In Person (CTE7560), Thursday, February 26, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in MC 2036
February Book Club Meeting, Friday, February 27, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., International Experience Lounge, Needles Hall.
Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Systematic Search Methods, Tuesday, March 3, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., online.
NEW - Public talk: He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada, Tuesday, March 3, St. Jerome’s University, SJ2 2002.
Fruit and Veg Market, Wednesday, March 4, 12 noon to 4:00 p.m., SLC lower atrium, PSE 1st floor. $10 for a bag of assorted produce while supplies last.
Into the Open: An exploration of education without paywalls, Wednesday, March 4, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., SLC Black & Gold Room 2144
International Women’s Day 6th Annual High Tea Social, presented by the Faculty of Science. Friday, March 6, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., virtual discussion on Zoom. Register today.
Home Routes folk concert: Onna Lou and Keri Latimer, Friday, March 6, 7:00 p.m., Brubacher House - North Campus.
PhD oral defences
Geography and Environmental Management. Lanying Wang, "Scalable Deep Learning for Individual Tree Species Classification from Cross-Platform LiDAR Point Clouds" Supervisor, Dr. Jonathan Li. Email Geography Graduate Administration for a copy. Oral defence Thursday, February 26, 7:00 p.m., remote.
Chemistry. Gyorgy Jaics, “Investigation of Magneto-Optical and Photonic Properties of Plasmonic Tungsten Oxide and Alkali Tungsten Bronze Nanocrystals.” Supervisor, Dr. Pavle Radovanovic. Visit the Faculty of Science Thesis Submission Notices website for details on requesting a copy to review. Oral defence Tuesday, March 3, 9:00 a.m., remote via MS Teams.
Earth and Environmental Sciences. Boyao Tian, “Development of a Coupled Hydro-Economic Model to Support Groundwater Irrigation Decisions.” Supervisor, Dr. Andrea Brookfield. Visit the Faculty of Science Thesis Submission Notices website for details on requesting a copy to review. Oral defence Thursday, March 5, 12 noon, EIT 2053.
Earth and Environmental Sciences. David Hilger, “Hydrogeological, Mineralogical, and Geochemical Characterization of a Gold Mine Tailings Containment Area at the Giant Mine, NT.” Supervisors, Dr. Carol Ptacek, Dr. David Blowes. Visit the Faculty of Science Thesis Submission Notices website for details on requesting a copy to review. Oral defence Monday, March 2, Friday, March 6, 10:30 a.m., EIT 2053. Please note the correct time.
Upcoming service interruptions
Stay up to date on service interruptions, campus construction, and other operational changes on the Plant Operations website. Upcoming service interruptions include:
-
Bright Starts daycare, Toby Jenkins Building, Optometry, Columbia Ice Field fire alarm testing, Wednesday, February 25, 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
-
UWP - Waterloo South, Woolwich South, Beck Hall fire alarm testing, Wednesday, February 25, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
-
East Campus Hall, Engineering 5, 6, Pearl Sullivan Engineering (E7) fire alarm testing, Friday, February 27, 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
-
Wilmot South, Wellesley South, Eby Hall, Claudette Millar Hall fire alarm testing, Friday, February 27, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
-
Earth Sciences and Chemistry electrical shutdown, Saturday, February 28 from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.