Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Dr. John Hirdes named to the Order of Canada

A message from the Faculty of Health.

Dr. John Hirdes, a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences, has been appointed a member of the Order of Canada for his “contributions to evidence-based health care practice and policy, notably through the research and development of standardized assessments and decision support tools.”

A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Hirdes is known for his research in geriatric assessment, mental health, health care and service delivery and health information management. He is the senior Canadian Fellow and a board member of interRAI, an international consortium of researchers from more than 40 countries. He chairs interRAI's International Network in Mental Health, and he chaired the University’s Committee on Student Mental Health (CoSMH). In addition, he recently received a 2022 University Professor designation.

“It is wonderful and humbling to be recognized with this honour,” Hirdes said. “It has been a privilege to contribute to making things better in a country that welcomed my family and me many years ago.”

Dr. Ian Burton, who received an honorary doctor of environmental studies from Waterloo in 2013, was named an officer of the Order of Canada. Burton, a policy advisor and influential scholar, was recognized for the scientific contributions to climate change adaptation. 

"I wish to congratulate each and every person invested into the Order of Canada," said Dr. Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo. "Dr. Hirdes has spent his career working to make the provision of geriatric services and mental healthcare evidence-informed, more efficient and effective in Canada and around the world. He is also passionate about mentoring graduate students so that they can continue this important work. This is a tremendous honour and I’m proud to see that the University of Waterloo continues to be affiliated with individuals who are working to make a difference to our country."

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, announced 78 new appointments to the Order of Canada, which has three levels: companion, officer and member. Officers of the Order of Canada are recognized specifically for service to Canada or to humanity at large, and members of the Order of Canada are honoured for distinguished service in or to a community, group or field of activity.

Visionary inventions for eye disease

By Karen Kawawada. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

Navigating the world safely can be a major challenge for people with vision impairments. One award-winning new invention aims to change that, while another aims to diagnose a common eye disease earlier, potentially preventing vision loss in the first place. 

The Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), a Hong Kong-based collaboration between the University of Waterloo and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, recently won gold medals for both the inventions it entered in the Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions Hong Kong. 

“It’s encouraging for our teams to be recognized in this way and an indication of the maturity of these inventions,” said Dr. Ben Thompson, a professor at Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science and CEO and scientific director of CEVR. “This recognition will help accelerate the transition of these projects from research to commercial success.” 

Detecting macular degeneration earlier 

One of the inventions is the world’s first piece of quantum technology in vision science. It’s a collaboration between quantum optics experts, particularly Drs. Dmitry Pushin, David Cory and Dusan Sarenac of Waterloo, and Waterloo and Hong Kong vision researchers led by Thompson. The underlying technology is a structured light beam that people even at the earliest stages of macular degeneration perceive differently than those without the disease.  

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News.

January's first batch of notes

The Metabolism, Exercise Training and Sex Differences (METS) lab in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo is seeking sedentary, overweight males and females aged 18-45 years for a research study investigating whether the addition of two nutritional supplements to an exercise regime can improve the effects of exercise training on ‘high-quality weight loss’.

For more information, read the full Daily Bulletin article from August 8, 2022 regarding the launch of this ongoing research study.

If you are interested in participating in this study or have any questions, please contact Thabie Lechesa, Department of Kinesiology at 519-498-2151 or tlechesa@uwaterloo.ca.

Warriors Recreation registration opens today at 9:00 a.m., with Aquatics registration opening at 12 noon today. Athletics and Recreation will be running free Try-It opportunities (fitness, clubs, and instructional) from January 8 to 14, with an Athletics and Recreation Open House set for Tuesday, January 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Student Life Centre Great Hall. "Stop by to find out how to get active and engaged with your fellow Warriors this term," says a note from Athletics.

The intramural and instructional registration deadline is January 15 at 1:00 p.m.

The University's Undergraduate Calendar is temporarily offline for maintenance until Friday, January 5.