Science

ChatGPT, a language processing tool driven by artificial intelligence (AI), has been making headlines since its launch late last year.

Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy has already been utilizing a generative AI platform since early-2018 to enhance experiential learning for pharmacy professionals and students. Now, the School is looking to incorporate ChatGPT technology in that same platform.

Hospital emergency rooms are extremely busy, but a significant portion of avoidable ER visits can now be managed by pharmacists through the new expanded scope of practice for pharmacists, which gives them the ability to prescribe medications for 13 minor ailments.

Thursday, February 2 marks World Wetlands Day, an international government agreement acknowledging the importance of wetlands and their ecological role in conserving our ecosystems.

“Wetlands are these climate change superheroes,” says Dr. Rebecca Rooney, a wetland ecologist and professor in the Department of Biology. “Wetlands are a portfolio of ecosystem services: including flood prevention, breaking down pesticides, storing large amounts of carbon, and provide habitat for more than 32 per cent of Ontario species at risk who rely on these wetlands to mitigate climate change.”

When Joseph Abdelnour (PharmD ’24, in progress) accepted his recent co-op work term at Avalon Compound Pharmacy (ACP), he never anticipated the new challenges he would face.

With no children’s cold medications available in Ottawa and the inability to order from distributors, pharmacists were advising patients to visit nearby emergency rooms, where they must wait for many hours. The other common advice is to visit compounding pharmacies.

CHEO, a pediatric hospital in Ottawa, has been over capacity this viral season due to the surge of patients experiencing respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19.

University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy students have stepped up to help to fill clinical roles, thanks to the flexibility and support of their current co-op employers.

The Pharmasave Business Competition awards a third-year Waterloo School of Pharmacy student team a $5,000 prize for an innovative business model in the field of pharmacy.

“Every year, the Pharmasave Business Competition proves pharmacists can be entrepreneurs. Our course and the competition are unique to the School and provide students with the opportunity to practice the skills of entrepreneurship while interacting with the robust start-up ecosystem in our community,” says Dean Pacey, adjunct lecturer at the School of Pharmacy.

Medication non-adherence is a concern globally, and often occurs unknowingly or by mistake. Dr. Tejal Patel, clinical associate professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, is trying to improve medication management and assist older adults when taking their medication at home by correctly matching them with new innovative technologies.

Dr. Patel has received funding for her project from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Canadian Institute for Health Research-Institute of Aging (CIHR-IA) totaling more than half a million dollars.   

Unnecessary use and misuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobials are increasing the serious problem of antimicrobial resistance. Over time bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change, and as a result, drug resistance can occur where infections that were previously easily treated become difficult to treat.

Antimicrobial resistance ranks among the top ten global public health threats, according to the World Health Organization.

The School of Optometry & Vision Science (UWOVS) is partnering with The Cowan Foundation and the Lions Club of Canada to develop a coordinated vision plan for the Region of Waterloo Public Health to screen every child in senior kindergarten (SK). This plan is to meet the 2018 Ontario Public Health Standards set by the Ministry of Health.