Health Futures

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced today that Dr. Laura Middleton, a researcher in Waterloo’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, received a grant of more than $979,000 over four years for a project called Dementia Lifestyle Intervention for Getting Healthy Together (DELIGHT). Middleton leads the project alongside Dr. Heather Keller and Dr.

Researchers have created a new AI-assisted digital art tool designed to help art therapy patients better express themselves while maintaining the efficacy of the process.

The tool, dubbed DeepThInk, was designed by computer science researchers at the University of Waterloo and the Southern University of Science and Technology in collaboration with art therapists. DeepThInk grew out of the challenges the therapists faced when the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to conduct their work virtually.

Physicians tasked with diagnosing stroke patients have a new tool in their arsenal thanks to an innovative treatment devised by Vena Medical, a company spun out of Velocity, the University of Waterloo's start-up incubator.  

Since our founding in 1957, the University of Waterloo has sought to uncover solutions to the most pressing, complex challenges facing humanity and our planet. As these challenges evolve, we are evolving too.

Dr. Ming Li  
Professor, Faculty of Mathematics  
> Cheriton School of Computer Science 
> Canada Research Chair in Bioinformatics 
> Founder, Bioinformatics Solutions Inc.  

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, an estimated 230,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year.  

Rachel Almaw was awarded the 2022 Faculty of Health Co-op Student of the Year. She worked for three co-op terms in the Mobilize Clinical Biomechanics research lab, which is based in Waterloo’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. It was through these co-op terms that she found her calling. 

Almaw focuses her research on the intersection of health and race. We asked her what needs to change in Canada’s approach to data collection and research to create a more equitable health-care system. 

Many science students begin their undergraduate degrees already thinking about what comes next. For some, it is progressing in a research career or jumping into the job market, but for others, it has always been the dream of becoming a doctor or a veterinarian. With each course and elective, they meticulously plan their undergraduate studies guided by their passion and purpose for studying medicine. For these aspiring medical or veterinary practitioners, every step is building toward a successful application that will lead to an interview.