Health Futures

Every year, around 10 million people contract tuberculosis (TB) — a treatable disease where bacteria attack a patient’s lungs. Globally, only about half of those who contract TB yearly are diagnosed. Many other people with TB are undiagnosed and untreated, partly due to a lack of access to quality health-care systems, particularly in resource-limited settings and among marginalized groups.  

An interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team with a University of Waterloo professor as a core member, has been named the winner of the prestigious Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering on November 1st. 

According to the World Health Organization, by 2050, those aged 60 years and older will number approximately 2 billion, a significant rise from 900 million in 2015. In response to the aging global population, health-care systems confront the immense challenge of catering to the requirements of older adults, presenting challenges for individuals, health-care providers, caregivers and the institutions serving them.

It’s cold outside but the view of Hudson’s Bay is beautiful from the Churchill Health Centre (CHC), where dozens of patients got their eyes examined this week, some for the first time in years, thanks to state-of-the art equipment donated through the University of Waterloo School of Optometry & Vision Science.  

The eye clinic, which took place from October 23 to 25 in the northern Manitoba town of about 900 people, was the first to pilot an initiative co-led by the School, the Manitoba Association of Optometrists (MAO) and the CHC. 

At the intersection of data privacy, open science and public health, the University of Waterloo has initiated a collaborative effort with several Canadian government agencies to explore the use of synthetic data for research and analysis.

Dr. Helen Chen, a professor in the Faculty of Health and director of the Professional Practice Centre in Health Systems is leading the initiative.

A team of University of Waterloo researchers has created smart, advanced materials that will be the building blocks for a future generation of soft medical microrobots.

These tiny robots have the potential to conduct medical procedures, such as biopsy, and cell and tissue transport, in a minimally invasive fashion. They can move through confined and flooded environments, like the human body, and deliver delicate and light cargo, such as cells or tissues, to a target position.

Foodborne viruses are a worldwide health concern, with types, severity and impacts of illness changing over time and across communities and countries.

An international team of interdisciplinary researchers has successfully created a method for better 3D modelling of complex cancers.

The University of Waterloo-based team combined cutting-edge bioprinting techniques with synthetic structures or microfluidic chips. The method will help lab researchers more accurately understand heterogeneous tumours: tumours with more than one kind of cancer cell, often dispersed in unpredictable patterns.

Passionate about helping people, Oumar El-Aina’s most rewarding University experience has been volunteering his time as an exercise trainer with elderly post-stroke patients and other individuals with mobility issues.

Spending several hours a week at the Faculty of Health’s Centre for Community, Clinical and Applied Research Excellence (CCCARE), the fourth-year kinesiology student works with participants to regain strength and functionality in the centre’s gym.

Since January 2023, pharmacists across Ontario have been prescribing medications for 13 minor ailments. Nardine Nakhla, pharmacist and professor at the University of Waterloo, was a member of the advisory group that drafted regulations enabling this expansion in scope. Nakhla provides an update on the changing minor ailments landscape in Ontario.

How have the new regulations affected our health-care system, pharmacists and patients since minor ailments took effect this past January?