Health Futures

Engineers at the University of Waterloo have developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict if women with breast cancer would benefit from chemotherapy prior to surgery.

The new AI algorithm, part of the open-source Cancer-Net initiative led by Dr. Alexander Wong, could help unsuitable candidates avoid the serious side effects of chemotherapy and pave the way for better surgical outcomes for those who are suitable.

The entrepreneurship ecosystem at Waterloo Engineering nurtures promising ideas into thriving enterprises. In our weekly Founder Fuel series, we look at new ventures and how they have benefited from that crucial early support.

According to high-profile venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, launching any startup is hard, so you might as well aim high. Michael Phillips and his roommate Phillip Cooper (both BASc ’17, mechanical engineering, entrepreneurship option) took that advice seriously when they co-founded Vena Medical.

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.

The School of Public Health Sciences is pleased to announce that three of its programs have received accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH): the Bachelor of Public Health, Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and Master of Public Healt

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have created a computational model to predict the growth of deadly brain tumours more accurately.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a brain cancer with an average survival rate of only one year. It is difficult to treat due to its extremely dense core, rapid growth, and location in the brain. Estimating these tumours’ diffusivity and proliferation rate is useful for clinicians, but that information is hard to predict for an individual patient quickly and accurately.

A new research study has found that banning menthol cigarettes does not lead more smokers to purchase menthols from illicit sources, contradicting claims made by the tobacco industry that the proposed ban of menthol cigarettes in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will lead to a significant increase in illicit cigarettes.

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.

Craig Janes, a researcher in the School of Public Health Sciences, received $1 million in funding for a Women RISE team project focused on the impact COVID-19 has had on employment, economic status and HIV risk and vulnerability among women living in urban, informal settlements in Kampala and Mbale, Uganda.

New research out of the University of Waterloo has identified “vaccination deserts” in parts of northern and rural Ontario and in locations where French is predominantly spoken. These areas have little to no access to pharmacist-administered vaccination sites for COVID vaccines or the flu shot.