Research

Why use Canada’s tax system as a crisis recovery strategy?

Two reasons. One, because we always have. Look to past recessions – or the very first income tax in Canada, introduced in 1917 during World War I. We turned to taxes in those uncertain times for our economic needs, we're doing it here, and we'll do it again in future crises.

A new screening tool to identify older adults at risk of COVID-19 has been developed by a team led by the University of Waterloo.

The COVID-19 Vulnerability Screener can be used by lay persons to identify older adults, both in the home and in retirement homes, who are at a high risk of adverse health outcomes due to COVID-19.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo are developing a DNA-based vaccine that can be delivered through a nasal spray.

The vaccine will work by using engineered bacteriophage, a process that will allow the vaccine to stimulate an immune response in the nasal cavity and target tissues in the lower respiratory tract.

Some jurisdictions have begun using cell phone data to track the spread of COVID-19. How does this work? What are the privacy concerns around using personal data for this purpose?

We asked Professor Florian Kerschbaum, Director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute, to help us understand this complex issue.

How can cell phones be used to track the spread of COVID-19?

Healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic could reuse personal protective equipment (PPE) up to five times, if necessary, using a two-step disinfection method.

The simple system, proposed by researchers in Canada and New Zealand in a study that has not yet been peer reviewed, combines storage for at least four days and treatment with either ultraviolet (UV) light, dry heat or chemicals to kill coronavirus.

The system can be used on masks, gowns and other kinds of PPE now in short supply around the world.

COVID-19 has introduced strains to health systems around the world that modern society has never seen before. The outcomes have resulted in an uphill battle for many communities working to mobilize health-care workers and managing dwindling supplies of resources.

Hydroxychloroquine has been in the 

It began as a few words on a sticky note while a team of engineering students at the University of Waterloo brainstormed ideas for their fourth-year design project.

Now, little more than six months later, the students have a working prototype of a portable, low-cost ventilator they hope could soon help save lives on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.

“It’s a total fluke, but our project couldn’t be any more relevant than it is today,” says Connor Simmons, one of four team members from the mechatronics and mechanical engineering programs.

Professor Zahid Butt, of the Scho

University of Waterloo professor Jimmy Lin has spearheaded the creation of a dedicated search engine for those who are engaged in the fight against COVID-19.