AR G1 HIH

Addresses objectives:
R1A Lead nationally and globally at the interface of society, health, and technology 
R1C Explore interdisciplinary, cross-faculty research opportunities

Waterloo is building a supportive environment to leverage existing research strengths in health and technology. There are three key strands in this work: infrastructure, investment, and talent. The physical infrastructure, the Innovation Arena, will promote collaboration and streamline commercialization pathways to fast track the development of health technologies. Federal funding for the health innovation partnership was announced in August 2021 and renovation of existing facilities in downtown Kitchener began in early 2022. It is anticipated that the Innovation Arena will be completed in 2023.

To attract investment to fuel research and invest in talent, Waterloo engaged with regional partners to develop two national proposals:

• a proposal for the federal government’s Canadian Biomanufacturing Research Fund (CBRF) program to establish a hub for biomanufacturing related to pandemic preparedness in conjunction with institutions in Ontario as well as participation in one other CBRF proposal, and
• a Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) proposal on Transformative Health Technologies in virtual care, point of care diagnostics, therapeutic robotics, assistive technology, and secure data-informed technologies.

These two major research funding initiatives build on existing research activities including digital technologies to improve patient care and nanotechnology for better patient outcomes.

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