Kate Sellen (she/her)

Sellen comes to Waterloo from OCAD University, where she held a Canada Research Chair in Health Design and recently served as Full Professor in the Faculty of Design. With a background in digital design and advanced degrees from the University of Toronto, Georgia Tech, and University College London, her work spans health, design, and community engagement. Her research explores temporal and dynamic aspects of healthcare design — work that has led to new information tools and participatory methods adopted by hospitals, public health agencies and not-for-profits.

Since 2017, she has secured more than $25 million in research funding through collaborations with healthcare partners at both national and provincial levels. Her work includes co-designed overdose first aid kits, award winning multilingual COVID-19 communication tools, and interactive installations on end-of-life care. These projects exemplify her ability to create tools with tangible, real-world impact — especially in urgent and dynamic environments like emergency rooms and community health settings — while advancing participatory design approaches.

"Design is about creativity and new ideas, but it’s also about innovation that works in real-world settings. It calls for flexible thinking, balancing the technical with the human and bringing together expert and community perspectives,” said Sellen. “In my new role as the inaugural George Soulis Chair, I’m eager to build students’ capacity to tackle the complex challenges of today and tomorrow — and to help shape a healthier, more resilient future."

• design research

• socio-technical systems

• design methods

• creativity and innovation

Her research explores temporal and dynamic aspects of healthcare design — work that has led to new information tools and participatory methods adopted by hospitals, public health agencies and not-for-profits. This includes research on inclusive and interdisciplinary design methods for healthcare design challenges. Much of this work focuses on design for safety critical and high sensitivity topics, including the dosing, ordering, tapering, and management of opiates, communication at end of life, and emergency medicine and paramedicine.

Sector collaborators include Red Cross, SE Health, Public Health Ontario, Alberta Health Services, Access Alliance, Toronto Public Health, Unity Health - St Michael's Hospital, University Health Network, Sunnybrook Health Sciences.

• 2015, Doctorate, Industrial Engineering and Human Factors, University of Toronto, Canada

• 2000, Master of Science in Information Design and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, United States of America

• 1996, Master of Research in Environmental Science, University College London, United Kingdom

• 1995, Bachelor of Science in Geography, University College London, United Kingdom

• Design Awards (International)

• 2022 IIIDAward. Grand Prix Jury Prize for Emergency COVID-19 Projects, - distilling text heavy advice into simple steps and concepts, and creating simple, friendly, and flexible inclusive icons. (n.d.).

• http://www.flussobjekte.at/hpall/award/2635/4q3857j0xg.pdf

• 2022 IIIDAward. Silver in Healthcare, - distilling text heavy advice into simple steps and concepts, and creating simple, friendly, and flexible inclusive icons. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.flussobjekte.at/hpall/award/2635/4q3857j0xg.pdf

• Design Awards (National/Local)

• 2023 Jurors Choice Award, DesignTO Festival Juror’s Choice Award selected by Boris Yu.

• https://www.dyingseries.ca/dying-2023.html