At GenAI Health Lab, we are driven by curiosity, creativity, and the belief that generative AI can transform the future of health. Our team of dedicated students and researchers works at the intersection of technology and healthcare, exploring bold new ideas and building innovative solutions.
From AI-driven drug discovery and synthetic data generation to health service chatbots and generative qualitative coding, our projects push the boundaries of what’s possible. In our fast-paced and collaborative environment, we embrace experimentation, learn from challenges, and stay committed to advancing knowledge that can make a real impact.
Get to know the researchers in our lab: see team profiles.
Research interests
- Artificial intelligence (AI) for public and population health
- AI in drug discovery
- AI for learning health systems
- Generative and synthetic data
- Evaluation of GenAI in health
- Health data quality and analytics
- Agentic AI
See selected publications for more information on our work.
Interested in working with us?
As part of who we are, we are always looking for new opportunities and innovations.
For students
Interested in becoming a student of the GenAI Health lab? We are looking for passionate students and researchers interested in exploring up-and-coming technology and ideas!
Please check out our page outlining how students can get involved.
For partners and collaborators
We partner with companies and research teams to co-create innovative solutions at the intersection of health and generative AI.
Connect with us if you’re looking to collaborate on cutting-edge projects.
News
Dr. Helen Chen Brings Predictive Public Health to CIPHI 2026
Dr. Helen Chen is bringing the food inspection project to the 84th CIPHI Ontario Branch Annual Educational Conference, held October 14–16, 2026 at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her session, co-presented with Phil Wong from Toronto Public Health (TPH), is titled “Harmonizing Food Inspection Data to Support Predictive Public Health Practice”.
The talk speaks directly to this year’s conference theme, The Evolving Role of Environmental Public Health, and its “Adapting the Toolkit” stream, which focuses on modernizing public health practice through new tools and technologies. The public health inspectors, decision-makers, and researchers from across Ontario sit at the front line of the food safety inspection system that Waterloo’s team aims to strengthen.
GenAI for Health Lab Helps Launch Canada’s Synthetic Data Network
Dr. Helen Chen, of the School of Public Health Sciences, is leading the University of Waterloo’s role in a new cross-Canada consortium building a Synthetic Data Network (SDN) — an effort to unlock the value of health data while protecting patient privacy.
Celebrating an Important Milestone for the Doro Research Study
We are pleased to announce that the Agentic GenAI-Enabled Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Well-Being: A Pilot Research Study of Feasibility and Safety has received Research Ethics Board (REB) approval.
This first-of-its-kind pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and safety of Doro, an agentic generative AI application designed to deliver psychotherapeutic interventions for well-being. The results will help guide the development of a future large-scale clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of GenAI-enabled psychotherapeutic interventions.
Participant recruitment will begin soon, with additional details to be shared in the coming weeks.