News
3 UCalgary projects receive $20.3M in provincial innovation grants
Date
We envision a vibrant eHealth and mHealth ecosystem, accelerating innovation, growth, and transforming healthcare through collaboration and partnerships.
September 6, 2023
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Pamela Hyde, Office of the Vice-President (Research)
UCalgary’s innovation ecosystem just received a $20.3-million boost, thanks to Alberta’s Major Innovation Fund (MIF). On Sept. 5, Nate Glubish, minister of technology and innovation, announced that three UCalgary projects have received four years of funding to lead province-wide strategic initiatives to accelerate research and commercialization in the areas of medical devices, electronic and mobile health, and space and defence technologies.
“Provincial support for high-tech research and innovation will help our post-secondary scholars move from groundbreaking technological ideas to entrepreneurial realities, fuelling a more diverse economy and making a positive impact in the wider community,” says Dr. Ed McCauley, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary.
Major Innovation Fund projects are highly collaborative, requiring the engagement of scholars from institutions across Alberta, industry partners, and the communities that the projects intend to serve. It is an outcomes-focused program, funding projects that will attract and retain top talent, diversify Alberta’s economy, support industries and local businesses, and leverage additional investments.
“UCalgary’s innovation ecosystem is growing thanks to the drive of our research community and investments like the Major Innovation Fund,” says Dr. William Ghali, vice-president (research). “These three projects will streamline the research-to-commercialization pipeline for their sector and create opportunities for both innovative research and widespread of adoption of novel, made-in-Alberta solutions.” UCalgary’s projects are the Alberta Medical Device Innovation Consortium, Health Everywhere, and Space and Defence Technologies Alberta.
Health Everywhere
Lead investigator: Dr. Mary Brindle, MD, professor, Cumming School of Medicine
Alberta has pockets of excellence in eHealth (digital health technologies) and mHealth (mobile health technologies), which include novel programs and innovations. However, much of this excellence is disconnected and has tremendous untapped potential for collaboration and commercialization, and widespread adoption.
The vision of Health Everywhere is a vibrant eHealth and mHealth ecosystem in Alberta that builds on a foundation of strength in innovation to drive economic and technological growth.
“The rapid evolution of technology, the increasing complexity of medicine and the limitations of our current systems of patient care underscore the need for a human-centered approach to digital health,” says Brindle.
“Health Everywhere will use digital-health technologies to allow patients to receive the best possible medical treatment whether it is in the hospital or in their own homes, and strengthen connections between care in the hospital and care in communities.”
Co-developed with community, industry, and academic stakeholders, Health Everywhere will be a provincial hub of digital health excellence that brings together integrated programs, leading experts, and resources to enable efficient and effective commercialization, spread, and scale of eHealth and mHealth technologies.
“The Health Everywhere program will create an ecosystem that puts exciting and impactful innovations in technology, computer science, and data analytics into the hands of teams who can use them to benefit the patients of today and tomorrow,” says Brindle.
Health Everywhere is a UCalgary-led project, in partnership with the University of Alberta, Athabasca University, Lethbridge College, MacEwan University, Mount Royal University, NAIT, Red Deer Polytechnic and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
Image Source: iStock
Project Contact-
Pamela Hyde, Office of the Vice-President (Research)