SPARK Alberta Teams
Current Teams
BiomeBLOOM microbiome point-of-care
BiomeBLOOM, a novel clinical bedside point-of-care to monitor microbiome maturation of babies born prematurely. BiomeBLOOM will transform clinical care by unlocking personalized microbiome therapies, improve health outcomes and healthcare expenditures in this vulnerable population of infants.
Crocus Biomedical
Personalized medicine for bone metastasis of breast cancer
We have a molecular test to identify breast cancer patients who may be at risk for the spread of their cancer to the bone (bone metastasis), as well as a molecular test for early detection of bone metastasis, so that there can be early treatment intervention. We also have a personalized medicine approach to combine a potential new treatment (repurposed drug) for bone metastasis with an assessment of the individual’s tumor attributes, to identify the patients most likely to respond to the drug.
EmPOWER
Broken bones caused by osteoporosis are more prevalent than stroke, heart attacks, and breast cancer combined; however, 80% of patients with osteoporotic fractures go untreated. emPOWER is a uniquely accessible virtual care community platform designed to allow patients with osteoporosis a way to remotely access specialist care, connect with one another, and receive educational resources within one centralized digital hub. By accessing tools for self-referral, chat group networking, anonymous discussion forums, osteoporosis education, and access to personalized bone health care plans, emPOWER aims to make all Albertans unbreakable.
Knowledge2Empower
K2E allows you to learn about epilepsy and emerge in a fun world of entertaining videos, educational games and virtual reality. Our goal is to allow families to cope better with seizures. But more importantly we want to create a world in which every school child and teacher has heard about epilepsy, and no one is discriminated because of this diagnosis.
Lasoo Health: Specialty e-solutions for Primary Care
A novel electronic approach to specialist referral from primary care through patient input to direct an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
OSSAI
Opportunistic screening of CT for subject specific fracture risk assessment
The project is developing the next generation of medical image analysis software which enables population level screening for patients at high risk of osteoporosis.
Previous Teams
2023 Cohort
Getting on Track
An Easy-Access Digital Platform to Enable Measurement-Based Care for Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Albertans with Mental Health Difficulties
Measurement Based Care (MBC) is the use of patient surveys to track mental health recovery, from the patient’s perspective, to make care more collaborative and effective. The use of technology to collect and track progress makes MBC more accessible to some. Our proposal is to develop an easy-access online app that allows all Albertans, including the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, to track their mental health progress to improve their mental health treatment, in both primary care and Alberta Health Services.
Innerme
Innerme is a digital health platform aimed at helping patients and physicians better manage chronic diseases in-between clinic visits. We are making remote monitoring and management easier for physicians. Patients periodically track their symptoms using patient-reported outcome (PRO); physicians get notified when signs of health problems develop and can send a 1-way secure message back to the patient to manage their disease in real-time.
2022 Cohort
8 Bit Cortex: Gamified Mental Health Assessments
Between the adverse health effects of COVID-19 and the subsequent economic challenges, there will be a mental health pandemic in Canada over the next several years. 8 Bit Cortex’s vision is to democratize key components of mental health treatment to increase everyone’s access to these crucial services. By gamifying aspects of the assessment process, we transform the process of collecting health data from being tedious to acquire to an engaging interactive self-discovery experience. By automating data collection, the platform reduces inefficiencies in the health care system, and creates time for patient-centered treatments.
Team members: Amanpreet Kaur, Arazdeep Minhas, Eden Redman, Shannon Snaden, Ty McKinney, Dr. Anuradha Batabyal, PhD
8 Bit Cortex Website
Interview with Radio Sur Sangam
SPARK Calgary team since March 2021
BCI4Kids
Imagine being trapped in a body that cannot move. Thousands of Canadian children live with such physical disabilities, depriving them of their fundamental human rights to interact with the world. BCI4Kids seeks to provide such children access to personalized solutions for independence through neurotechnologies.
Website
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
SPARK Calgary team since March 2022
Memory on Hand
Memory on Hand is a simple tactile feedback wristband and it is the 21st century solution to the age-old problem of forgetting small pieces of information. Memory on Hand allows individuals to remember key pieces of information, gain confidence in their ability to remember, and most importantly, decrease worries about one’s memory. With this device, users can have the memory they need, always, on hand.
Team members: Dr. Cameron Clark, Harsh Shah, Mitayo Shroeder, Rhys Hiar, Ryan Trabadello, Valeriya Volkova
SPARK Calgary team since March 2021
Ponseti Clubfoot Navigator
As pediatric orthopaedic surgeons, our goal is to provide expert treatment for children that are born with the common foot deformity called clubfoot. The gold standard of treatment is the Ponseti method that involves 20-30 visits of treatment over 4-5 years which requires appropriate clinical decision-making with potential for clinical decision error at every visit . We have created a clinical decision support tool, available as a web app and mobile app, that can assist clinicians in making the best decisions for treatment in real time, and that will be especially useful for less experienced clinicians.
SPARK Calgary team since March 2022
Sequence2Script
Our solution offers a fast, user-friendly, web-based interface that streamlines the translation of raw genetic data into evidence-based medication selection and dosing recommendations. Simply upload raw genetic data, answer a few questions about the data, and our solution does the rest. No bioinformatics knowledge and resources required.
Get to Know Chad Bousman, CEO and Founder of Sequence2Script
SPARK Calgary team since March 2022
2021 Cohort
APPetite for Mental Health
Our team is developing a phone application, APPetite for Mental Health, that offers guidance on making healthy food choices and encourages a healthy relationship with food, while supporting mental health and promoting intuitive eating.
Team members: Abdul Al-Shawwa, Catherine Swytink-Binnema, Chartina Nahorniak
SPARK Calgary team March 2021 – March 2022
CorrelateAI
Simple-to-digest, curated visualizations of trends within medical research and treatment as generated by mass natural language processing of print and pre-print literature. Clinicians and researchers alike will enjoy being able to identify emerging trends within a topic at-a-glance, as well as look back and see how former ones began. We believe that no advancement exists in a vacuum, and great value can be generated by knowing the trends that spurred one.
Team members: Anita Garland, Dominic Igbelina, Jeremy Braun, Surbhi Sachan
SPARK Calgary team March 2021 – March 2022
Cortian Medical Technologies
The pre-hospital setting: A final frontier in stroke care
During acute ischemic stroke around 2 million neurons die every minute – time is brain. In most cases, there is an inevitable transport delay to the stroke centre. During this transport there is little meaningful data relayed, leaving stroke teams blind until the patient’s arrival. This leads to additional time needed to collect the data essential to guide treatment decisions. Furthermore, during the patients’ transit there are no available treatments to help save vulnerable brain tissue and reduce the extent of damage. Therefore, we created a complete compact wireless system to 1) obtain clinically meaningful data that can be securely stored, transmitted, and analyzed in order to prepare triage/stroke teams, and 2) deliver and study promising cuff-based therapies like remote ischemic conditioning to the patient during transit in order to promote tissue protection.
Team members: Dr. Aravind Ganesh, MD, Kyle Guild, Ryan Rosentreter
SPARK Calgary team April 2020 – March 2022
MOUNT
Monitoring of mOtor fUnction iN sTroke
We are developing machine-learning software to enable monitoring the neurological functions of hospitalized patients in real-time. The technology will use data based on motion tracking and interface pressure measurements. This will aim to result in faster identification and treatment without increasing the demand for skilled bedside assessments.
Team members: Craig Doram, Dr. Helder Rodrigues de Oliveira, Illia Yankovyi, Leonardo Pinheiro de Queiroz, Dr. Mohammed Almekhlafi, Dr. Svetlana Yanushkevich
SPARK Calgary team March 2021 – March 2022
SenseSi Technology
Stress is a common occurrence for many people and when not properly managed can lead to a variety of mental and physical ailments. SenseSi is developing a wearable medical device to quickly and accurately detect the onset of a stress response in order to alert the user thereby allowing them to take control and manage their stress.
Team Members: Dr. David Rosenegger, Dr. Amir Sanati Nezhad, Dr. Shaghayegh Shajari, and Dr. Jaideep Bains
SPARK Calgary team March 2021 – March 2022
2020 Cohort
EcZema Baby Solutions
EcZema Baby strives to make eczema care for children under 4 years more effective, convenient and integrated. EcZema Baby is a comprehensive mobile platform for caregivers of children with eczema, consisting of three interconnected tools that uses machine learning to provide immediate information on their baby’s skin condition, while providing a validated treatment plan.
Team Members: Jose Uriel Perez, Govind Peringod, Dr. Michele Ramien, MD
SPARK Calgary team April 2020 – July 2021
HappyMapper
HappyMapper is a game used primarily for children with neuromotor disorders during non-invasive active brain mapping administered under the supervision of clinicians. Therapy results are measured and tracked while they play. This approach replaces the traditional method of measuring results that were often difficult to administer due to the tedious, cumbersome, and error prone nature of those tests.
Team Members: Jeremy Bilic, Joice El-Mehallawy, Abigayle LeFranc, Pauline Mouches, James Nguy, Lily Pollreis
SPARK Calgary team April 2020 – November 2020
HOPE Digital Mental Health Platform
HOPE is a doorway into comprehensive mental healthcare/prevention, offering a virtual single point of entry for mental health e-screening, e-referral and e-therapy.
Team Members: Dr. Dawn Kingston, RN, PhD, Lindsay Murray, Nicola Roy
SPARK Calgary team April 2020 – January 2021
V-SPEAKS
Virtual Suicide Prevention training to increase Efficacy, Abilities, and Knowledge in Schools
Aiming to help teachers learn how to talk to students about suicide with the creation of a virtual human. Teachers can practice talking to the virtual student in a risk-free environment with this innovative tool for school-based suicide prevention. This technology has the potential for widespread impact on teachers across Canada and the health of the youth they serve.
Team members: Dr. Liz Baker PhD, Dr. Deinera Exner-Cortens, PhD, David Gisu Ham, Liam Harrison, Daphne Nakhid, Gurnoor Singh Aujla
SPARK Calgary team April 2020 – September 2020
For general inquiries about SPARK Alberta, please contact w21c@ucalgary.ca.