Health Innovation Roundup
Oct. 28, 2026

Headlines

• The Technology Transfer Services office at the University of Alberta recognized a long list of winners of its Innovation Awards. Among those honoured for health-related spinoffs and patents were James Shapiro for DiaCell Therapeutics; John Lewis for Nanostics; Guilherme Meira Lima and Ratmir Derda for Liquid Biotech Solutions; Frank Wuest and Roger Zemp for OptoBiomeDx; Alireza Nouri and Mahmood Salimi for ABClean Air Solutions; and Gaang Lee, Muhammad Adil, Qipei Mei, and Vicente Gonzalez-Moret for SenseHuman.AI.
• A University of Alberta team led by Lisa Willis secured $24 million from the federal New Frontiers in Research Fund. The project will study barriers facing young and racialized blood donors and develop technologies aimed at making blood products universally compatible.
• University of Alberta professor and DrugBank founder David Wishart received a Synergy Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada — his third NSERC award in three years. Wishart is a leading researcher in the field of metabolomics and is on a mission to improve drug discovery.
• University of Alberta nursing student Asha Jama received the Canadian Nurses Association's Future of Nursing Award. The award recognized her leadership in community advocacy and health equity.
• Edmonton entrepreneur and philanthropist Irving Kipnes has died at the age of 90. His philanthropy included a $25-million gift to create the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Health Research Institute at the University of Alberta in 2025.
• The University of Alberta honoured professor and donor Paul Major by naming its oral health clinic after him. Major and his wife, Elly, committed a total of $2.5 million to support the dentistry school.
• Lisa Laferriere will lead the Health Innovation Network of Canada as executive director alongside her work with Health Cities. Her Health Cities colleague Sanna Westermann will lead member and partner engagement for the network, which connects healthcare professionals, leaders, and innovators.
• Health Cities has extended its call for rural point-of-care diagnostic technologies to Nov. 5. It is seeking laboratory testing, portable imaging, and digital diagnostic solutions for pilots in a rural care setting.
• Andrea Eriksson of Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation is at the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation World Conference in France. The Edmonton Research Park is preparing to host the North American edition in May 2027.
• Amber Simpson of the University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute discussed AI-assisted mammograms on CBC's The Dose. She described the technology, which can help detect breast cancer and sometimes predict risk, as promising.
• The Cross Cancer Institute, Misericordia Community Hospital, and Sturgeon Community Hospital are preparing to introduce magnetic markers for breast cancer surgery. The markers can replace surgical wires and be inserted days or weeks before surgery rather than on the day. Surgeon Lashan Peiris expected the first placements in late October and surgeries in November.
• Patrick Pilarski of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and BLINC Lab spoke to the TechSurge podcast about why reinforcement-learning experts think large language models are a dead end, explaining the premise of the Alberta Plan, which he co-authored with Richard Sutton and Michael Bowling in 2022. He also shared that he will join San Francisco-based ExperienceFlow.AI as "head of edge superintelligence" in Sutton's research lab.
• Founders and investors shared their hot takes at Tech Thursday during Edmonton Startup Week. ​​Nina Karpoff of RNARevive, Kristina Milke of Sprout Fund, ​Tristan Ham of Unbounded Thinking and ​Kristina McDougall of Artemis Canada discussed why selling early isn't necessarily a problem; how to prevent brain drain; what "not right now" actually means; and how Canada's risk-averse culture stymies innovation.
• Prairies Economic Development Canada is accepting applications for the expanded Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative, with life sciences among its priority areas. Federal contributions range from $250,000 to $5 million per project over up to three years. The five-year expansion added $500 million nationally, bringing total federal funding to $700 million.
• Alberta Innovates announced the Venture Development Grant, which brings together its six previous startup funding programs into one grant. "Innovators no longer have to work out which program fits — they apply once, with support matched to where their venture is today," the organization said.

Social innovation

• IslamicFamily, Build Edmonton Homes, and Vivid Homes broke ground on Diamond of Dunluce, a 96-home project in northwest Edmonton designed for larger and multigenerational families. The development is expected to open in 2028 with two- to five-bedroom homes. Three-quarters of the units will have rents 20% to 50% below market rates.
• Wings Safe Housing and Support marked 40 years of helping women and children who face family violence in Edmonton. The organization said it has served more than 6,000 women and children since opening in 1986. It operates 50 furnished apartments and provides resources such as case management and safety planning.
• Mayor Andrew Knack called for more provincial housing and social supports after Edmonton's Point-in-Time homelessness count. About 200 volunteers participated in the survey led by Homeward Trust Edmonton. Results were expected to take at least two weeks to compile, though CEO Susan McGee said she predicts recent figures of more than 3,000 to remain much the same.
• Breast cancer survivors became volunteers with the Healing Connections support program at Misericordia Community Hospital. Participant Vasudha Tiwari helped introduce the program to Edmonton's Indo-Canadian community. The program offers treatment-system navigation, emotional support, educational resources, and peer support.
• Euwen Ndhlovu of BGCBigs spoke about using play to build trust and confidence among Edmonton-area youth on the Do Local Good podcast. He described using basketball to help young people work through failure and technology to make fitness more engaging.
• Edmonton Public Schools is offering free sessions on parenting and mental health. The sessions aim to help parents and caregivers support their children, Global News Edmonton reported.
• The City of Edmonton has extended the application deadline for its 2027 Civic Youth Fellowship to Nov. 6. People aged 19 to 30 can gain experience in city council offices and alongside executive leadership teams. A new partnership with the city's Indigenous Relations Office will expand opportunities for young First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders.

More health news

• Alberta voters supported three referendum proposals to limit public services for some non-permanent residents, with support just over 50%. The proposals could introduce healthcare fees, but the government said referendum-related legislation was not expected in the fall sitting. The count is complete; results are due to become official on Oct. 29.
• Valour Place is providing free accommodations for families affected by the CFB Wainwright fire, CBC's Edmonton AM reported. The charity serves military members, veterans, first responders, and their families who need to stay nearby during medical treatment.
• Burn survivor Spencer Beach discussed the recovery facing soldiers injured in the CFB Wainwright fire on CBC's Edmonton AM. He survived a workplace explosion that burned 87% of his body.
• Nurses described crowding and care-space shortages at the inquiry into Prashant Sreekumar's death at Grey Nuns Community Hospital in 2025. Physician Greg Hrynchyshyn said hiring more doctors alone would not resolve the hospital's capacity problems because physical capacity is at the heart of overcrowding. Sreekumar died after waiting about eight hours to see a doctor; the inquiry adjourned until December.
• Covenant Health began screening for weapons at two more Edmonton emergency departments. The systems at Misericordia Community Hospital and Grey Nuns Community Hospital screen patients and visitors. Patients who refuse screening can still receive emergency care under Protective Services oversight, Covenant Health said.
• A Covenant Health career fair showcased healthcare professions to high school students at the Stelmach Community Health Centre. More than 20 health professions and four post-secondary institutions took part, and about 500 students registered.
• Healthcare ranked second among Edmonton residents' top concerns in a Canada Pulse Insights poll for CityNews. The online survey of 383 adults found 30% named healthcare among their top three issues, behind affordability and cost of living at 37%.
• The Glenrose Hospital Foundation honoured Gabrielle (Gabby) Hebert and her mother, Nicole Martin, for courage and caregiving as Hebert learned to walk again at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital after suffering a spontaneous spinal hematoma while in Mexico. The pair shared their story with Global News Edmonton.
• The family of José Manuel Moran Robles returned to Edmonton to visit the doctors who treated him as a baby. Robles, now 30, came from Panama as an infant for heart surgery, CBC's Edmonton AM reported.
• University of Alberta women's health academic lead Sofia Ahmed will join a sold-out panel on menstrual health on Oct. 28. The event is part of the Irrational Women series at Irrational Brewing. The next event in the series is about policy and features Edmonton-Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman on Nov. 18.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up soon:

• Oct. 29: Healthy Eating Habits for Busy Entrepreneurs starting at 6:30pm at Chartier
• Oct. 29: Between Us: An Interactive Talk on FemTech 101 starting at 7pm online
• Nov. 2: Well Women Collective November Edition starting at 6pm at The Canadian Brewhouse (Windermere)
• Nov. 2: The Journey Through Menopause - Pelvic Floor Health starting at 6:30pm at Balance Wellness
• Nov. 3: Health Innovators Breakfast starting at 7:30am at Matrix Hotel
• Nov. 4: Inclusion in the Heartland: "The Value of Difference" Conference starting at 9am at Dow Centennial Centre
• Nov. 4-7: DAMA Edmonton Conference: Powering Digital Health & AI Through Trusted Data at NAIT Productivity and Innovation Centre

And here are more to keep in mind:

• Nov. 13: The Hummingbird Awards Gala at Fort Edmonton Park
• Nov. 26: Centre for Healthy Communities Innovation Forum online
• Nov. 27: Festival of Trees Silver Bell Soirée at Edmonton Convention Centre

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.