faculty of health Archives - News@91ɫ /news/tag/faculty-of-health/ Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:19:52 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Globally, higher education linked to ‘WEIRD’ cultural values, 91ɫ-led study finds /news/2026/03/26/globally-higher-education-linked-to-weird-cultural-values-york-led-study-finds/ Thu, 26 Mar 2026 20:30:00 +0000 /news/?p=23591 A new study published today in Nature Communications finds that world-wide, people with higher levels of education are more culturally similar to those in Canada, the U.S. U.K. and other Anglo, industrialized countries and countries in Western Europe.

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Researchers say findings point to the need to recruit beyond universities when doing cross-cultural investigations 

Headshot of Cindel White
Lead author Cindel White

TORONTO, March. 26, 2026 – A new study in Nature Communications finds that world-wide, people with higher levels of education are more culturally similar to those in Canada, the U.S. U.K. and other Anglo, industrialized countries and countries in Western Europe.

Lead author and 91ɫ Faculty of Health Assistant Professor says the study shows that solely recruiting from university students and educated people when doing cross-cultural comparisons will not fully capture the cultural variability we see in the world.

“Education doesn’t just teach skills or facts, to a certain extent it also shapes how people think about the world, so the findings make sense,” says White, in the Department of Psychology. “While Western countries continue to be over-represented in research in general, our study suggests that even where participants are recruited from non-Western countries, cultural bias may continue to persist.”

Analyzing data from nearly 270,000 people across 95 countries captured in the World Values Survey, the study shows that higher education is strongly associated with cultural values typical of so-called “WEIRD” societies (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic). For example, Russians with lower education levels were very culturally distant from American values, but Russians with a university degree were much more culturally similar to the U.S.

Contrary to modernization theories, when analyzing income and social status, the researchers did not find the same association.

White paired up with London School of Economics and New 91ɫ Professor Michael Muthukrishna for the study. They found that in 70 per cent of the countries they looked at, highly-educated people were significantly closer to the United States than people with low education in those countries. However, the researchers say the pattern reflects a broader alignment with Western cultural norms, including individualism and an emphasis on personal freedom, analytical thinking, lower conformity to social norms, and a greater generalized trust, not just American values specifically.

Muthukrishna explained, “Schooling is one of the most powerful systems of cultural transmission ever invented. Education doesn’t just change what you know, but how you think and what you value. What our results reveal is that school systems around the world still carry the fingerprints of their Western origins. That means if you’re a researcher recruiting university students in Nairobi or São Paulo and comparing them to university students in New 91ɫ, Toronto or London, you may be dramatically underestimating how different those cultures actually are.”

White emphasizes that the findings in no way suggest that highly-educated people in non-Western countries are culturally the same as those in the West.

“We're not saying that being highly educated makes everyone the same, there's still a lot of diversity within highly educated groups around the world. It's just that the diversity has shifted in the direction of being more Western,” says White, who recently also published a paper with a University of California researcher looking at . “We are saying that you do need to look at education, in addition to things like nationality, ethnicity and religion, when considering why someone thinks the way they do.”

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91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for meaningful life and career paths. 91ɫ's Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campus in Costa Rica offers students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact: Emina Gamulin, 91ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Prof Emeritus Gordon Flett discusses the importance of mattering on The Oprah Podcast  /news/2026/01/27/prof-emeritus-gordon-flett-discusses-the-importance-of-mattering-on-the-oprah-podcast/ Tue, 27 Jan 2026 15:29:37 +0000 /news/?p=23365 The post Prof Emeritus Gordon Flett discusses the importance of mattering on The Oprah Podcast  appeared first on News@91ɫ.

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91ɫ expert available to talk about Blue Monday and keeping winter blues away /news/2026/01/19/york-expert-available-to-talk-about-blue-monday-and-keeping-winter-blues-away/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:21:55 +0000 /news/?p=23325 Blue Monday, typically falling on the third Monday in January, has been dubbed ‘the most depressing day of the year.’ While this is more rooted in marketing than science, with the concept being popularized by a travel company a few decades ago to boost winter getaway sales, it does come at a time where it’s common for people to be experiencing issues with their mood, says 91ɫ Faculty of Health Professor Rebecca Pillai Riddell. 

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While ‘most depressing day’ has been debunked, winter comes with mental health challenges for many

Prof. Rebecca Pillai Riddell

TORONTO, January. 19, 2025 – Blue Monday, typically falling on the third Monday in January, has been dubbed ‘the most depressing day of the year.’ While this is more rooted in marketing than science, with the concept being popularized by a travel company a few decades ago to boost winter getaway sales, it does come at a time where it’s common for people to be experiencing issues with their mood, says 91ɫ Faculty of Health Professor Rebecca Pillai Riddell

Whether it’s the dark winter days, post-holiday debt or other factors, many people do struggle more with their mental health in the winter, and for some people the effect is stronger, going into Seasonal Affective Disorder. 

“Less daylight, colder weather, post-holiday excess recovery, including physical, mental and emotional, and a particularly bad flu season can all take their toll on our mental health,” says Pillai Riddell, also the Tier 1 91ɫ Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health. 

Pillai Riddell says most Canadians report having the winter blues and is available to talk to media about strategies to cope with the winter blues./

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91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:

Emina Gamulin, 91ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Dance effective in fighting against cognitive decline in Parkinson’s, 91ɫ U study finds /news/2025/12/05/dance-effective-in-fighting-against-cognitive-decline-in-parkinsons-york-u-study-finds/ Fri, 05 Dec 2025 14:30:09 +0000 /news/?p=23258 A new study led by researchers at 91ɫ shows that dance can be beneficial in halting the cognitive decline associated with Parkinson’s disease and, for some participants, they even showed signs of improvement. Faculty of Health Associate Professor Joseph DeSouza, co-author of the study, says since cognition is nearly always expected to decline as the illness progresses and this was a multi-year study, the findings are quite remarkable.

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Latest study builds on earlier 91ɫ research showing dance’s benefits for depression and motor control

TORONTO, Dec. 05, 2025 — A led by researchers at 91ɫ shows that dance can be beneficial in halting the cognitive decline associated with Parkinson’s disease and, for some participants, they even showed signs of improvement. Faculty of Health Associate Professor , co-author of the study, says since cognition is nearly always expected to decline as the illness progresses and this was a multi-year study, the findings are quite remarkable.

Prof. Joseph DeSouza

“The classic progression of Parkinson's disease is that cognition gets bad as well as motor symptoms, and some people already have significantly impaired cognition by the time they get to a diagnosis,” says DeSouza, who worked closely on the study with lead author Simran Rooprai, a second-year interdisciplinary master’s student at 91ɫ. “So finding that no one in the dance group had further cognitive decline over six years, we think that’s pretty significant.”

The study, published today in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, looked at 43 participants from a group with Parkinson’s participating in the Sharing Dance Parkinson’s program at the National Ballet of Canada and the Dance for Parkinson’s Disease program through Trinity St. Paul’s Church, both located in Toronto, and a reference group of 28 people with Parkinson’s who were sedentary and not engaged in any physical activity.

Dance classes would begin with a seated warm-up, followed by “barre” exercises, and sessions ended with floorwork dances. One group was also taught a specific choreography in preparation for an upcoming performance.

The researchers found that the cognitive scores for the dance group had improved compared to the reference group, where they saw no changes, or a slight decline.

Graduate student Simran Rooprai

Rooprai says the research shows that dance could help with cognitive preservation, or perhaps even improvement in those with Parkinson’s.

“We can't really fix the brain, but we're trying to show that with dance, maybe we can delay the onset of further cognitive decline,” says Rooprai.

While Parkinson’ disease is most closely associated with the characteristic tremors of the disease, it is also associated with cognitive decline, with four out of five people with the illness eventually experiencing severe cognition problems as the disease progresses.

Earlier research led by DeSouza at 91ɫ that he worked on with fellow author and former 91ɫ PhD student Karolina Bearss, now a professor at Algoma University, has shown the benefits of dance for depression and of the illness, suggesting the benefits of dance are widespread.

“Dance engages many parts of the brain,” says Rooprai. “While dancing, you’re listening to music, learning new steps, remembering the different sequences, and you’re engaging with other dancers so you’re aware of your surroundings. Dance is physical, mental, and social all at once.”

DeSouza and Rooprai are working on a follow-up study in collaboration with the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, where they will look at how working memory is affected for people with Parkinson’s taking weekly dance classes.

“Given how dance has so many different positive impacts on cognition, we expect to see improvements.” says DeSouza.

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91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:

Emina Gamulin, 91ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Priming for planned sex increases desire, frequency in parents with young children, 91ɫ study finds /news/2025/12/01/priming-for-planned-sex-increases-desire-frequency-in-parents-with-young-children-york-study-finds/ Mon, 01 Dec 2025 15:00:21 +0000 /news/?p=23231 Between the lack of sleep and free time, physical, hormonal and relationship changes, and juggling work and other life commitments, many couples find their sex lives take a hit in the transition to parenthood. Continuing through the early years of child rearing, this can have a negative impact on the overall relationship. While spontaneous sex is put on a pedestal in Western society, a new study led by researchers at 91ɫ’s Faculty of Health found that encouraging couples with young children to plan sex led to increased desire and frequency.  

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TORONTO, Dec. 1 2025 — Between the lack of sleep and free time, physical, hormonal and relationship changes, and juggling work and other life commitments, many couples find their sex lives take a hit in the transition to parenthood. Continuing through the early years of child rearing, this can have a negative impact on the overall relationship. While spontaneous sex is put on a pedestal in Western society, led by researchers at 91ɫ’s Faculty of Health found that encouraging couples with young children to plan sex led to increased desire and frequency.  

Headshot of Katarina Kovacevic
91ɫ PhD Candidate and registered psychotherapist Katarina Kovacevic

“Fdz previous research we know that most people idealize spontaneous sex, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate with actual sexual satisfaction,” says lead author and 91ɫ PhD Candidate Katarina Kovacevic, a registered psychotherapist whose clinical and research focus is on romantic relationships and sexual issues. “For this study, we wanted to see if we could shift people's beliefs about planning sex so they could see the benefits, which they did.”

For the paper, “Can Shifting Beliefs About Planned Sex Lead to Engaging in More Frequent Sex and Higher Desire and Satisfaction? An Experimental Study of Parents with Young Children,” published in The Journal of Sex Research, Kovacevic worked closely with 91ɫ Psychology Professor , also director of the at 91ɫ.

The researchers recruited more than 500 participating individuals from Canada, the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand, whose youngest child was five years old or younger. The study was open to all gender and sexual orientations.

Headshot of Amy Muise
Psychology Professor Amy Muise

All participants were surveyed on their pre-existing notions of planned versus spontaneous sex and were then divided into two groups. One was given a research summary highlighting the importance of planned sex and were encouraged to plan sex with their partner in the next two weeks. The other group was given literature saying that researchers were not sure whether planned or spontaneous sex was more satisfying and were instructed to have sex as they normally would with their partner.

“At the two-week followup, people in the experimental group reported having more planned sex than the control group and more sex overall,” says Muise. “The difference between groups meant that planning sex could translate into at least one more      sexual experience a month for a couple, which can be meaningful.”

Planning also had other benefits. The researchers found, for participants who had reported at least one sexual encounter in the two-week period, that the planners felt less obligated to have sex compared to the control group.

“In the manipulation, we emphasized that planning sex needs to be a conversation with your partner, we emphasized consent, so that could perhaps explain that finding,” says Kovacevic.

The researchers say that while parents with younger children are at an especially vulnerable stage in their sex lives and relationship overall, they believe planning could be beneficial to many couples.  

“This could apply fairly broadly — for example to people who are busy in general, to people who have health and mobility issues who have times when they feel better and worse,” says Kovacevic. “Planned sex could be a tool for anyone looking to connect more with their partner.” 

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91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:

Emina Gamulin, 91ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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91ɫ profs lead $5.5 million HEATSCAPE-Africa project /news/2025/10/02/york-profs-to-lead-5-4-million-heatscape-africa-project/ Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:56:39 +0000 /news/?p=22916 HEATSCAPE-Africa, a new international collaboration led by researchers in the Faculty of Health at 91ɫ, will look at the relationship between climate-related heat and mental-health.

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Benedict Weobong and Godfred Boateng head international team exploring climate-related heat, sleep and mental-health issues with funding from leading global charity Wellcome

TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2025 – HEATSCAPE-Africa, a new international collaboration led by researchers in the Faculty of Health at 91ɫ, will look at the relationship between climate-related heat and mental health. Supported by a $5.5 million grant by , a global charitable foundation that supports science to solve urgent health challenges, the 91ɫ-led project also involves partners from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the U.K. and community partners in Africa, including Navrongo Health Research Centre, Kintampo Health Research Centre and Kgotso Development Trust. University of Ghana and BasicNeeds Ghana are also key collaborators.

“Thanks to this generous grant from Wellcome, we hope to answer questions on the potential impact of climate change on mental-health issues such as anxiety and depression, particularly in Africa,” says project lead Benedict Weobong, associate professor in the School of Global Health at 91ɫ. “Furthermore, we will explore the underlying factors that explain the relationship and why individuals exposed to extreme heat may suffer from mental-health issues.”

HEATSCAPE-Africa project lead Benedict Weobong

With a strong focus on involving those with lived experience, the project will zero in on a contextual understanding of heat and mental health, methodological advances to identify causal mechanisms through a two-year prospective cohort study and community and health-system readiness.

“91ɫ is honoured to partner with Wellcome on this pioneering research that has the potential to transform how the world understands the impacts of climate change on mental health,” says Amir Asif, Vice President of Research and Innovation at 91ɫ. "Through 91ɫ’s Global Research Excellence (GRE) Fund, we were happy to support Professor Weobong develop the Wellcome Trust proposal with international partners. By leading collaborations that span continents and disciplines, we are shaping solutions that not only advance scientific discovery, but also inspire a healthier, more equitable future for generations to come.”

Weobong and his colleagues, including 91ɫ School of Global Health Associate Professor Godfred Odei Boateng, believe the connection may lie with sleep health and cognitive function being affected by extreme temperatures, with many mental-health issues coming after a period of poor sleep, and many mental health conditions affecting the quality of sleep. The relationship with high temperatures and poor sleep is also well known, with ideal temperatures for most adults being between 15 - 19C. The research will take place in Ghana, which has a hot climate year-round with typical temperatures ranging from 19 - 34C, and Zimbabwe, which experiences more seasonal variability, with temperatures dipping as low as 8C in the winter.

Co-applicant Gofred Odei Boateng

“This grant offers us a remarkable opportunity to explore the complex mechanisms behind mental-health challenges across selected life stages,” says Boateng. “Additionally, it will help us identify key intervention points that have the potential to alleviate the long-term impacts of climate change and poor sleep, while informing the development of adaptive strategies for low-resource settings.”

Adolescents, women of reproductive age and older adults are the focus of the five-year project. Weobong says there is good evidence supporting the vulnerability of each of these groups to climate-related heat.

“Pregnant women are already at higher risk of poor sleep and research shows they and their babies are vulnerable to adverse impacts of poor heat and sleep,” says Weobong, adding that little of the research has been conducted in Africa. “We also know that adolescent brain development is affected by sleep and 50 per cent of mental-health conditions in adults started when they were adolescents.”

Weobong says this cohort focus will also allow them to examine household and intergenerational linkages and explore coping strategies within family systems.

Co-applicants include Boateng, LSHTM quantitative epidemiologist assistant professor Seyi Soremekun and sleep specialist Professor Helen Anne Weiss, Zimbabwe lead Dr. Newton Matandirotya and Ghana leads Dr. Raymond Aborigo and Dr. Kenneth Ae-Ngibise.         

“Mental health problems are universal, although the ways these challenges are expressed might be different,” says Weobong, who is originally from Ghana and pursued research opportunities in the U.K. and India before coming to Canada. “There used to be a time where there was an assumption that depression was only a challenge of the Global North, and while we’ve moved past that, there are many outstanding challenges, especially when looking at access to treatment in the Global South.”

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91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:

Emina Gamulin, 91ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Combined alcohol and cannabis use linked to adverse consequences in young adults, 91ɫ U led study finds /news/2025/09/09/combined-alcohol-and-cannabis-use-linked-to-adverse-consequences-in-young-adults-york-u-led-study-finds/ Tue, 09 Sep 2025 14:01:47 +0000 /news/?p=22841 A new longitudinal study led by 91ɫ’s Department of Psychology published today finds that young adults experiencing periods of high stress, anxiety and depressed mood more frequently combined binge drinking with cannabis use in order to get more high and drunk, and were also likely to report more adverse life consequences when combining these substances. Lead author Jeffrey Wardell, Associate Professor in 91ɫ’s Faculty of Health, says that since cannabis use among young adults has increased after Canada legalized the drug, understanding why people combine the drug and outcomes when they do is important. 

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Research found users more likely to combine substances in times of high stress and challenging emotions in order to achieve a greater high

TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2025 – A new longitudinal study led by 91ɫ’s Department of Psychology finds that young adults experiencing periods of high stress, anxiety and depressed mood more frequently combined binge drinking with cannabis use in order to get more high and drunk, and were also likely to report more adverse life consequences when combining these substances. Lead author , associate professor in 91ɫ’s Faculty of Health, says that since cannabis use among young adults has increased after Canada legalized the drug, understanding why people combine the drug and outcomes when they do is important. 

Lead author, Associate Professor Jeffrey Wardell

“Studies suggest that human brains are still developing into their 20s and alcohol and cannabis dependencies are more prevalent in this age group than any other,”  says Wardell, also director of the at 91ɫ. “While occasional combined use may not be a cause for concern, the study clearly shows increased risk when combining these substances. Understanding combined use can help young adults mitigate the risk, understand when they might have an issue and seek support to develop healthier coping mechanisms.”

For the paper, published in the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Wardell and his research team recruited 151 young adults, ages 19 - 25, in Ontario who already used cannabis and alcohol. The participants were asked to complete daily surveys on their cannabis and alcohol use and any negative consequences they experienced as a result on their phones for three 21-day periods spaced 6 months apart. Participants also filled out surveys about their stress, anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as their motives for co-using alcohol and cannabis.

The results showed a clear link between mental health symptoms and motivation to combine alcohol and cannabis use.

“When they were feeling depressed or anxious, the participants were motivated to double things up because the thought was that it would make them feel better,” says Wardell. “They also reported that they were combining cannabis with binge drinking more frequently during these times.”

Wardell says that while studies show that over the short term, using substances can give people temporary relief from feelings they are seeking to escape, they can often lead to more adverse outcomes over the long term, both in terms of mental health and negative life consequences.

Other coping mechanisms that can be more helpful include breathing exercises, meditation, physical activity, talking to a friend and seeking out help from a peer-support hotline or medical professional. Wardell says there are a number of questionnaires young adults can access online that can help them determine if their use of a substance might be problematic, with one big clue being a reliance on substances to cope with stress and unwanted feelings.

While young adults are the most likely age group to develop an alcohol or cannabis use disorder, Wardell says it is also the age where early interventions can be helpful.

“While they are not immune to effects on the developing brain, they're also at a stage where most of the time these behaviours are just getting started, or the patterns are just getting laid. It's a good time to give people feedback, give them advice, give them the information so they can make changes before their substance use habits become too ingrained.” 

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91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future. 

Media Contact: Emina Gamulin, 91ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Study provides insight on medical attention sought by children from lower socio-economic backgrounds /news/2025/07/15/study-provides-insight-on-medical-attention-sought-by-children-from-lower-socio-economic-backgrounds/ Tue, 15 Jul 2025 18:37:49 +0000 /news/?p=22540 The post Study provides insight on medical attention sought by children from lower socio-economic backgrounds appeared first on News@91ɫ.

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Ontario Continues to Expand Nursing Workforce /news/2025/06/05/ontario-continues-to-expand-nursing-workforce/ Thu, 05 Jun 2025 21:00:00 +0000 /news/?p=22372 The Ontario government is investing over $4.2 million to expand nursing education across the province. These investments will improve access to care by ensuring more nurses are trained and ready to work in communities across Ontario.

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$4.2 million investment will accelerate nursing programs and create new education seats

June 05, 2025, TORONTO — The Ontario government is investing over $4.2 million to expand nursing education across the province. These investments will improve access to care by ensuring more nurses are trained and ready to work in communities across Ontario.

“By investing in education and accelerating training for nurses, our government is protecting Ontario and building on our progress to grow our nursing workforce for years to come,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “These investments will help ensure families can connect to the care they need no matter where they live, while also supporting the next generation of health-care professionals.”

The government is investing $2 million to support the launch of an accelerated registered nursing (RN) degree program at four post-secondary institutions to allow students to complete their undergraduate program within three to three-and-a-half years, instead of four years, enabling nurses to enter the workforce sooner. Conestoga College (Kitchener), St. Lawrence College (Kingston), Western University (London) and 91ɫ (Toronto) will receive up to $500,000 to support the development and implementation of the accelerated nursing program, beginning in the 2025–26 and 2026–27 academic years.

In addition, Ontario is investing $750,000 to support the inclusion of RN prescribing education into the undergraduate nursing curriculum at Georgian College (Barrie), Humber Polytechnic (Toronto) and the University of Windsor, enabling nurses to play a greater role in patient care by prescribing medication. This will make Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to include RN prescribing in undergraduate programs.

“Ontario’s world-class colleges and universities are training the health-care workforce of today, and tomorrow,” said Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “This critical investment will equip our province’s nursing students with the skills and education they need to get into the health-care workforce at a quicker rate and deliver excellent care in communities across the province.”

Finally, to support access to health care in northern and rural Ontario, the province is investing nearly $1.5 million to expand the capacity for nursing programs at Confederation College in Thunder Bay and Cambrian College in Sudbury. This funding will help increase enrolment and create new clinical placement opportunities by adding 50 new registered practical nursing seats at Confederation College and 17 at Cambrian College.

"Our government is growing the long-term care workforce so residents across the province can get the high-quality care they need, in the right place. By investing in the workforce of tomorrow, we’re helping more people begin their nursing careers at publicly assisted colleges and universities."

- Paul Calandra, Acting Minister of Long-Term Care

Through , the Ontario government continues to take bold and decisive action to grow the province’s highly skilled health-care workforce and ensure people and their families have access to high-quality care closer to home for generations to come.

Quick Facts

  • The government is investing $56.8 million over the next three years to support an enrolment increase of nursing spaces at publicly assisted colleges and universities by over 2,200 registered and registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners. In addition, this funding will support continued investments in innovative, flexible, online nursing pathways.
  • Since 2018, Ontario has seen a record-breaking number of new health-care professionals join the workforce, adding nearly 100,000 new nurses with another 30,000 nurses currently studying at Ontario colleges and universities.
  • On December 4, 2023, the Nursing Act, 1991 was amended to allow RNs in Ontario to prescribe specific medications and to communicate a diagnosis for the purpose of prescribing.
  • Since , 671 registered nurses have completed the training and are authorized to prescribe.
  • Ontario is investing $743 million over three years to continue to address immediate health-care staffing needs, as well as to grow the workforce for years to come.

"91ɫ is proud to be part of this innovative initiative that supports the growth and long-term sustainability of Ontario’s nursing workforce while addressing the current nursing shortage. We are grateful for the government’s support in meeting the diverse needs of nursing students, particularly those who, for personal or financial reasons, will benefit from an accelerated, direct-entry registered nursing degree. We are also excited to leverage new technologies, including virtual and augmented reality, to deliver innovative, non-traditional approaches in educating our future nursing workforce for the benefit of all Ontarians."

- Rhonda Lenton, President & Vice-Chancellor, 91ɫ

Media contacts:

Ema Popovic
Minister Jones’ Office
ema.popovic@ontario.ca

Media Relations
Communications Branch
media.moh@ontario.ca

Reposted from the Government of Ontario newsroom. .


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New research finds specific learning strategies can enhance AI model effectiveness in hospitals /news/2025/06/04/new-research-finds-specific-learning-strategies-can-enhance-ai-model-effectiveness-in-hospitals/ Wed, 04 Jun 2025 15:18:56 +0000 /news/?p=22300 If data used to train artificial intelligence models for medical applications, such as hospitals across the Greater Toronto Area, differs from the real-the world data, it could lead to patient harm. A new study

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TORONTO, June 4, 2025 – If data used to train artificial intelligence models for medical applications, such as hospitals across the Greater Toronto Area, differs from the real-world data, it could lead to patient harm. A new study out today from 91ɫ found proactive, continual and transfer learning strategies for AI models to be key in mitigating data shifts and subsequent harms.

To determine the effect of data shifts, the team built and evaluated an early warning system to predict the risk of in-hospital patient mortality and enhance the triaging of patients at seven large hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area.

The study used GEMINI, Canada’s largest hospital data sharing network, to assess the impact of data shifts and biases on clinical diagnoses, demographics, sex, age, hospital type, where patients were transferred from, such as an acute care institution or nursing home, and time of admittance. It included 143,049 patient encounters, such as lab results, transfusions, imaging reports and administrative features.

Elham Dolatabadi headshot
Elham Dolatabadi

“As the use of AI in hospitals increases to predict anything from mortality and length of stay to sepsis and the occurrence of disease diagnoses, there is a greater need to ensure they work as predicted and don’t cause harm,” says senior author 91ɫ Assistant Professor of 91ɫ’s School of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, a member of Connected Minds and a faculty affiliate at the Vector Institute.

“Building reliable and robust machine learning models, however, has proven difficult as data changes over time creating system unreliability.”

The data to train clinical AI models for hospitals and other health-care settings need to accurately reflect the variability of patients, diseases and medical practices, she adds. Without that, the model could develop irrelevant or harmful predictions, and even inaccurate diagnoses. Differences in patient subpopulations, staffing, resources, as well as unforeseen changes to policy or behaviour, differing health-care practices between hospitals or an unexpected pandemic, can also cause these potential data shifts.

“We found significant shifts in data between model training and real-life applications, including changes in demographics, hospital types, admission sources, and critical laboratory assays,” says first author Vallijah Subasri, AI scientist at University Health Network. “We also found harmful data shifts when models trained on community hospital patient visits were transferred to academic hospitals, but not the reverse.”

To mitigate these potentially harmful data shifts, the researchers used a transfer learning strategies, which allowed the model to store knowledge gained from learning one domain and apply it to a different but related domain and continual learning strategies where the AI model is updated using a continual stream of data in a sequential manner in response to drift-triggered alarms.

Although machine learning models usually remain locked once approved for use, the researchers found models specific to hospital type which leverage transfer learning, performed better than models that use all available hospitals.

Using drift-triggered continual learning helped prevent harmful data shifts due to the COVID-19 pandemic and improved model performance over time.

Depending on the data it was trained on, the AI model could also have a propensity for certain biases leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes for some patient groups. 

“We demonstrate how to detect these data shifts, assess whether they negatively impact AI model performance, and propose strategies to mitigate their effects. We show there is a practical pathway from promise to practice, bridging the gap between the potential of AI in health and the realities of deploying and sustaining it in real-world clinical environments,” says Dolatabadi.

The study is a crucial step towards the deployment of clinical AI models as it provides strategies and workflows to ensure the safety and efficacy of these models in real-world settings.

“These findings indicate that a proactive, label-agnostic monitoring pipeline incorporating transfer and continual learning can detect and mitigate harmful data shifts in Toronto’s general internal medicine population, ensuring robust and equitable clinical AI deployment,” says Subasri.

The paper, , was published today in the journal JAMA Network Open.

About 91ɫ

91ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact: Sandra McLean, 91ɫ Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca 

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