Razieh (Neda) Salahandish, an assistant professor at the , is developing a wearable biosensor that uses sweat to track physiological changes in real time. The tool aims to redefine preventative health care, supporting earlier detection of health conditions.

To do this, the device uses technology that combines microfluidic systems with AI to analyze biomarkers found in sweat – a body fluid Salahandish says contains valuable information about human health. A small patch collects sweat from the skin, analyzes it for disease biomarkers, and sends results to health care practitioners anytime a patient scans the device with a specific app. 

"We believe sweat has the potential to become an important source of health data," says Salahandish. "Because it contains valuable biological information, our goal is to use that data to provide health insights in a way that is continuous, accessible and non-invasive." 

Unlike traditional diagnostic methods that often require blood samples or laboratory testing, wearable sweat-sensing technology offers a non-invasive approach to monitoring physiological changes as they occur. 

To advance the technology, Salahandish worked with 91��ɫ's YSpace and the IP Innovation Clinic to launch WearDOXX, a health technology company focused on developing biotechnology and AI-enabled health care devices. Through WearDOXX, Salahandish and her collaborators are working to translate years of research into commercially viable health technologies. 

The project has attracted support from investors, industry partners and funding agencies as researchers work to bring the technology from the lab to everyday use. In 2025, the initiative received a $300,000 Ontario Centre of Innovation Collaborate 2 Commercialize grant and a $345,000 Mitacs Business Strategy Internship grant. 

The recent $5-million infusion from investors allows the work to move toward clinical validation and support continued technology development, testing and commercialization efforts. 

"The support we've received reflects growing interest in technologies that make health monitoring more accessible and proactive," says Salahandish. "Our focus now is to continue to build the evidence and infrastructure needed to for broader adoption." 

Over the next two years, Salahandish and her team will refine and test the technology, with plans to bring it to market soon after. While no launch date has been set, she is enthusiastic about its potential impact. 

“This is about giving people control over their health in ways we haven’t seen before,” she says. 

Salahandish is also earning recognition for her work. She was recently named one of five finalists for the Ontario Centre of Innovation's 2026 Baylis Ontario Life Sciences Innovator Award, with the recipient to be announced in September. She is also the recipient the 2026 Young Woman Researcher in Biomedical Devices award from the Venus International Women Awards. 

With files from Deirdre Kelly

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Announced July 21, SSHRC will provide funding through three of its programs: Insight Development Grants: February 2026 Competition; Partnership Development Grants: 2025 Competition; and Connection Grants: May 2026 Competition.

More than $2.5 million will support 33 91��ɫ-led Insight Development Grants for early-stage projects and help researchers pursue innovative questions, methods and approaches that can lay the groundwork for larger research programs.

Close to $1 million will support five 91��ɫ-led Partnership Development Grants, helping researchers build new collaborations with universities, community organizations, governments and industry partners. Knowledge mobilization will also be supported through Connection Grants, with close to $50,000 for a 91��ɫ initiative.

The projects cover a wide range of topics, including Indigenous health and decolonization, democratic discourse, climate adaptation, financial vulnerability, labour and social justice, migration, cultural identity and AI.

"These investments in research are investments in our collective future," says Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. "These projects empower researchers to test new ideas, forge meaningful partnerships and generate knowledge that addresses complex societal challenges. Together, they are laying the foundations for discoveries and innovations that will create meaningful benefits for communities in Canada and around the world."

The projects reflect 91��ɫ’s commitment to community-engaged research, interdisciplinary collaboration and generating knowledge that addresses real-world challenges.

Insight Development Grants

The 33 Insight Development Grants demonstrate the diversity and breadth of emerging research underway across the University. Among the funded projects are those that examine topics such as Indigenous knowledge systems, public health, democratic discourse, AI and financial vulnerability:

• Dayna Scott () – Visualizing Cumulative Effects: Anishinaabe Counter-Mapping on the Extractive Frontier
• Emily Kuang () – Multicultural and Multilingual Family Bonding and Knowledge Sharing Across Generations: A Culturally Responsive Approach to Generative AI Application
• Rémi Vivès (Glendon College) – Measuring Populist Discourse: Canada in Comparative Perspective
• Ashley Day () – Wiisokotaatiwin – gathering to re-imagine decolonial health education
• Peiya Cao (Faculty of Health) – Intergenerational Minority Stress and Child Well-Being in LGBTQ+ Families: A National Census-Linked Study in Canada
• Zissis Paraskevas Poulos (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) – Risk-Sensitive Learning and Tacit Coordination in Algorithmic Financial Markets

Other initiatives examine corporate accountability, Black Canadian history, labour law, climate resilience in public infrastructure, machine ethics, innovation and entrepreneurship, disability rights, migration, Indigenous knowledge systems and social inclusion. View the of recipients and their projects.

Partnership Development Grants

The six 91��ɫ-led Partnership Development Grants will support collaborations focused on financial vulnerability, youth in care, planetary health, workers’ education and Canadian computing heritage and include:

• Ida Ferrara – (LA&PS) Addressing Financial Vulnerability Through Inclusive Insurance
• Jennine Rawana (Faculty of Health) – Exploring the Needs of Youth Transitioning Out of the Care of Child Welfare Agencies
• Kate Tilleczek (Faculty of Education) – Planetary Health Partnership: Mapuche-Williche Youth-Led Research as Practices of Küme Mogen
• Katherine Nastovski (LA&PS) – Re-Imagining Workers’ Education in the 21st Century
• Mark Hayward (LA&PS) – Preserving, Promoting and Researching Canadian Computing Heritage
• Sarah Rotz (Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change) – Confronting Financialization, Consolidation, and Settler-colonial Agri-food Land Governance in Canada

91��ɫ researchers are also directly involved as co-applicants for six other Partnership Development Grants totaling $1.19 million. See the of projects and recipients.

“The awards underscore 91��ɫ's leadership in advancing research that connects disciplines, sectors and communities in pursuit of positive social change. By fostering collaborations across local, national and international networks, our researchers are generating knowledge and solutions that help build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future for all,” says Asif.

Connection Grants

SSHRC’s Connection Grants competition, which funds short-term knowledge mobilization initiatives, will provide $49,974 to Richard Saunders (LA&PS) to examine the social and environmental dimensions of critical mineral extraction through knowledge-sharing and public engagement activities through his project Image as Voice: Perspectives on Lithium Extraction in Argentina and Zimbabwe. 

Two other projects that focus on aging and Asian Canadian studies include co-applicants from 91��ɫ. View the  of recipients. 

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“When we think of environmental sustainability, we often immediately think about newer energy-efficient technologies. Organic waste treatment becomes rather an afterthought,” says Reema Kumar, a PhD candidate at 91��ɫ's and lead author of the study.

That perspective is beginning to change as researchers look for new ways to recover value from organic waste. Instead of sending food waste to landfill – where it can contribute to greenhouse gases and other forms of pollution – scientists are exploring how it can be converted into useful resources.

One promising approach uses microorganisms to break down discarded food and produce chemicals that are typically made from petroleum-based sources, creating an alternative to landfill disposal and fossil-based production.

While researchers have tested adding microorganisms to increase the production of useful compounds from discarded food, most of that research has focused on systems that operate at relatively warm temperatures. Much less is known about whether the same process can selectively produce compounds under colder, lower-energy conditions.

According to Kumar, maintaining warmer operating conditions can require significant energy input, particularly in colder climates. Seeking a more energy-efficient approach, Kumar and her colleagues turned their attention to lower-temperature systems.

“We were inspired to optimize this natural system of microorganisms using food waste to produce volatile fatty acids under lower temperature conditions to make it more energy efficient as well as provide a targeted approach for production,” says Kumar.

They honed in on Clostridium butyricum, a bacterium known for generating butyric acid and a commercially valuable chemical commonly used in food, pharmaceutical and industrial products. Yielding such chemicals from organic waste could provide a more sustainable alternative to conventional manufacturing methods that rely on fossil-fuel-derived raw materials.

Their work questioned whether introducing the bacterium into a low-temperature food-waste fermentation system could increase production of butyric acid.

In a study published in , Kumar and her collaborators tested the idea using food waste and wastewater sludge. The research was co-supervised by Lassonde Professor Satinder Kaur Brar, along with Guneet Kaur, associate professor at the University of Guelph.

The team created a series of small-scale experiments using food waste collected from restaurants in 91��ɫ Lanes and sludge sourced from the Humber Wastewater Treatment Facility. Together, the food waste and sludge created conditions that allowed naturally occurring microorganisms to break down the waste.

Clostridium butyricum was then introduced into some of the samples to see if the bacterium could steer the process toward producing more butyric acid.

“We wanted to show that you can ‘guide’ a complex microbial community, made up of many different bacteria naturally found in wastewater sludge, toward a specific, useful outcome just by introducing one well-chosen microorganism,” says Kumar. “It's a bit like steering a crowd by adding a few people who know where they're going.”

The approach worked even better than the researchers expected. The system that received the bacterium produced more than twice as many acids overall and more than five times as much butyric acid compared to the control.

“We didn't expect such a strong response at a temperature of 17 C," says Kumar. "That was a genuinely exciting result."

The findings, she adds, point to a future where discarded food can be viewed as a resource rather than waste.

Increasing the production of commercially valuable compouds at lower temperatures could pave the way for more energy-efficient waste-treatment systems that recover greater value from discarded food. Over time, it may help keep organic waste out of landfills while creating renewable alternatives to some petroleum-derived chemicals.

“We hope it helps move the needle toward low-cost, low-energy ways of recovering value from food waste, especially in colder countries,” says Kumar. “Once this approach can eventually be scaled up, it could support local biorefinery systems that turn organic waste into useful chemicals without requiring expensive heating infrastructure. That has real implications for both sustainability and economics.”

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This summer, YFile examines how 91��ɫ-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice – how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

From buttoning a shirt to turning a doorknob, people rely on their hands to perform countless tasks every day. Yet, despite the importance of the human hand, studying how people learn and perform these movements is challenging for researchers.

Traditional methods of tracking hand movements are often expensive, time-consuming and require participants to wear uncomfortable sensors or reflective markers. These techniques often interfere with the natural hand movements researchers attempt to study, rendering the results as ineffective.

At 91��ɫ, researchers are addressing this challenge through the development of ATHENA (Automatically Tracking Hands Expertly with No Annotations), an AI-powered motion-tracking system that captures natural hand movements without requiring markers, sensors or wearable devices.

The project is led by Jonathan Michaels, assistant professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, alongside Daanish (Dan) Mulla, a postdoctoral fellow and lead researcher on the project.

"We wanted a way to measure natural hand movement as it actually happens, without attaching anything to the person," says Michaels.

Using synchronized video from multiple low-cost cameras and machine-learning algorithms, ATHENA captures footage of a person to map their hand, body and face movements in three dimensions. This open-source software removes the barriers associated with traditional motion capture systems by eliminating costs and tedious setup requirements while upholding accurate measurements.

In validation studies, ATHENA was tested against traditional marker-based technology commonly considered the gold standard in movement science. The results showed strong accuracy across a range of tasks, from simple reaching and grasping to handling objects such as mugs, books, pens and tools.

Ultimately, the team hopes ATHENA will become a tool for those seeking to better understand how people move, learn new skills and recover from injury.

Now fully functional and freely available to researchers, ATHENA’s success moving from concept to real-world application was driven in part by the Connected Minds Prototyping Award.

The award is designed to support prototype developments aligned with the mandate of Connected Minds, a multi-million-dollar transdisciplinary research initiative led by 91��ɫ and Queen’s universities that explores the bridge between emerging technology, public health and social justice.

Funding for ATHENA enabled the team to develop portable versions of the system that can be transported and deployed outside the laboratory. These mobile setups have already been used in autism clinics in Israel and the GTA, expanding the tool’s reach beyond traditional research environments.

"The award was instrumental in moving ATHENA from a validated proof-of-concept into a tool that can actually be used out in the world," says Michaels.

Recipients of the award also receive support from other sources and partners. For ATHENA’s team, it fostered a collaboration with 91��ɫ's IP Innovation Clinic for guidance on developing a strategy to maximize adoption while keeping it freely available.

By remaining open source, affordable and developed in collaboration with the communities and clinics that use it, Michaels says ATHENA reflects Connected Minds' goal of creating accessible, socially responsible technology.

Through the prototyping process, the team learned that developing a useful technology requires more than proving it works.

"The hardest part of building a useful tool is often not the core idea, but making it robust, easy and trustworthy enough that other people will actually adopt it," says Michaels.

Navigating the challenges of moving from controlled laboratory environments to clinics and community settings, where lighting conditions vary, people move more freely and privacy considerations become essential, he says.

Because the tool operates entirely without bulky tracking equipment, it can capture movement in more natural settings and offer a more comfortable experience for participants. The comfort and ability to track naturalistic movements translates well with respect to ATHENA's most promising application in health care and clinical research.

An example of this is a collaboration with the Freud Lab at 91��ɫ where researchers are using ATHENA to study how children move during activities such as building with LEGO. The goal is to identify patterns that could support earlier and more objective identification of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Michaels says plans are underway to expand ATHENA's capabilities, such as integrating eye tracking, object tracking and multi-person tracking. And, by working with additional clinical and educational partners, the team hopes to broaden adoption while maintaining the platform's open-source model.

"Our goal is for ATHENA to become a broadly used, trusted and freely available resource that helps the research and clinical community better understand human dexterity and improve lives," says Michaels.

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AI is increasingly influencing research, industry and everyday life, prompting new opportunities alongside important questions about its development, application and impact.

In recognition of AI Appreciation Day, this special edition of YFile highlights research and innovation in AI across the 91��ɫ community.

The stories within reflect the diverse ways researchers and alumni are engaging with AI technologies to address complex challenges and advance knowledge. Topics range from efforts to make AI tools safer for youth mental health support and AI developments in cancer care, to emerging applications in geophysics and real estate technology.

These stories illustrate how members of the 91��ɫ community are exploring AI across disciplines while considering the importance of human expertise, as well as critical thinking and oversight in shaping how these technologies are developed and used.

While this special issue explores advances in AI, all articles were researched, written and edited by people, reflecting the essential role of human insight in journalism.

Featured stories include:

How 91��ɫ researchers are using AI to support cancer care
Can AI help clinicians spend less time reviewing scans and more time caring for patients? 91��ɫ researcher Ali Sadeghi-Naini is developing tools designed to support faster, more informed decision-making in cancer care.

Can AI be trusted to assess climate risks? A 91��ɫ study investigates
A 91��ɫ study explores how AI can help communities prepare for climate-related hazards by investigating whether emerging tools are ready for real-world applications.

91��ɫ prof explores AI safeguards for youth mental health
AI is becoming a trusted source of advice for many young people. Postdoctoral researcher Abeer Badawi is exploring what that means for their mental health – and how to prevent harm.

Schulich alumni scale AI real estate investment tool 
Learn how three Schulich School of Business graduates used 91��ɫ mentorship and connections to launch Leni, an AI-powered tool that supports real estate investors in their decision making.

Know someone making an impact at 91��ɫ? Share your story ideas with YFile.

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In oncology clinics, diagnosing disease, monitoring treatment response and tracking tumour growth often begin with a meticulous review of medical images. For oncologists and radiologists, this can mean spending hours measuring tumours and comparing scans to understand how a patient's cancer has changed over time.

Much of that work is still done manually, even when clinicians are carrying out many of the same assessments across large numbers of cases. "There are many occasions where the time of oncologists and radiologists is spent reviewing cases that are very similar," says Sadeghi-Naini.

Spending significant time reviewing scans and performing routine assessments, he says, leaves less time for patients who require more urgent attention.

Sadeghi-Naini and his team at the QUANTIMB Lab are working to change that.

The 91��ɫ-based lab, led by Sadeghi-Naini, develops AI-powered imaging tools to support cancer care with a focus on helping clinicians process medical scans more efficiently.

“The idea is to automate things – to detect the location of the disease, quantify it and generate a report so the clinician can quickly review it,” says Sadeghi-Naini, who teaches in the .

Rather than replacing clinical expertise, the goal is to develop AI tools that act as decision support systems, helping care providers assess scans and prioritize care. The tools are trained using large collections of medical scans, allowing them to identify patterns associated with disease progression and treatment response, which can then be flagged for clinical review.

One area of the lab's work focuses on monitoring brain tumours using MRI scans. For some patients whose cancer has spread to the brain, disease may appear as numerous small lesions scattered throughout the organ. In some cases, Sadeghi-Naini says, patients may have 10, 20 or 30 tumours that must be identified and monitored individually over time to determine whether treatment is working.

To help with that task, the lab has developed AI models that can analyze MRI scans, identifying and tracking small cancerous growths across a series of scans. The technology can automate much of that work and generate information to support treatment decisions, reducing the time clinicians spend manually locating and measuring each tumour over successive scans.

Another long-running project examines how tumours respond to treatment. For patients undergoing chemotherapy, one challenge is determining early on whether a tumour is responding to the drug. In some cases, this may only become clear after months of treatment, by which point valuable time and opportunities to adjust a patient's care may have been lost.

Using ultrasound data, Sadeghi-Naini and his team train AI models to look for biological changes that signal whether tumour cells are dying. By assisting in identifying those signals earlier than conventional monitoring approaches, the technology could give clinicians faster insight into whether a treatment is working. Detecting those changes earlier could help determine whether a different approach is needed.

“If a patient can be identified as not responding as early as possible, that spares months of ineffective chemotherapy and unnecessary side effects,” says Sadeghi-Naini.

Although the projects focus on different clinical challenges, they are built around the same idea: using AI to extract useful information from medical images and help clinicians make decisions more quickly.

Across these projects, collaboration and human insight play a central role. The lab works closely with hospitals and clinicians, including researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, to access patient data, test new technologies and ensure the tools being developed address real-world clinical needs.

Feedback and guidance from clinical collaborators on the brain tumour monitoring technology have already been positive, says Sadeghi-Naini, who notes that some have expressed interest in using it as a support tool.

The lab is also designing interfaces that make the technology easier for practitioners to use, recognizing that ease of use is key to adoption in real-world settings.

Collaboration with those working directly in the field also helps accelerate the work. The ultrasound project, for example, has advanced to a clinical trial, a milestone that reflects growing interest among health care experts in evaluating the technology.

Although much of his work involves advanced technologies, Sadeghi-Naini says the motivation behind it is simple: helping patients receive the right care at the right time. Tools that monitor disease more efficiently, or determine sooner whether a treatment is working, could improve decision-making throughout the course of treatment and offer more time to focus on patient care.

"At the end of the day, this clinician time can be spent on somebody who actually urgently needs it," he says.

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Drawing on recent research findings, usage statistics and her own work, Badawi has observed that chatbot use is increasing, with many people turning to these tools not only for information and practical assistance, but also for advice, emotional guidance and support with personal decisions.

Badawi's interest in the issue grew out of her work with Kids Help Phone, Canada's national 24/7 e-mental health service for young people. While working at the Vector Institute, she gained exposure to the mental health challenges facing youth and saw firsthand how digital tools were increasingly being used to provide support.

The experience led her to pursue postdoctoral research at 91��ɫ through the Connected Minds program with a focus on mental health and AI safety. Supervised by Assistant Professor Elham Dolatabadi and Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari from the , as well as Frank Rudzicz of Dalhousie University, Badawi’s research finds that youth, in particular, are turning to AI systems for help navigating everyday challenges, relationships and emotional concerns – even when they may not explicitly describe those interactions as mental health support.

Badawi's findings reinforced a growing concern about the role AI plays in people's lives. Chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are increasingly serving roles once filled by family members, friends and other trusted sources. Whether youth describe it that way or not, Badawi believes many of these exchanges have begun filling an emotional support role in people's lives.

“Even if they don't define it as mental health support, they are still using it as a type of mental health support,” she says.

The concern, Badawi says, is that AI chatbots were not designed to serve that purpose.

Unlike therapists and other mental health professionals, general purpose large language models like ChatGPT are not designed to provide clinical care. As a result, users may receive advice or validation before sufficient context is gathered or alternative perspectives are explored.

“You can end up with a system that always agrees with you,” she says. “It doesn't challenge you or ask questions in the same way a person would.”

That dynamic can have consequences, she notes. Someone discussing a conflict with family, for example, may receive responses that validate their feelings without fully exploring the situation or offering alternative perspectives. Over time, Badawi worries that constant affirmation could contribute to overconfidence, one-sided thinking and an increasing reliance on AI systems.

Her research examines what she and her colleagues call – a potential pattern of interaction in which repeated reliance on AI may shift reflection, coping, emotional regulation and decision-making away from individuals and toward AI systems.

The concern, however, extends beyond questions of decision-making or dependence. She worries the same behaviours that encourage people to rely on AI for advice and emotional guidance may, in extreme cases, contribute to more serious harm. Models that consistently validate users, reinforce their perspectives and foster emotional attachment can become particularly problematic when people are vulnerable or in distress.

The issue became an important focus for Badawi following reported cases in which AI chatbot interactions were examined in connection with youth suicide. For her, these cases raised urgent questions about how chatbots respond when vulnerable users express distress, form strong emotional attachments to the system or require support beyond what an AI tool can safely provide. They also highlight the importance of designing models that recognize risk and encourage users to seek appropriate human help.

Those cases helped inform a research project supported through OpenAI's AI and Mental Health Grant Program, an initiative aimed at supporting research into how AI systems affect mental health and how they can be designed more safely.

As principal investigator, Badawi is leading Preventing Cognitive Atrophy in LLM Mental Health Support Through Psychometric Evaluation and Therapist-Aligned Design, a project that aims to better understand how AI systems can support mental health while reducing the risk of emotional dependency.

The team is developing new ways to measure how AI behaves in emotionally sensitive conversations. The goal is to design technology that will encourage users to seek help from people they trust and provide resources and responses that support independent coping and problem-solving.

To do that, researchers are analyzing conversations between users and chatbots and are working with experts in psychology and mental health to examine whether models gather sufficient context, encourage independent decicion-making, ask appropriate clarifying questions and respond with empathy.

One goal is to identify conversational patterns that can steer interactions into increasingly risky territory. Ultimately, Badawi hopes the work will help create safeguards that prevent AI systems from reinforcing harmful ideas, fostering unhealthy emotional attachment or encouraging dependence.

The obstacles, however, extend beyond the technology itself.

With more than a decade of experience working at the intersection of AI and health care, Badawi has collaborated with clinicians, mental health professionals and researchers across disciplines. Those experiences, she says, have underscored the importance of collaboration while also revealing how difficult it can be.

One obstacle is determining what a "good" response from an AI system actually looks like. As part of the project, and assess how the models respond in emotionally sensitive situations. Those evaluations help researchers identify the kinds of behaviours they want these tools to emulate – and those they want to avoid.

But unlike many areas of health care, there is no single correct answer. Different experts can interpret the same interaction in different ways, making it difficult to establish clear standards. A response one psychologist considers appropriate may prompt debate from another, not because either is wrong, Badawi says, but because they are approaching the situation from different perspectives.

“If humans don't agree, how are you expecting the model to follow a pattern?” she asks.

Despite those challenges, Badawi believes progress is possible. She is also quick to emphasize that AI tools can still provide value.

“We can’t stop people from using AI tools,” she says. “The question is how to make them safer.”

Her long-term goal is to develop AI-driven tools specifically , with safeguards that recognize when interactions are becoming problematic and encourage users toward reflection, autonomy and real-world sources of support.

“The real measure of progress is whether AI can recognize danger early, interrupt harmful patterns and connect a vulnerable person to human help before it is too late,” she says.

Ultimately, the objective is simple: people are already using these systems every day. The task now is ensuring they can do so safely.

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This summer, YFile examines how 91��ɫ-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice – how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

Knee injuries and osteoarthritis are among the most common causes of pain, disability and reduced mobility. While knee braces are often prescribed to support recovery after injury or surgery, most provide only passive support and rely on subjective feedback to guide treatment decisions.

Patients and clinicians have limited tools to monitor changes in knee function between appointments, creating challenges when personalizing rehabilitation and tracking recovery progress.

At 91��ɫ, researchers from the and the are working together to develop an instrumented "smart" knee brace that could help monitor knee function beyond the clinic.

The project brings together William Gage, professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science in the Faculty of Health, Gerd Grau, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Garrett Melenka, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Combining expertise in biomechanics, engineering design, wearable technologies, sensing systems and prototype development, the team aims to create a knee brace that is scientifically precise and practical for real-world use.

“Our project was inspired by a simple question: What if we could continuously monitor knee function outside the clinic using a wearable device?” says Gage.

The Intelligent Knee Brace transforms a traditional support device into a wearable, smart monitoring system. By integrating sensors and machine-learning algorithms, it captures data on how people move in their daily activities, providing a more complete picture of mobility and recovery.

Gage and his team received a Phase 2 Connected Minds Prototyping Award, which provides up to $50,000 for full prototype development. The award program is part of the Connected Minds transdisciplinary research initiative at 91��ɫ that partners with Queen’s University to support the development of socially responsible technologies.

Backed by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and a network of more than 50 industry, hospital and community partners, Connected Minds explores how humans and intelligent machines interact.

Through the prototyping award, Gage and his team have moved the Intelligent Knee Brace through prototype development, sensor integration and the early development of machine-learning capabilities. Now developed into a working model, the smart knee brace integrates wearable sensors capable of measuring lower limb movement.

“The award has created an environment where researchers and industry partners can work together to rapidly test ideas, identify challenges and refine solutions that have the potential to make a meaningful impact in health care,” says Gage.

From idea to development, the team has gained insights on how wearable sensing technologies and AI can be combined to generate meaningful information about human movement.

“While wearable sensors can collect large amounts of data, transforming that data into clinically useful insights is a much more complex challenge,” says Gage. “These findings are helping to shape the next generation of the prototype.”

The project has demonstrated the feasibility of integrating sensing technology into a knee brace and will advance into the testing phase and will begin the validation process with industry and technology partners.

Gage says the goal is to determine how accurately the brace captures knee motion compared with laboratory-based systems.

As technology continues to develop, the potential for this smart device to enhance health care extends beyond individual clinical assessments. By offering continuous monitoring of knee function, the brace can provide more personalized rehabilitation, track recovery following injury or surgery and detect early changes in mobility that may require intervention.

In medical settings, this means clinicians can access continuous data between appointments, offering a more holistic understanding of patient needs. Over time, this comprehensive data can help shift care from periodic assessments toward more proactive models of health management.

"Ultimately, our goal is to help clinicians make better-informed decisions while giving patients more personalized feedback about their recovery and mobility," says Gage.

The next phase of the project will focus on expanding participant testing, validating the system’s accuracy and refining the machine-learning models used to interpret movement data. The team also plans to explore how the brace performs in populations with knee osteoarthritis and other mobility-related conditions.

Building on the project’s early successes, Gage and his team hope to establish large-scale clinical studies and industry collaborations that will support the technology’s path toward real-world health care applications.

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This summer, YFile examines how 91��ɫ-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice – how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

In the field of mental health care, administrative pressures take valuable time away from patient care.

Many independent mental health care providers, including therapists and counsellors, face growing clerical demands. From scheduling and intake forms to documentation and follow-ups, when these responsibilities are managed through fragmented systems it creates inefficiencies for practitioners and patients.

At 91��ɫ, M. Murat Kristal, professor of operations management and information systems and director of the MBA in technology leadership at the , is working to address this challenge. Kristal is the founder of HazelCare, a digital health platform designed to support mental health practitioners through responsible AI, privacy-by-design principles and human-centred technology.

HazelCare brings together core administrative functions – including appointment booking, patient onboarding, documentation and communication – into a single, user-friendly system. The integration of AI tools offers enhanced operations by using natural language processing to support clinical notetaking, predictive analytics to reduce missed appointments and virtual assistants to guide patients through onboarding.

“HazelCare emerged from my long-standing interest in understanding how technology can be used to solve meaningful societal challenges while preserving trust, empathy and human connection,” says Kristal.

Rather than simply digitizing administrative tasks, HazelCare is designed as an AI-enabled practice platform that augments practitioner workflows while preserving the human relationship at the centre of mental health care.

Working alongside Kristal to bring this innovation to market are team members across various disciplines and diverse expertise. Longtime Schulich instructor Altay Aksulu, a solutions portfolio manager with the Ontario Public Service, brings industry experience to the team, helping ensure the platform meets real-world needs. Alex Volkov, a 91��ɫ computer science graduate and senior software developer, leads the platform’s technical direction and architecture, bringing more than 15 years of experience building full-stack applications across government, enterprise and SaaS environments.

Murat and his team received the Phase 1 Connected Minds Prototyping Award, which provides up to $20,000 to support early-stage prototype development. Connected Minds is a $318.4-million transdisciplinary research program led by 91��ɫ in partnership with Queen's University focused on the study of human-AI interactions to ensure future technologies are ethical, healthy and equitable.

Backed by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and a network of more than 50 industry, hospital and community partners, the program funds transdisciplinary teams to move ideas beyond research into tangible prototypes though these awards.

With this support, Kristal's team has advanced HazelCare from a concept into a functional, pilot-ready platform. The funding enabled the development of core features, system architecture and testing processes.

“Beyond the financial support, the award provided important validation of the project’s vision and potential societal impact,” says Kristal.

Through the prototyping process, the team learned the value of designing technology around real user workflows. In a complex, highly regulated field like health care, this means balancing usability, privacy, security and regulatory requirements while ensuring the platform remains intuitive for both practitioners and patients. The result is a system that supports end-to-end workflows and is positioned for pilot testing.

By reducing administrative strain on independent providers, HazelCare could help expand access to mental health services, enabling practitioners to take on more clients while maintaining quality of care.

While practitioners benefit from more integrated workflows, the impact is also felt by patients. Instead of navigating multiple platforms to book appointments, complete intake and receive updates, patients can move through a more streamlined process from initial contact through ongoing engagement.

Kristal says HazelCare bridges new technologies and the human-centred nature of care resulting in a more connected and equitable mental health care system.

Moving toward implementation, the team will test HazelCare by working with practitioners to evaluate how it performs in real-world settings. Future enhancements to the platform include improving practitioner support tools, strengthening analytics and exploring responsible AI additions.

“Our goal is not simply to build software, but to demonstrate how responsible AI can strengthen the relationship between practitioners and patients while expanding access to mental health care,” says Kristal.

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Designated by the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) – a government initiative to help companies develop and bring automotive and smart mobility technologies to market – the 91��ɫ Region RTDS will strengthen Ontario’s position in connected, autonomous and electric vehicles.

It joins eight other sites across the province in a network backed by nearly $15 million from public and private investment to strengthen the testing and commercialization of new mobility technologies.

91��ɫ will help lead those efforts through SmartTO, a mobility development stream led by YSpace, the University’s entrepreneurship and innovation hub. The initiative connects startups and small- to medium-sized enterprises with 91��ɫ’s research expertise, facilities and student talent and offers access to advanced labs and technical support.

These efforts already support projects such as AI-driven accessibility tools for transportation systems, real-time safety solutions for micromobility and research aimed at improving electric vehicle efficiency.

Delivered in partnership with ventureLAB, the 91��ɫ Region RTDS features 12 integrated offerings from ideation to commercialization, bringing together academic, industry and government partners to support companies across the development lifecycle. Within that ecosystem, SmartTO serves as a key entry point for companies seeking 91��ɫ's research expertise, facilities and talent.

“Through YSpace’s SmartTO program, we are creating opportunities for industry, researchers and government partners to collaborate on transformative approaches to smart mobility, from electrification to micromobility and connected transportation systems,” says Amir Asif, vice-president, research and innovation at 91��ɫ. “By leveraging 91��ɫ’s interdisciplinary expertise and our campus living lab environment, we are accelerating made-in-Canada innovation while driving meaningful economic, environmental and social impact.”

The RTDS designation marks a new phase in SmartTO's growth since its 2024 launch as part of Ontario’s effort to strengthen its position as a leader in emerging automotive and mobility technologies.

Since its launch, SmartTO has focused on helping companies overcome technical and commercialization barriers by linking them with interdisciplinary expertise and specialized infrastructure. With its integration into the RTDS network, that work now expands within a coordinated provincial system that aligns regional strengths and provides comprehensive resources to innovators.

“91��ɫ and YSpace’s role in the RTDS reflects a broader approach to research and innovation that emphasizes collaboration across disciplines and partnerships with industry and government,” says David Kwok, director, entrepreneurship and innovation at YSpace. “Through SmartTO, companies are able to engage directly with faculty researchers, access student talent through co-op and capstone opportunities and test and refine new technologies with the support of University facilities and technical expertise.”

"SmartTO has been instrumental in advancing 91��ɫ’s capability in smart mobility and transportation by serving as a hub and a living lab that connects industry with leading researchers, talent and state-of-the-art facilities," says Paulina Karwowska-Desaulniers, executive director at SmartTO.

As the RTDS network develops, SmartTO is expanding 91��ɫ’s role in the development and commercialization of mobility technologies across Ontario.

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