The application of technology in healthcare has increased significantly since the advent of COVID 19 in 2020. This month’s newsletter highlights the role of health informatics, which combines communication, information technology and health care to transform and greatly improve patient care through the sharing of information, accurate and timely diagnoses and treatments and personalized medicine. You’ll learn about interdisciplinary research in areas including big data, environmental and global health, patient monitoring and acceptance and adoption of technologies for health management. And you’ll meet Dr. Helen Chen of the Professional Practice Centre in Health Systems at the University of Waterloo who works with health care sector partners and professional staff and faculty from the University of Waterloo to tackle interesting and important real-world problems.
This month’s Impact Story highlights the work of Lily Pourzand, who came to Canada from Iran in 1999 in search of political safety and personal freedom. A finalist for the 2023 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, Lily is a passionate and outstanding advocate for girls and women, both in Canada and around the world, as she works to create community linkages and establish relationships with stakeholders, organizations, funders and policymakers to bring positive social changes.
The Profound Impact team is planning for a busy June and we hope to see you at one of the events we’ll be participating in this month. We’re proud to sponsor the CS-CAN 2023 conference at McGill University from June 5 to 9. Our team will be in Montreal to meet with computer science researchers and students from across Canada. We’ll also be taking part in the Collision 2023 conference at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, from June 26 to 29 as part of the Startup Alpha program. And I’ll be presenting, in conjunction with Deloitte, on the AWS stage at the conference.
Nominations are open until June 14th for our Impactful Action Awards. We believe that one profound impact leads to another and that’s why the recipients of our awards will be able to select a charity of their choice for a donation made by Profound Impact. To make a nomination, or learn more about the awards, please click here: https://news.profoundimpact.com/…/2023-impactful…/
Finally, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Kasia Malz to Profound Impact as Chief Financial Officer. Kasia joined the Profound Impact team in April and brings more than 15 years of experience working in diverse financial leadership roles in start-up and high-growth environments. She received both her Masters of Accounting and Honours Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, holds a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) designation and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Illinois.Adding Kasia as our CFO signals a time of growth, expansion and investment here at Profound Impact and we know that she will be an invaluable member of our team as we grow.
We look forward to receiving your nominations for the Impactful Action Awards and to meeting you at the CS-CAN conference in Montreal and the Collision conference in Toronto. Thank you for connecting with us and the Profound Impact community!
I’m excited to share Profound Impact’s plans for this year as we amplify our focus on research and researchers across Canada and internationally.
Our new Research Spotlight column, which debuts this month highlighting Canada’s role as an AI research leader, will feature stories about emerging research and collaboration in areas including Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Processing, Sustainability, Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Biomanufacturing, Social Innovation, and Technology and Society.
We’ll also introduce some of the world-renowned researchers working in these areas to transfer their research results from the lab to innovative products and services. This month you’ll meet Professor Doina Precup from McGill University, who conducts fundamental research on reinforcement learning and works on AI applications in areas that have a social impact.
March 8 is International Women’s Day and this year’s theme is Embrace Equity. The Profound Impact team is delighted to be working with the Waterloo Region Chapter of Women in Communications and Technology and community organizations from across the region to present a series of IWD2023 events throughout the month of March to celebrate the women of Waterloo Region. We’ll share information about these events in upcoming issues of Profound Connections.
I know that you’ll be impressed by the accomplishments of Adrija Jana, featured in this month’s Impact Story. At just 18 years of age and just beginning her studies in English Literature at the University of Delhi in India, this exceptional young woman has made great impact as a poet, researcher, social activist, artist and active citizen.
Enjoy this month’s edition of Profound Connections and hope you are having a great start to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2023!
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been featured in popular culture for decades. From the giant robots who kidnapped Lois Lane and were taken down by Superman in the 1941 animated film The Mechanical Monsters, to HAL 9000, the AI antagonist in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the currently ubiquitous AI portrait generators, artificial intelligence has been portrayed as a promise, a threat and a cool tool.
At Profound Impact, our newly-launched Research Impact product uses AI and data analytic tools to automatically match research collaborators with multiple online sources for funding opportunities and with potential industry partners to create competitive grant applications.
But what is AI and what role do Canada’s researchers play in advancing the field?
Canada’s Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence states that AI represents a set of complex and powerful technologies that will touch or transform every sector of industry and that has the power to address challenging problems while introducing new sources of sustainable economic growth.
In 2017, in partnership with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Canada launched the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The country’s national AI strategy, the first in the world, has a stated vision that “by 2030 Canada will have one of the most robust national AI ecosystems in the world, founded upon scientific excellence, high-quality training, deep talent pools, public-private collaboration and our strong values of advancing AI technologies to bring positive social, economic and environmental benefits for people and the planet.”
AI research in Canada is currently centred in three national AI institutes: the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) in Edmonton, the Vector Institute in Toronto and Mila in Montreal. These not-for-profit organizations work in partnership with research universities and companies conducting AI research and development across Canada.
Four key strategic priorities have been identified as part of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy:
Advancing AI Science
Fundamental and applied research in areas including machine learning, natural language processing, autonomous vehicles, games and game theory and human-AI interaction.
AI for Health
AI-based approaches to health and healthcare that leverage Canada’s strength in health research and publicly-funded healthcare systems.
AI for Energy and the Environment
Innovative solutions to protect the environment and deal with the effects of climate change.
AI Commercialization
Funding and incentives for Canadian companies to develop AI technology and products.
The three hubs of AI excellence in the Pan-Canadian AI are recognized internationally for their research expertise and results, training of the next generation of AI researchers and practitioners and the transfer of scientific knowledge to industry.
Alberta-based Amii’s team includes 28 Fellows (including 23 Canada CIFAR AI Chairs) and eight Canada CIFAR AI chairs at universities across Western Canada. Amii researchers are pioneers and leaders in fields including Reinforcement Learning, Precision Health, Games and Game Theory, Natural Language Processing, Deep Learning and Robotics and work with a range of companies to translate research results to innovative products across industry sectors.
The Vector Institute was launched in March 2017 in partnership with the University of Toronto, the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo to work with research institutions, industry, and incubators and accelerators across Canada to advance AI research and drive its application, adoption and commercialization.
Three key pillars in the Vector Institute’s three-year strategy are research, industry partnerships and thought leadership. Currently, the Vector Institute comprises more than 600 active researchers and professionals from across the country. More than 40 industry sponsors, representing a broad range of industries including health care, finance, advanced manufacturing, telecommunications, retail and transportation, collaborate with Vector Institute researchers on projects related to opportunities in AI.
The fourth pillar in the institute’s strategy and a focus of research is health, including responsible health data access for research, the use of machine learning tools, methods to analyze de-identified health data, and the creation of a secure data platform for applied AI research. Vector programs, including the Smart Health initiative and the support of Pathfinder Projects, facilitate the use of AI-assisted technologies in the health sector and the deployment of machine learning tools in hospitals across Ontario.
Mila was found in 19983 by Professor Yoshua Bengio of the Université de Montréal as a research lab to bring together researchers with a shared vision for the ethical development and advancement of AI. In 2017, the scope of Mila was expanded through collaboration between the Université de Montréal and McGill University and work with academic institutions Polytechnique Montréal and HEC Montréal.
Now a non-profit research institute, Mila also works with Quebec universities including Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke and École de technologie supérieure. More than 1,000 researchers, including 51 CIFAR AI chairs, with expertise in machine learning theory and optimization, deep learning, computer vision and robotics, reinforcement learning, computational neuroscience and natural language processing.
In addition to conducting leading-edge research, Mila also works closely with 87 industry partners via collaborative research and technology transfer to facilitate the use of AI in company processes and product development. And the Mila Entrepreneurship Lab fosters student entrepreneurship from ideas to business projects through mentorship and funding. Eighteen Mila start-ups operate in Montreal, Toronto, New York City, Addis Ababa and Germany, working on the use of AI in medicine, finance, neuroscience and transportation.
Canada continues to fund emerging AI research institutes including the Centre for Innovation in Artificial Intelligence Technologies (CIAIT) at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto and the Durham College Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions (the AI Hub) in Oshawa, Ontario. At CIAIT, Seneca researchers will collaborate with industry partners to find AI solutions in sectors ranging from advanced manufacturing and commerce to creative media and finance. The AI Hub provides industry partners with access to AI expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and student talent to integrate AI solutions into products and business operations.
Canada’s strengths and global leadership in AI are powered by the investments made by the Government of Canada in AI research at institutions across the country. These investments are developing the adoption of artificial intelligence across Canada’s economy, connecting researchers and the next generation of AI professionals with industry partners to facilitate commercialization and advancing the development and adoption of AI standards to be used in Canada and around the world.
Researcher Spotlight: Doina Precup
Doina Precup, McGill University
Growing up in Romania, Doina Precup enjoyed science fiction featuring benign and helpful robots. That interest, plus the influence of her mother (a computer science professor), and the other women in her family with successful careers in science, were early draws for Professor Precup to the field of artificial intelligence.
Doina Precup is an associate professor at McGill University and head of the Montreal office of Deepmind. In addition to teaching at McGill, she is a core academic member at Mila, a Canada CIFAR AI Chair, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the CIFAR Learning in Machines and Brains program and a senior member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Precup conducts fundamental research on reinforcement learning with a focus on AI applications in areas, such as health care, that have a social impact. At Deepmind, a subsidiary of Google, she leads a team of scientists, engineers and ethicists dedicated to using AI to advance science and solve real-world problems.
Dr. Precup’s focus on creating social impact goes beyond her work in the research laboratory. To address the issue of gender imbalance in science and technology, she co-founded and serves as advisor of the CIFAR-OSMO AI4Good Lab, an organization that encourages women to study and work in artificial intelligence via a seven-week AI training program for undergraduate and graduate students who identify as women. Dr. Precup was also one of four renowned Canadian AI researchers who signed a letter sent in 2017 to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking that Canada announce its support for the call to ban lethal autonomous weapons systems at the United Nations Conference on the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Her work as an award-winning AI researcher dedicated to solving problems to benefit humanity, her leadership in building a diverse and inclusive culture in AI and her support and mentorship of emerging talent have established Doina Precup as a respected and distinguished member of the AI research community in Quebec, Canada and internationally.
