MONTREAL – Four winning teams were announced at the McGill Clinical Innovation Competition and Awards Ceremony, which took place virtually on May 20, 2021. Inspired by Dr. Raymond Hakim, the McGill Clinical Innovation Competition (CLIC) aims to inspire members of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences community to conceive and develop promising ideas that will have a direct and positive impact on Canadian or global healthcare.
And the 2021 top teams are:
Winner of the Hakim Family Innovation Prize
EczemaQ
EczemaQ is a pilot mobile health application available for download to clinician and/or patient smartphones for testing. This tool received an award from the Canadian Dermatology Association, and we have engaged a network of stakeholders, including industry, national patient advocacy groups, and the International Eczema Council. We are now validating usability of EczemaQ, using a co-development iterative process with REB-approval from the Center for Applied Ethics at the McGill University Health Centre.
Team members include:
First-Place Winners of the Marika Zelenka Roy Innovation Prize
Remote Optical
No high-quality remote examination method of the front of the eye exists. Our solution revolutionizes eye care with remote, asynchronous imaging and examination. These features improve access to eye care for people in rural/indigenous communities, senior homes, intensive care units and emergency rooms. Our solution saves money and time, and leverages the power of AI to assist ophthalmologists during exams and improve monitoring of changes in eye condition between consultations.
Team members include:
Second-place winners of the Marika Zelenka Roy Innovation Prize & Winners of the Bereskin & Parr Innovation Prize
NURA Médical
The process of preparing weight-based medication is not only time-consuming, but error-prone, which can ultimately lead to serious or even fatal consequences for pediatric patients. As such, NURA Medical has developed the IV Assistant, a semi-automated medical device to prevent medication errors. The IV Assistant will positively impact children receiving care across various healthcare settings and healthcare professionals lacking pediatric medicine expertise.
Team members include:
First-Place Winners of the MI4 Innovation Prize
LFAnt Medical
LFAnt Medical is a Canadian biotechnology startup dedicated to revolutionizing point-of-care diagnostics for at-home detection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Founded out of the Department of Bioengineering at McGill University in 2019, our student-led team combines proprietary biosensing technologies with the latest advances in microelectronics and machine learning to deliver accessible, inexpensive, and connected STI testing solutions.
Team members include:
Second-Place Winning Team of the MI4 Innovation Prize
Sensoreal
At Sensoreal, we have developed the first point-of-care blood test that was successfully commissioned at the International Space Station in 2019. In 2020 and in collaboration with Health Canada, we developed a prototype to differentiate bacterial/viral respiratory infections. Our technology uses disposable microfluidic chips using only a finger prick of blood and the data is analyzed using novel AI techniques. Our solution will help physicians to guide antibiotic therapy in less than 15 minutes.
Team members include:
Congratulations also to our finalists:
BioOpticTM
BioOpticTM is a portable, wireless, non-invasive, and inexpensive device that aims to improve rehabilitative programs for conditions related to intra-abdominal pressure, such as low back pain or incontinence. It can be used in physiotherapy and clinical offices to improve targeted treatment plans.
Team members include:
GynAware
GynAware’s technology allows a safe pre-surgical assessment of uterine muscle tumours via a tissue biopsy. The implementation of this technology within the healthcare workflow will enable women with gynecological tumors to receive personalized treatments based on a diagnosis.
Team members include:
The CLIC has now been running very successfully for four years. We are very grateful to our prize sponsors for offering the following prizes at this year’s CLIC:
The Hakim Family Innovation Prize recognizes ideas, new processes or devices in healthcare with potential to have a tangible and meaningful impact on the patients entrusted to our care.
The Marika Zelenka Roy Innovation Prize, launched in partnership with the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, highlights the innovation providing the best solution to an unmet clinical need for the care of a patient and the highest likelihood of success in being translated. Two winners will be chosen for this prize.
The MI4 Innovation Prize, sponsored by the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity, aims to support innovative solutions that focus on infectious and immune threats to human health. Two winners will be chosen for this prize.
The Bereskin & Parr Innovation Prize recognizes a trainee-led (student, resident or fellow) clinical innovation that has the greatest promise to develop into a truly competitive value proposition.
Proposals are submitted by teams or individuals with the goal of improving health outcomes, health access for patients, or healthcare efficiency or effectiveness.
