University innovation for the future of health care

Strong universities are essential to a strong health care system. From educating health care workers to developing new treatment technologies, universities are doing critical work to support more inclusive, high quality health care in Canada.  

Find out what universities are doing to advance health care in Canada and internationally.

Advancing cancer treatments with nanomedicines 

The University of British Columbia’s Dr. Pieter Cullis and colleagues’ advances in the development of nanomedicines employing lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology have generated effective cancer therapies, gene therapies and vaccines. Two drugs enabled by Dr. Cullis’ work have recently been approved; one which treats a previously fatal hereditary condition and another that helped develop the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, administered worldwide. Dr. Cullis’ work has also earned him many international awards, including a 2022 Canada Gairdner International Award and the 2023 Killam Prize in Health Sciences. 

Strengthening pandemic preparedness 

The University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has signed a research agreement with the Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI), located in Geneva, Switzerland, to drive vaccine development and support a rapid and unified response to future pandemics. A major goal of the collaborative project is to develop broadly protective coronavirus vaccines, along with other emerging pathogens. 

One Child Every Child 

The University of Calgary declared child health and wellness research a priority back in 2020. Now, with more than 130 partners worldwide, they have just received their largest ever research grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund for the One Child Every Child initiative. The research initiative seeks to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women, infant and preschoolers, investigating precision health and wellness to improve the journey from diagnosis through treatment for children with medical needs.