Cardiovascular disease, which is disease of the heart and blood vessels, has claimed the lives of many Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, heart disease is the second leading cause of death in Canada for all age groups. Unfortunately, certain underserved and isolated populations are at a higher risk as they face significant barriers to cardiovascular care access.
To help alleviate these barriers, TRANSFORM HF, a joint research initiative between the University of Toronto and the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, has created a training program called CaRDM Eq (Translating Cardiovascular Remote Diagnostic and Monitoring Technologies for Equitable Healthcare). Their goal is to ensure that “innovations in diagnostics devices, wearables, and embedded sensors for at-home monitoring of cardiovascular function and digital health care have equity at their core – from ideation, to design, to implementation”. Around 30 industry, community, academic, and clinical groups, such as Loblaws and Klick Applied Sciences, will help deliver this program. With over 120 trainees, this program will ensure future cardiovascular technologies will reduce rather than exacerbate existing health disparities.
CaRDM Eq consists of several Canadian university professors, such as U of T Chemistry Professors Aaron Wheeler and Alana Ogata. Professor Wheeler is the lead of the Field-Ready Point-of-Care Diagnostic Devices research area. Professor Ogata is a co-principal investigator in that area, as well as the Chair of the CaRDM Eq’s IDEAA committee.
Recently, TRANSFORM HF received a $1.65 million six-year NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) grant to help facilitate the CaRDM Eq program. With this funding, Professor Wheeler and Professor Ogata’s work can help bridge gaps and significantly improve the lives of many Canadians. The Department of Chemistry would like to congratulate them and their teammates on this achievement.
To read more about CaRDM Eq’s goals and objectives, click here.