Innovation Starts with a Question
- Sarah Kasleder for SHRF
- May 20
- 3 min read
When we think of innovation, we sometimes think about technology.
Artificial intelligence. Digital Tools. Breakthrough discoveries. New ways of delivering care.
And while innovation can look like all of those things, it starts off somewhere with a question.
Questions like:
- What if care could reach more people?
- What if care could reach people sooner?
- What if treatment could become more personalized?
- What if communities could shape the research?
- What if places where people lived could be changed to support mental health?
- What if healing could begin with a dog?
- What if communities could access experts without leaving home or their community?
- What if discoveries made here in Saskatchewan could improve health far beyond our province?
… And many many more…
As Saskatchewan wraps up Innovation Week, put on by Innovation Saskatchewan, it is a chance to recognize the people, partnerships, and investments that help new ideas move forward.
Move beyond research papers and into communities and clinics, and put it into practice or into the hands of those who can use it.
At Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, we see this work happen all the time.
We invest in researchers who explore new approaches to some of the province’s most pressing health challenges. From early-stage discovery to implementation in real-world settings.
Sometimes it happens in a lab.
Sometimes it happens in a clinic.
Sometimes it happens in a community.
And sometimes, it begins by looking at an old challenge through an entirely new lens.
Innovation in Action Across Saskatchewan
Healing, connection, and four-legged research partners
Dr. Colleen Dell has spent her career exploring new ways to support healing, mental health, and connections, including research involving animal-assisted interventions. Her work is helping communities rethink what support, trust, and healing can look like.
Read the story
Tiny Pest. Real-world impact.
Dr. Maarten Voordouw and Dr. Emily Jenkins introduced an eTick App that allows users to upload a photo of a tick they have found, along with a few details, and have a researcher review the image and provide information about the tick species, which determines the risk of a tick-borne disease. New questions about tick-borne diseases are emerging, including increased encounters with different populations, and have the risks changed?
Read the story
What if neighbourhoods could support youth mental health?
Dr. Akram Mahani is helping communities understand how neighbourhood design, access to spaces, and social environments can influence the mental health and well-being of young people.
Read the story
Expanding care and bringing care closer to home
Dr. Ivar Mendez spent years helping redefine what access to healthcare can look like in Saskatchewan and beyond. Through virtual health innovation, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, learning health systems, and community-based partnerships, it is possible to improve access to specialized care.
Read the Story
New approaches to rare neurological diseases
Dr. Tyler Wenzel is exploring new approaches to treating rare pediatric brain disease. His work focuses on creating more precise and targeted therapies, which opens possibilities for conditions that currently offer patients and families very few options.
Read the Story
Improving maternal and baby care
Dr. Kelsey Cochrane is helping improve care for vulnerable newborns by researching ways to expand feeding options using donor breastmilk. “We’re not just talking about feeding babies; we’re talking about potentially changing how we approach infant health for some of our most vulnerable populations,” Dr. Cochrane emphasizes.
Read the Story
There are, of course, so many more of these stories we could share.
These stories may look different, but they all started in the same place.
A question.
And with the right support, these questions can become discoveries, partnerships, solutions, and innovations that make a lasting change for the people across Saskatchewan and beyond.
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