The long-term funding will accelerate their work in robotics and diabetes, improving the lives of older adults and those with chronic conditions.
Two scientists from UHN’s KITE Research Institute have earned one of Canada’s most prestigious research honours and been named Canada Research Chairs.
This long-term funding will accelerate their work in robotics and diabetes, improving the lives of older adults and those with chronic conditions.
Robots that help people age in place
KITE Affiliate Scientist Dr. Goldie Nejat has been named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Intelligent Assistive and Collaborative Robots. Through her work with KITE and position at the University of Toronto as a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Dr. Nejat is pioneering the development of intelligent, collaborative and socially adept robots. “It's a really exciting time in robotics - the marriage of robotics and AI together has opened up many new avenues,” she says.
She’s researching how robots could help people live longer at home by performing a variety of tasks to help with activities of daily living, such as prompting them to dress appropriately for the weather and assisting with household chores. "This research is really pushing the intelligence of those robots to be able to do multiple tasks and activities through a course of a day for an individual who might need assistance,” says Dr. Nejat. “In the end, the goal is to support their health and well-being.”
She’s also investigating how robots might help people in healthcare settings, testing ideas such as having them interact with residents in long-term care, acting as translators between staff and patients, and assisting doctors in the emergency department with routine workplace tasks.
KITE has given her the ability to see the real-world effects of the “robot brains” she’s creating, she says. “My research is not just about the development of these intelligent interactive robots, but also their deployment in healthcare settings and the human-robot interactions that take place between the robots, and older adults and their care providers. KITE has been instrumental for allowing us engage the user groups who will benefit from our robots.”
New insights into diabetes, mood and dementia
Dr. Walter Swardfager, an Affiliate Scientist at KITE, was renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Clinical Pharmacology of Cognitive Neurovascular Disorders. Dr. Swardfager, who is also a Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at U of T, is being supported for his work running the Sunnybrook Type 2 Diabetes Study (S2DS). The study is a long-term research project looking at how mood and cognitive symptoms impact—and are impacted by—Type 2 diabetes. Its participants are from the Diabetes, Exercise, and Healthy Lifestyle Program at UHN’s Toronto Rehab and from Sunnybrook.
The study looks at a broad array of effects, from the impact of the Toronto Rehab program on mental health to physical markers that could be used to identify mental health issues. Dr. Swardfager says there are many unanswered questions about dementia risk and why depressive symptoms are so common in people with diabetes. “We know that diabetes doubles the risk of depression and dementia, and we want to know why. Evidence suggests that exercise can reduce dementia risk and alleviate depressive symptoms, but some participants benefit more from exercise than others. Learning from each individual's adaptations to the exercise program may show us how to boost those brain benefits for those who don’t respond well,” he says. Dr. Swardfager’s lab also studies the effects of diabetes drugs on the brain, showing which options prevent dementia in the long term.
Research from the study could lead to more personalized care for people with diabetes and help to prevent both mood disorders and cognitive complications. “Our work aims to identify biological processes that cause these complications, to provide biomarkers that accurately track and predict them, and to uncover new ways to protect the brain from diabetes,” says Dr. Swardfager.