IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: March 2024

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: March 2024 This spring, highlight our new lab member/lab manager Huini Ge, LOVOT’s engagement with the community, new projects such as the Cycling Game project, and share updates from other various projects of the IDEA Lab. Give this a read!

Milena Jankovic

Milena Jankovic My name is Milena Jankovic. My educational background includes a Master’s Degree in Natural Mathematics, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and Economics, among various other certifications. I’ve dedicated years of service on the Boards of Directors for various organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, Women in Business, Run for […]

Patricia Chin

Patricia Chin My name is Patricia Chin. I am excited about the innovative technology which IDEA Lab is using to assist persons living with dementia.

Co-create Virtual Reality in Long Term Care: First 2024 Monthly Meeting

Co-create Virtual Reality in Long Term Care: First 2024 Monthly Meeting Our Co-Create Virtual Reality (VR) Project team had a productive first monthly meeting on January 29, focusing on integrating VR into healthcare. We discussed updates from Long Term Care and Acute Care, explored trauma-informed VR content, and planned for user-friendly interfaces. We really appreciate […]

Ryan Lei

Ryan Lei Ryan Lei is a Grade 11 student at University Hill Secondary. He likes to program in his free time and inspires to be a leader in technology, exploring ways to improve people’s lives.

LOVOT at West Vancouver Memorial Library

LOVOT at West Vancouver Memorial Library On September 13th, our LOVOT Social Robot Study team held a Tech Talk at the West Vancouver Memorial Library. Our team presented some of our key learnings from the study and shared the potential of social robots like LOVOT to facilitate social connection and bring joy to older adults in […]

Lana Chan

Lana Chan ** Biography incoming** Lana Chan is a high school student volunteer with our design team. Profile icon from freepik*

Sonia Tang

Sonia Tang ** Biography incoming** Profile icon from Bingge Liu Art*

Sena Kholmatov

Sena Kholmatov I am Sena Kholmatov, an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive Systems and minoring in Community, Adult, and Higher Education,also serving as a Research Assistant for the Sleepsense Project. My work with both the Sleepsense Project and the Co-Create Virtual Reality Project demonstrates my commitment to enhancing healthcare through technology. In my role as […]

Rachel Wan

Rachel Wan Rachel is passionate about caring for the elderly population and currently works with older adults as a registered nurse at the Vancouver General Hospital on the ACE unit. She is a volunteer at the IDEAlab and currently contributes her time and efforts to the Silent Disco Headphones and DemSCAPE World Cafe projects. Additionally, […]

Nasim Hosseini

Nasim Hosseini

Michelle Lam

Michelle Lam Michelle is a year 3 nursing student at UBC who is passionate about health equity and problem-solving. She also love building relationships and meeting new people, so she’s really excited to work with the IDEA Lab team to work towards advancing dementia care! In her spare time, I love eating, photography, and jewelry […]

Jastinne Diaz

Jastinne Diaz Hi everyone! My name is Jastinne Diaz, and I am a graduate student in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. Prior to pursuing my public health masters, I graduated with a BSc Specialization in Psychology also from the University of Alberta, with a particular interest in language and developmental […]

Jamie Lam

Jamie Lam Jamie Lam is a fourth year Cognitive Systems (Brain and Cognition) student in UBC. Through her degree and work in the Faculty of Digital Medicine which focuses on chronic disease management for multicultural communities, she has become passionate about utilizing innovative technology to provide patient-centered care and developing a learning health system. She also has experience working in the […]

Bubli Chakraborty

Bubli Chakraborty I am a family partner who is interested in supporting co-designed research to improve the care of people living with dementia. My background as a caregiver to my father, being a former RN and researcher gives me a unique perspective.

Catherine Wu

Catherine Wu Catherine is a mission-driven researcher dedicated to leveraging technology for precision care and health equity. She has four years of experience in developing wellbeing initiatives, providing coaching support and designing innovative blended service designs for youth, families and adults with stress, depression and anxiety. She was once the primary caregiver for her grandma, who […]

Janna Zeid

Janna Zeid I’m currently a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Cognitive Systems. Having conversations with friends in different fields about the similarities between what we classify as distinct academic disciplines is always fascinating to me. I’m excited to apply that to a research environment and explore the nuances of dementia and assistive technologies, particularly for communities with less […]

Vaishali Sharma

Vaishali Sharma Vaishali Sharma, also known as Shelly, came to Canada as an international student and graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences in 2021. She worked for the UBC Can-SOLVE CKD network as a Research Administrative Coordinator for the past two years and has recently started her position at the PHSA BC Cancer Research […]

Bonnie Huynh

Bonnie Huynh Bonnie is currently a second-year student at UBC majoring in Neuroscience. Through her studies, she has gained interest in research on neurodegenerative diseases with an emphasis on the development of treatments and therapies to improve the care of patients living with dementia. She also enjoys working directly with people and her community through […]

Adam Lin

Adam Lin ** Biography incoming** Adam Lin is a part of the Learning Health Systems project. Profile icon from Bingge Liu Art*

IDEA Lab Year End Newsletter

IDEA Lab Year End Newsletter Read New Years greetings from Dr. Lillian Hung and Dr. Jim Mann! We summarize largest new milestones of the 2023 year, from three new robot studies (Aether, Lovot, Calm), our Ministry of Health presentations, CIHR Catalyst Grant and to maintained and new industry partnerships in dementia TV (Zinnia) and sleep […]

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: November/December 2023

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: November/December 2023 A summary of the past two months achievements, we celebrate many new publications from a variety of projects (Telepresence, TV Study). We recognize outstanding lab members Karen and Albin, and Joey and Hiro presented lab research to the Fraser Health Authority! Other presentation conducted during this time included a […]

IDEA Lab presentation with Fraser Health

IDEA Lab presentation with Fraser Health Joey and Hiro had a wonderful time presenting and discussing innovative technologies with health care providers from Fraser Health Authority at the virtual Continuing Geriatric Education Series. In the presentation, Joey and Hiro discussed how LOVOT, Telepresence Robots, and our Virtual Reality project facilitate social connection and bring opportunities […]

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: October 2023

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: October 2023 What a busy month! In this edition, we recognize our new lab manager, Bubli Chakraborty, and celebrate recent publications from WhatMatters, TV Study, an incredible amount of events and workshops hosted over our many projects, and the October conferences in Toronto over multiple projects/teams. We also had the privilege […]

Ana Sofia Groot

Ana Sofia Groot My name is Ana Sofia Groot. I am a third-year student at UBC, majoring in psychology with a big interest in older adults’ well-being. My goal with my studies, experience and further education is to better understand and advocate for older adults. I love hiking, swimming, and anything fitness. I’m a big […]

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: September 2023

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: September 2023 In this month’s edition, we celebrated the attention the Lovot Robot project received from CBC, Fairchild TV and CTV, highlighted hardworking lab members Karen Wong and Jason Fu, and new publications from TV Study and Learning Health Systems! That and so much more in September’s edition below: You may […]

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: August 2023

IDEA Lab Monthly Newsletter: August 2023 In this month’s edition, we highlight our WorkLearn students, celebrate the completion of our first EDII Weaving Relations course as a lab, and acknowledge some project updates: Lovot’s robots visited the Nikkei Home in Mount Pleasant and South Vancouver Neighbourhood Home, and more! Download the file below!

Helen Banh

Helen Banh Hi there! My name is Helen, and I graduated from UBC with a B.Sc. in Chemical Biology. I’m interested in the healthcare field, so I’m thrilled to join the IDEA Lab and work on projects implementing innovative technology to improve dementia care. I’m excited to interact with the community and bring joy to […]

Luoci Zhang

Luoci Zhang Luoci Zhang is a Chinese designer and artist currently studying and residing in Chicago. She works on graphic design, experimental video, images, printing, and installation. Her work is interested in subtle relationships behind items and ambient feelings, from descriptive and abstract text to visualization. She hopes to apply her learning experiences and background […]

Samaa ElSayed

Samaa ElSayed Hi, My name is Samaa and I am an international student from Egypt. I am in my fourth year of studying International Relations. I am very interested in getting involved in my community, learning, and giving back. I am also deeply curious about the fast-paced and innovative technology and the health care system […]

Yumna Hayat

Yumna Hayat I’m a third-year student at UBC. I’m doing my undergrad in pharmaceutical sciences. I am very excited to be a part of the IDEA lab, and to be involved in projects that harness technology to deliver innovative solutions to improve healthcare through patient-centred research. In my free time, I like hiking and going […]

Mary Van

Mary Van Mary is an Integrated Sciences Major at UBC studying Immunology & Neurobiology who is hoping to pursue graduate studies further and have a career in the healthcare field. She finds deep value and joy in making positive contributions to the lives of others through her community involvement – big or small. She is […]

Harleen Hundal

Harleen Hundal Harleen is passionate about health equity, patient advocacy, and medicine. She is currently studying at UBC in the Combined Major in Science program (chemistry, life science, earth and environmental science) with a Minor in Health and Society. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in healthcare that will allow her to […]

Riea Singh

Riea Singh Riea Singh is currently a third-year Speech Sciences student at the University of British Columbia and has been with the Idea Lab since February of 2023. She studies extensively on dementia and neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism (ASD). In her volunteerism and academic journey, she is passionate about assisting individuals in communication, speech […]

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day! From the IDEA Lab 🙂 IDEA Lab members visit their respective research sites of their projects to show appreciation for the fantastical women that make research possible and the ones who are everyday heroes in our community’s care homes! Below is a gallery of this day!

Alice Entong Yi

Alice Entong Yi I am passionate about improving elder health, well-being, and quality of life. This passion led me to challenge myself daily and learn new skills as a member of the IDEA lab with the team. I was an internal medicine physician, having 20+ years of experience in primary care in China. I hope […]