Master’s student at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Sanjit Jeevanand, is interning at Dalhousie University this summer, where he and his team aim to address one of Canada’s most pressing health care needs – access to mental health resources.
Under the guidance of Professor Rita Orji, Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology, and Oladapo Oyebode, a PhD candidate in Human-Computer Interaction and Persuasive Computing, Jeevanand and his team are developing an app that offers personalized mental health recommendations to its users.
The app, called Recilify, is designed to help people bounce back from challenging situations like the loss of a loved one, financial pressures, or health issues.
“The goal is to provide support at the point of need using evidence-based interventions,” explained Orji. “We’re able to apply machine learning to understand exactly how an individual is feeling right in the moment and why, so that we can provide the most appropriate and effective mental health supports.”
Jeevanand is completing an Integrated Master of Technology. He is also a game development expert.
Jeevanand’s internship involves writing more than 40,000 lines of code for Recilify. His work improves how the app acquires relevant context to give users helpful recommendations.
The Mitacs Globalink Research Internship Program
Jeevanand is one of 168 international students in Atlantic Canada helping to solve tough innovation challenges through a unique initiative called the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship program.
In total, 2,220 students from 15 countries are taking part in the Mitacs Globalink program this summer. Internships last for twelve weeks and are available at more than 70 universities.
Orji is passionate about mentoring young people and has welcomed Mitacs interns into her lab since becoming a professor in 2017.
“It’s extremely fulfilling to watch their understanding move from zero to 100 per cent as they see firsthand how we develop an idea from idea conception to actualization to real-world deployment,” she said.
Orji says the interns’ contributions are invaluable. She also notes that her team of researchers learns from international students’ diverse experiences and expertise. Many of the interns go on to publish papers or pursue further education in Canada.
“This internship is an amazing opportunity for me to contribute to a novel technology in a state-of-the-art lab, and to learn more about the Canadian research culture at the same time,” said Jeevanand.
A medical device to restore mobility
Intern Lauren Iskander, from Pennsylvania, is working at École Polytechnique de Montréal, under the guidance of Assistant Professor Marco Bonizzato in the Electrical Engineering Department.
She is advancing a breakthrough medical device that will empower people with spinal cord injuries to move their limbs.
The device will work through implanted neuromodulation, similar to those currently applied in treating tremors related to Parkinson’s Disease. It delivers very precise electrical pulses to areas of the brain responsible for mobility and has already shown improved leg movement in rat populations.
Instead of attempting to restore activation of injured areas, this research focuses on making the most of whatever function remains intact in the spinal cord.
Iskander’s internship focuses specifically on improving hand function by observing how electrical stimulation changes the behaviour of rats with spinal cord injuries.
“What’s cool about this project is we’re not trying to heal an injury. We’re presenting a unique way to supplement the rehabilitation process, to make it much more likely that someone will recover their mobility,” Iskander said.
The next step will be clinical trials in humans, which could happen within a few years.
For Iskander, the international internship is her first opportunity to combine her chemical engineering skills with her neuroscience research.
“I’ve always wanted to be able to use my engineering knowledge in a way that was going to help people medically and this internship is allowing me to do that in a very impactful way,” she said.
Bonizzato calls the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship an excellent avenue to attract highly motivated and skilled researchers who add to the ingenuity of his lab.
“We try to create an environment that is as diverse as possible so that ideas will circulate. When you have international interns, they come with different backgrounds and experiences that often shed a new light or thought to our process,” shared Bonizzato.
“Mitacs is very proud to support students through our Globalink Research Internship program so that research like Lauren’s will ultimately help people in Quebec, in Canada, and across the globe,” said Mitacs CEO John Hepburn.
Medical breakthroughs like these are potentially life-changing for their users, but also further the program’s goals of establishing global research connections and boosting Canada’s economy.
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