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In Their Own Words: 2025 Manitoba Solutions Grant – AI & New Technology

Research Manitoba recently announced the recipients of our 2025 Manitoba Solutions Grant: AI and New Technologies.

These grants are coordinated between post-secondary institutions, industry, and community partners to develop made-in-Manitoba AI solutions.

Today, we are excited to share the perspectives of several award recipients as they reflect on the significance of this recognition. They have been asked, “How does your project ethically address the uses of AI and new technology for the benefit of Manitobans?“

Athanasios Zovoilis – University of Manitoba
AI4Omics-MB: A Manitoba Pilot of GenAI for Clinical Genomics
“The AI4Omics-MB project uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence to improve cancer detection and treatment for Manitobans, while keeping ethics at its core. All data is securely analyzed within CCMB and  Manitoba instead of being outsourced out of province or the country, ensuring patient privacy and compliance with MB standards and our values as a community. The project is designed to reduce healthcare disparities by developing AI tools locally that reflect the province’s unique population. By building local expertise and responsible AI practices, this initiative could deliver real benefits to Manitobans while ensuring ethical, AI-driven healthcare innovation.”

Website: https://www.genome-intelligence.org/

 

Jay Toor – University of Manitoba
ORION – Operating Room Intelligence & Optimization Network
“ORION will increase access to emergency surgical care for all Manitobans by using AI to optimize our existing surgical resources. It uses AI predict surges in traumas and other emergency demands on a hospital by considering variables such as weather, recent trends in patient volumes, seasonality and numerous other factors. This information is then used to create optimized OR schedule so centers like HSC can plan how many ORs to run and what surgeries to prioritize. It will increase care for all Manitobans, improve healthcare provider wellness all while lowering cost.”

 

Aazad Abbas – University of Toronto

“ORION is built on the principle that AI in healthcare must serve everyone equitably; not just optimize averages. Scheduling decisions prioritize clinical need, wait time, and expected outcome over administrative convenience, with bias detection built directly into the algorithm to monitor impact across age, sex, socioeconomic status, geography, and Indigenous identity.

For Manitoba, that means partnering with Indigenous health leadership, factoring travel burden into scheduling, and engaging a diverse patient advisory committee including rural residents, newcomers, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+ community, throughout the work.

Building on the validated Sunnybrook system, ORION aims to bring shorter waits, less after-hours work, and more efficient care to Manitoba equitably, and with communities at the centre of every design decision.”
Mina Nouredanesh – University of Manitoba
Transforming Manitoba’s Healthcare through AI-Powered Predictive Tools and Digital Twins Built on Three Decades of Medical Data
“It is a profound honour to receive this support from Research Manitoba, and we are deeply grateful for this opportunity. This grant will be instrumental in our efforts to leverage medical data to develop impactful predictive solutions for complex health conditions and enhance healthcare delivery across the province.”

Qian Liu – University of Winnipeg
From Absence to Action: A Multi-Agents AI Framework for Homelessness Service Disengagement
“This project uses AI to support frontline workers in Manitoba shelters and outreach organizations by helping them notice when someone may have quietly stopped using services and could be at risk. The system combines service records, case notes, and guidelines to identify patterns of disengagement and provide clear, timely alerts, while keeping staff in control of decisions. We protect privacy by carefully managing data use and actively work to reduce bias, with particular attention to vulnerable populations. By enabling earlier and more informed responses, the project aims to improve safety and prevent people from slipping through the cracks.”

Website: https://www.acs.uwinnipeg.ca/liu-qi/
Rebecca Davis – University of Manitoba
AI-Driven Design of Lithium Sensors for Manitoba’s Critical Minerals Sector
“Our project combines artificial intelligence and chemistry to accelerate the discovery of new lithium sensors relevant to Manitoba’s critical-minerals sector. We use interpretable machine-learning models and experimental validation to ensure reliable scientific insight, allowing us to responsibly advance technological innovation. Working with our Manitoba industry partner Lithogen, we aim to develop practical, low-cost lithium detection tools that could support more efficient exploration and monitoring across the province.”
Tim Rogalsky – Canadian Mennonite University
Ethical AI for Manitoba: The MHS Agentic Chatbot Project
“This project puts ethical design at the centre of AI development. Working with the Manitoba Historical Society, we are building a conversational tool grounded in verified Manitoba heritage data. The chatbot will cite every response so users can verify the source, and will acknowledge when the answer is uncertain or unavailable. Unlike large commercial AI products, our system will run on a local model at CMU rather than a remote data centre. That means user conversations will stay in Manitoba, and the environmental footprint will be small. We are also training undergraduate students as AI developers, giving them hands-on experience building and testing a real system, both through coursework and as paid research assistants. Our goal is to show what responsible, community-centred AI looks like, and ultimately to make that model freely available to organizations across the province.”

Contact:

Freyja Arnason, Director, Strategy and Programs, Research Manitoba

P: 204-942-1948| E: Freyja.arnason@researchmb.ca | W: researchmanitoba.ca

Research Manitoba:

Research Manitoba promotes, supports, and coordinates the funding of research excellence and innovation in health, natural and social sciences, engineering, and the humanities in Manitoba. Research Manitoba supports local talent development by providing research support to early career researchers and graduate students, along with fostering partnerships to strengthen research innovation in Manitoba.