Nine interdisciplinary teams of researchers at Acadia will spend the next month putting their heads together and then going face-to-face to solve some of the biggest problems in rural healthcare in our province.

The Faculty Health Innovation Challenge is hosted in collaboration with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub and Université Sainte Anne. On October 20 at the kickoff event, the organizers officially issued the challenge question, "How can we help Nova Scotians stay healthy at home and access the care they need, wherever they live?"

Each team is encouraged to come up with an innovative solution to this question with the stipulation that the solution must be interdisciplinary—teams must represent at least two different departments. The goal is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations among team members, provide mentorship opportunities, build and strengthen community connections, and create a culture of problem solving.

"It is exciting to see how the Challenge has facilitated inter-disciplinary and collaborative teams to work on solutions in health and wellness for rural communities," says Dr. Jonathon Fowles, Professor of Kinesiology and Director of Acadia's new Health and Wellness Institute.

"It is when we share ideas across disciplines and between each other that true innovation occurs to address problems in a holistic way—that is what we hope for with the Health and Wellness Institute."

Dr. Guowei Li (Earth & Environmental Science), one of the faculty members signed up to participate, is looking forward to the opportunities the challenge presents for him to collaborate with his colleagues.

“Nature knows no disciplinary boundaries; we are the ones who draw them,"

"As a new hire to the Earth and Environmental Science department, I see this challenge as an opportunity to connect environmental science, geospatial technologies, and community knowledge to improve access to care and support healthier living in rural Nova Scotia."

Dr. Li says he hopes to bring a place-based perspective to understanding how geography and environmental conditions shape health, and to help translate shared insights into practical solutions.

"Opportunities often lie where disciplines meet; we need the curiosity to see them and the courage to bring them to life.”

On November 19 the community is invited to watch as the teams present their proposed solutions to a panel of healthcare experts and community partners.

Selected teams will receive seed funding to move their proposed solutions from concept to execution.

Stay tuned for more, and be sure to mark your calendar for the pitch event!