Creators Circle: Create with Us


Our Creators Circle program gathers creatives, designers and technologists together with researchers and early-stage healthcare ventures to advance healthcare innovation, to help bring ground breaking healthcare solutions to life.
Explore our priority innovation areas

Cohort Highlights

12-week cohort-based program​

12-15 ventures per cohort (1-2 participants from each venture, must include the Founder)​​

Targeted mentorship and collaborations via partnerships with creatives and tech partners

Weekly in-person Peer Circles

Office hours with mentors, advisors, etc.

*This is a funded program, so there is no cost to selected program participants

Cohort Participants

Phantom Compass

Phantom Compass is creating a story-driven prequel to the multiple award-winning video game "The Vale: Shadow of the Crown" that will provide a satisfying, uplifting experience for people with sensory disabilities

Cognitive Intervention for Brain Health

KITE scientists are developing a self-administered cognitive intervention for both clinical and in-home environments that takes a novel, game-based approach to improving memory

Parkinsense

Parkinsense is developing wearable solutions for monitoring Parkinsons-related tremor events to help healthcare providers offer better care

Brain Tool Kit

The Brain Tool Kt is an easy-to-use and accessible application for levelling up concussion assessment and rehabilitation

Baby Zips

Baby Zips is an adaptive fashion brand that creates stylish, functional clothing for children of all abilities

Forlena

Olena is taking a smart textiles approach to develop cutting-edge apparel solutions designed to meet the needs of women

Tression

Tression is developing novel garments that look and feel like regular everyday clothing but offer therapeutic compression benefits

Accessercise

Accessercise is a first-of-its-kind fitness app designed to put disabled people first

CounterPart

CounterPart is an intelligent companion that supports people with Dementia and their families by learning a person’s preferences and using evidence-based approaches to support engagement in meaningful activities

Pump Pocket

Pump Pocket makes clothing with specialized pockets to house insulin pumps so that adults, teens and children with type 1 diabetes can move and play free

Rehab2go

Rehab2go provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional in-clinic rehabilitation services by connecting patients with licensed healthcare professionals for personalized in-home care

Startup Navigators

Garrick Ng
Garrick Ng

Garrick is the Program Lead for KITE Creates, an initiative at the University Health Network’s KITE Research Institute that is building bridges between healthcare, creative technology, media, education and design innovators to unlock novel, more human-centred approaches to caring for people with increasingly complex accessibility needs. From inclusive media to accessible communities and fashion technology, KITE Creates offers pathways for emerging and established creative industry professionals to collaborate with healthcare researchers and ventures. Garrick has a background in impact storytelling, arts management and sustainability – having served diverse mandates in non-profit arts management, corporate sustainability and strategy and communications consulting. Garrick is a mentor in the social entrepreneurship community and has served as a graduate-level instructor for several major Canadian universities. He holds an MBA in Business & Sustainability from the Schulich School of Business.​

Helen Weston
Helen Weston

Helen is a Research Associate for KITE Creates and the Fabric Based Research Platform. FIBRE is the first-of-its-kind academic research platform in the field of textile-based wearable technologies. Its mission is to make care accessible to people through technology by designing, introducing, and integrating smart textiles across the healthcare system. Helen is a specialist in textiles and fashion technology, with considerable experience in both the Toronto and London (UK) cultural sectors. An experienced operations and project design/delivery professional, she has taught within, and consulted for, universities in the UK and Canada, providing textile specific knowledge. Committed to inclusive education, she fosters partnership, collaboration and shared knowledge, driving solutions for design challenges. She holds MA’s in Textiles and Arts Administration and Policy Management from the University of London (UK), as well as an Industrial Textile Design degree from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh (UK) and has been a practicing artist for over twenty years.​

Chryssa Koulis
Chryssa Koulis

Chryssa is a social entrepreneur, facilitator, coach with a 20-year career in the non-profit/charitable sector. She has worked with some of Canada’s most recognizable non-profits, including the University of Toronto, Sick Kids Hospital, The Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Artists' Health Centre Foundation. As founding Executive Director she helped bring a small group of artists together with hospital executives in an unconventional partnership to launch the first alternative health clinic for artists at Toronto Western Hospital. Chryssa has also served as Managing Director of the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Canada, where she has helped hundreds of social entrepreneurs build and scale their ventures. Additionally, Chryssa coaches executives and entrepreneurs to help them get unstuck through action learning and unlearning and is a community activator for the BMW Foundation. She holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.​

Anthony Palma
Anthony Palma

Anthony is the Director of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at KITE at the University Health Network (UHN), where he leads initiatives across a complete spectrum of business development and outreach activities. Outcomes at KITE include the creation of new diagnostic/treatment methods, the development/commercialization of innovative products/devices, and policy changes.

Calling Creatives

Are you a creative professional interested in working with cutting-edge healthcare solutions? Our Creators Circle program gathers creatives, designers and technologists together with researchers and early-stage healthcare ventures to advance healthcare innovation, to help bring ground breaking healthcare solutions to life. Start your profile today to be available for ongoing service provider, advisor, mentor or co-creation opportunities.