CARBONEAR and ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland and Labrador — January 13, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Medventions, Canada’s premier medical technology (medtech) innovation and entrepreneurship program, has launched a pilot program in Newfoundland and Labrador in partnership with Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Health Services and the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub.
The pilot program represents the third Medventions site in Canada, further expanding the program’s reach across the nation.
Medventions, founded in 2016 by Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) in Toronto, is a hospital-based fellowship focused on commercialization. It aims to provide motivated medtech entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to boost Canada’s growing medtech sector.
Fellows are assigned a clinical area and a dedicated clinician to collaborate with throughout the fellowship. This allows them to identify clinical opportunities for innovation in real-world healthcare settings. In addition to this hands-on experience, fellows participate in courses and seminars to gain the latest knowledge in medical device innovation and commercialization.
Dr. Ahmed Nasef, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Medventions, stated that Canada’s medtech sector is at a pivotal moment, driven by rapid advances in artificial intelligence. He emphasized that Canada must invest in both technology and the individuals who will commercialize it. He believes that the expansion of Medventions to a third site marks a crucial step in developing a pan-Canadian innovation workforce.
NL Health Services’ Living Lab and innovation team will collaborate with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub and the Medventions team at Sunnybrook Research Institute to deliver the first Medventions Atlantic–NL cohort in Carbonear and St. John’s. The Health Innovation Hub is supporting the continued growth of Medventions Atlantic into Newfoundland and Labrador, building on Medventions’ successful expansion into Nova Scotia.
Ron Johnson, Vice President of Digital Health, Innovation and Research, and Chief Information Officer (A) for NL Health Services, expressed his organization’s enthusiasm for the expansion of Medventions and its continued collaboration with partners and innovators across the province. Johnson added that through this fellowship pilot program, NL Health Services can offer direct, hands-on experience with mentors to guide advancements that will enhance the health and well-being of people throughout the province.
Medventions Atlantic–NL will offer individuals practical, hands-on experience in turning medical device ideas into real products by connecting innovators with real problems faced by healthcare workers. The program will focus on addressing technological gaps in anesthesiology, an area with significant potential for innovation and improved patient care.
Margaret Palmeter, Senior Director of Innovation at the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub, noted the success of the program in Nova Scotia, which she attributes to strong collaboration across teams and jurisdictions. Palmeter added that working closely with colleagues at Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and Bounce has demonstrated the value of learning together, making the expansion a natural next step.
The Medventions program is supported by INOVAIT, Canada’s image-guided therapy and artificial intelligence network led by SRI and funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Response Fund.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, stated that the expansion of the Medventions program into Newfoundland and Labrador will encourage homegrown innovation in healthcare across Canada. She also added that by expanding the pan-Canadian ecosystem, INOVAIT is empowering talented Canadians to turn clinical needs into commercial solutions in the medtech sector.
The expansion will improve patient outcomes, create jobs, and generate economic growth in communities across Atlantic Canada.
As Canada faces increasing demands within healthcare, Medventions seeks to develop innovative devices from a Canadian health-care context, and empower Canadians to lead the commercialization of these cutting-edge devices. The program is designed to foster entrepreneurial capacity nationwide, ensuring that Canadian ideas are built by Canadian innovators.
More information is available at: https://medventions.ca/medventions-atlantic/medventions-atlantic-nl/.
About Medventions
Medventions, founded at Sunnybrook Research Institute, is a hospital-based, medtech innovation fellowship program that targets clinical needs and nurtures Canada’s promising medtech entrepreneurs. The fellowship program creates opportunities for meaningful clinical innovation by bridging the understanding gap between engineering research and the clinical domain. It immerses fellows in real clinical settings across Canada, allowing them to observe clinical procedures and engage with clinicians to hone in on the true needs of Canadian healthcare and develop innovations to solve those needs.
About INOVAIT
INOVAIT is the national image-guided therapy (IGT) and artificial intelligence (AI) network focused on developing and commercializing advanced groundbreaking AI-enhanced IGT technologies. Established in 2020 at Sunnybrook Research Institute, the network invests strategically in collaborative partnerships that build upon Canada’s strength in digital innovation and health science research to create a critical mass of world-leading medtech companies.
About Sunnybrook Research Institute
Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) is the research arm of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, one of Canada’s leading academic health sciences centers. SRI is internationally recognized for its groundbreaking work in biomedical discovery, clinical innovation, and the translation of research into real-world health solutions. Its scientists and clinicians are advancing breakthroughs in areas such as image-guided therapy, neuroscience, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and trauma.
About Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services
Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Health Services is responsible for delivering quality health care to approximately 556,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The provincial health authority is supported by over 25,000 employees and physicians who together work to improve the health and well-being of every person, in every community. Guided by the vision of Health Accord NL, NL Health Services offers a comprehensive range of health-care programs and services through a wide network of facilities, clinics, and community services across five zones: Central, Eastern-Rural, Eastern-Urban, Labrador-Grenfell, and Western.
About Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub
As the front door for innovation and partnerships, the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub connects members of the health ecosystem to advance solutions that improve health outcomes for Nova Scotians. The Health Innovation Hub takes a thoughtful, evidence-informed approach—working with partners to bring both local and global innovations to life in ways that align with the real needs of patients and the health system. Its focus is on what matters most: the tools, technologies, and models of care that help move the system from where it is today to where it needs to be tomorrow.
Contact:
Medventions: medventions@sunnybrook.ca
Source: Medventions
