Former Clinic residents garner recognition and expand health innovations

By Clara Fama

Lianna Genovese, founder and CEO of ImaginAble Solutions Inc., and Matthew Rosato, founder and president of PROVA Innovations Ltd., both former residents of The Clinic, continue to make strides and receive recognition for their health innovations.

Genovese was recently selected as one of five Canadian winners in the UK Canada AgeTech Innovation Exchange Healthy Aging Competition. Genovese’s invention, Guided Hands™, is an international award-winning assistive device that enables anyone with limited fine motor skills to write, paint, draw, and access technology.

The competition, launched by the UK Canada AgeTech Exchange, supports businesses with innovative products that improve the health and well-being of older people. Companies from both countries applied for funding to participate, and eight winning companies from the UK and five from Canada were selected to take part in an in-person international exchange visit.

In June, Genovese will travel to the UK to receive support from UK and Canadian experts with in-depth knowledge of healthy aging innovation ecosystems, including national healthcare providers, academia, and industry.

“I am thrilled I was selected for this exchange experience,” says Genovese. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to learn from Canadian and UK experts as I continue to expand my business.”

Since completing Residency @ The Clinic, Rosato has been working hard to bring PROVA’s patented WithinStride® line of smart insoles to market with clinical trials beginning late May.

WithinStride® acts as both a miniaturized gait lab and physio coach on the go. The system measures an individual’s walking pattern and provides biofeedback in the form of vibrations and audio cues – teaching corrected movements shown to improve joint health.

Last year, PROVA received HEALTHI funding from Synapse, was accepted into both Google and Microsoft Startups programs, and was selected by Creative Destruction Labs to join their Calgary prime stream cohort.

Most recently, Rosato shared that PROVA is partnering with Mohawk College’s mHealth and eHealth Development and Innovation Centre (MEDIC) under the Southern Ontario Pharmaceutical and Health Innovation Ecosystem (SOPHIE).

This new collaboration will enable PROVA to expand its WithinStride® gait rehabilitation technology to include cutting-edge, cross-platform mobile apps and cloud frameworks.

“There are exciting times ahead for PROVA as we work together with MEDIC to advance our mission of transforming the field of gait rehabilitation from clinic to home,” said Rosato.

Residency @ The Clinic provides coaching, mentorship, and tailored resources that meet the needs of each health innovator. As each cohort completes residency, the vision is to see every health innovator succeed as they advance their health innovations and pursue entrepreneurial goals.

Over the 2022-2023 academic year, The Clinic launched three new cohorts of Residency @ The Clinic supporting 50 health innovators, including a diverse demographic of undergraduate and graduate students, PhD candidates and fellows, and researchers.