What happens when healthcare professionals from British Columbia bring their ideas to one of the world’s leading centres for medical innovation? The answer to that question is at the heart of SPARC Sheba Canada, launched by Canadian Friends of Sheba Medical Centre with generous support from the Diamond Foundation.
SPARC is Sheba Medical Centre’s healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship program. It gives clinicians, researchers and healthcare leaders mentorship, practical tools and opportunities to collaborate with peers from around the world as they develop ideas that could improve patient care. For the first Canadian cohort, the initiative builds a bridge between the world-class medical innovation at Sheba and Vancouver’s healthcare community, paving the way for breakthroughs that will benefit patients locally and globally.
As part of their journey, Canada’s inaugural SPARC participants – Dr. Julian Sernik, Dr. Zachary Laksman and Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez – traveled to Israel and joined events at Sheba’s ARC Summit. Canadian Friends of Sheba chief executive officer Einat Enbar, her team and a mission group met them there, heard about the ideas they are exploring and saw this new partnership come to life.
On Dec. 10 in Vancouver, hosted by Jewish Federation of British Columbia, Canadian Friends of Sheba will hold an evening showcasing SPARC and its potential impacts. The event will celebrate the first cohort members and thank the Diamond Foundation for helping make the program possible. For more information, go to shebacanada.org.
– Courtesy Canadian Friends of Sheba Medical Centre
