About the Challenge

Leveraging recent research findings from New Brunswick Institute for Research, Design and Training (NB-IRDT), focused on sex-based health outcomes and health service utilization associated with diabetes and cardiovascular conditions in New Brunswick (NB), the Pond-Deshpande Centre (PDC) is getting ready to launch their 3rd Rapid Innovation Challenge in March of 2025.

Delivered by the PDC’s NouLAB, in collaboration with Shoppers Drug Mart, the McKenna Institute, NB-IRDT, and Research NB, this initiative is designed to foster innovative solutions and collaborations with systems leaders and community healthcare providers that address identified health disparities across sexes, geographic locations and socio-economic demographics. The project will hold a special focus on underserved and female populations and will also explore the role of allied healthcare providers in addressing health disparities.

The purpose of the project is:
  • To develop and test innovative health-based interventions aimed at improving cardiovascular health and diabetes management in New Brunswick
    • Intervention prototypes may include but are not limited to policy, programs, awareness, and HR-based solutions

A systems leader group was formed including key stakeholders from allied health associations, non-profits, government, academia, and for-profit organizations.

This Rapid Innovation Challenge is set to launch in March, span 100 days and wrap-up in June of 2025. Developed and promising prototypes will then be further refined and tested with the support of NB researchers.

Get involved:

We are currently recruiting for participants to join the challenge! If you are a healthcare provider, a researcher, policymaker, service provider or innovator passionate about creating real change this is your opportunity to collaborate, experiment and develop solutions that can make a lasting impact in just 100 days! Click the button below to fill out the form to express your interest in joining the challenge and our team will follow up with you.

Guiding Question

A «How Might We» (HMW) statement is a creative problem-solving tool that frames a challenge as an opportunity for innovation. It is designed to encourage open-ended thinking and generate actionable ideas by posing the problem as a question.

We use HMW statements to track progress through the problem-solving process. As we uncover new insights, we refine our focus by creating new HMW statements, ensuring our approach remains adaptive and responsive to emerging learnings.

How Might We improve disparities in cardiovascular health outcomes for females and other underserved populations in NB? 

Expected Outcomes

  • Innovative solutions: Tested innovative health-based prototypes aimed at improving cardiovascular health

  • Strengthened Collaboration: A strong partnership model between healthcare providers, researchers, and community stakeholders that can serve as a blueprint for addressing other health challenges.
  • Deeper understanding and insights: Gained a clearer understanding of patterns within systems that enable or hinder transformation, identifying root causes and opportunities for change. 
  • Capacity for Innovation: Transformative experiences for team members and leaders, fostering deeper connections, a stronger sense of agency, confidence in leading change, and an enhanced capacity for innovation. 

Funders & Partners

The Cardiovascular Rapid Challenge is made possible with the funding support of Shoppers Drug Mart and the collaboration of the McKenna Institute, NB-IRDT and Research NB