The Home of the SMART Platform: A Digital Epidemiological and Citizen Science Initiative

"(It's) imperative to ensuring that they don’t get left behind.” University of Regina Professor Tarun Katapally is one of two researchers receiving $400,000 from innovation non-profit Mitacs to help hard-hit northern Saskatchewan communities, a Wednesday news release announced. Katapally, a population health researcher, is developing an app with Île-à-la-Crosse residents to provide key decision-making data … Continue reading Digital app to assist northern Saskatchewan fight against COVID-19 →

"It doesn’t tell me how to move safety in my community. It doesn’t give me my risk profile based on my behaviour." Author of the article: Zak VesceraPublishing; Oct 05, 2020 More than two weeks after its debut, a handful of Saskatchewan people have used the federal government’s COVID-19 Alert app to warn close contacts … Continue reading Saskatchewan only province outside Ontario where COVID-19 app has been used →

Physician turned researcher engaging “citizen scientists” to reduce health inequities By Greg Basky  Dr. Tarun Katapally can’t think of a better tool than the now-ubiquitous smartphone for engaging people of all ages in solving population health issues, whether that’s mental health problems among youth, or frailty in seniors. “What does everyone have these days? Everyone … Continue reading Physician turned researcher →

In the year or so since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in China, Indigenous communities have faced unique health risks and challenges, underscoring the need for Indigenous communities to assess their own health risks so that they can make better decisions about their communities. That is what Tarun Katapally, a patient-oriented research leader … Continue reading In real time →

Co-created with Indigenous communities in northern Saskatchewan, the project leverages locally crowd-sourced data to make informed decisions Author: Monique Rodrigues; MitacsCommunications Specialist, Vancouver July, 2020 When the second wave of the Spanish flu hit Canada over 100 years ago, the effect was even more devastating than that of its first wave. In fact, 90 percent … Continue reading CO-Away: a digital tool to help northern communities address COVID-19 →

Dr. Tarun Katapally, the founder of the Digital Epidemiology Population Health (DEPtH) Laboratory, at Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy is the latest recipient of the International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) “One to Watch” award. The news was officially announced on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, on the University of Regina’s … Continue reading DEPth Lab founder receives “One to Watch” Award from ISBNPA →

Photo credit: Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash When our society has faced existential crises in the past, we have banded together to overcome them. The COVID-19 pandemic is one such a threat that requires cohesive effort, as well as enormous trust, to follow public health guidelines, maintain social distance, and share basic necessities. Are democratic societies … Continue reading Sitting on Our Hands with Big Data in Our Pockets →

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for death globally and has reached the status of a global pandemic — a definition that is usually associated with infectious diseases like influenza. Even those of us who are physically active every day can be quite sedentary. Working out every day, yet spending the rest of the day sitting in a chair … Continue reading Dr. Katapally: How Smartphones Can Encourage Active Living! →

 A recent news article in the Globe and Mail highlighted Canada’s data crisis and identified at least 28 critical gaps. These gaps intersect multiple sectors, ranging from health and education to environment, justice and Indigenous issues — a dearth that leaves researchers and policy makers in the dark. The article implicated governmental malaise for the inability to tackle this … Continue reading Addressing Our Data Crisis →