A second-year student in the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications program, Juno Shemano’s master’s research project was recognized with a 2024 Vesalius Trust Research Grant. Photo courtesy: J. Shemano
Juno Shemano, a second-year student in the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications program, was awarded a 2024 Vesalius Trust Research Grant for her master's research project Wound Watch: An interactive education platform on pressure injury prevention for unpaid caregivers.
Pressure injuries, also called bedsores, occur when blood flow to the skin and tissues is restricted through pressure; for example, from lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair for prolonged periods of time.
Pressure injuries can become serious and result in the death of those tissues, bone infection, other complications arising from infections, and even death.
Unpaid caregivers, such as family, friends and neighbours, play an essential role in handling pressure injuries, but Juno’s literature search showed that existing educational resources are not created for these informal inexperienced caregivers.
Working with content advisor Sharon Gabison, researcher in rehabilitation science at the University Health Network, and BMC faculty advisor Michael Corrin, Juno is designing a public resource that will incorporate 3D interactive models, 2D visualizations, and animated illustrations. Each stage of pressure injuries will be depicted on the five most common risk areas of the human body.
Screen shot from the web site Wound Watch. Wound Watch is a publicly available educational resource created by Juno Shemano, MScBMC ‘24 specifically for unpaid caregivers. Image courtesy J. Shemano
Juno has designed Wound Watch to fill a gap in existing media by incorporating visual representations on darker skin. She is creating content that considers the right amount of visual complexity for the audience. And, she is striving to achieve the balance between providing distressing medical information in a sensitive manner, while still providing information vital to patient care.
The Wound Watch platform will be available in summer 2024.
MScBMC students who also received 2024 Vesalius Trust awards include:
Beatrice Nai-Jung Chen, MScBMC '24–Research Grant for her project A road map of health care transition to adult care for adolescents with paediatric heart disease
Jayne Leggatt, MScBMC '24–the Joyce McGill Scholarship for her project Sonoanatomy Atlas: An Interactive Educational Resource for Sonoanatomy and Ultrasound Protocol
Samantha Li, MScBMC '24–Research Grant for her project Storytelling with data: Teaching data-driven storytelling to undergraduate life science students
Natalie Lucas, MScBMC ‘24–Speaking from the heart: An audience-informed animation for navigating palliative care and advanced heart failure.
Vesalius Trust awards are made annually to recognize student research projects of merit.
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Web sites referenced
Juno Shemano’s online portfolio https://www.junoshemano.com/
Beatrice Nai-Jung Chen’s Vesalius Trust Research Grant announcement https://uoft.me/vt2024-beatrice-chen
Jayne Leggatt’s Joyce McGill Scholarship announcement https://uoft.me/vt2024-jayne-leggatt
Samantha Li’s Vesalius Trust Research Grant announcement https://uoft.me/vt-2024-sam-li
Natalie Lucas’ Vesalius Trust Research Grant announcement https://uoft.me/vt-2024-natalie-lucas