About the Grant

The Graham Seed Fund (GSF) is designed to support research that addresses pressing and emerging challenges in health care. By fostering partnerships across the health system, the GSF provides resources for University of Waterloo investigators to work directly with providers and clinicians. This collaborative, interdisciplinary model is intended to support the development of new knowledge, strengthen the evidence base, and inform future solutions in health technology and care delivery. 

This initiative responds to one of University of Waterloo’s strategic priorities of creating a globally recognized hub for innovative and transformative health technologies. With funding made possible from the J.W. Graham Trust Endowment Fund, the GSF is primarily intended to cover the cost of hiring highly qualified personnel (HQP), such as graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, with the aim of leveraging the seed funding to generate preliminary research results that can be used in funding applications to external granting agencies and organizations. 

As it has evolved, the Graham Seed Fund will be the primary means of supporting University of Waterloo initiatives as part of our participation in the CareNext coalition and with Waterloo Region health service partners. CareNext, established in 2024, is a partnership between The University of Waterloo and The Waterloo Regional Health Network (formerly Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital), aimed at advancing health innovation through ideation, experimentation, scaling, and research. Other key partners in the region include local health teams and Cambridge Memorial Hospital, all contributing to a collaborative model that strengthens knowledge generation and fosters system-wide innovation. 

For round three of the GSF, project grants will be increased in value to $35,000 with up to $10,000 of that total dedicated to funding the costs of partner participation.