New health institute will help research breakthroughs reach patients sooner
Landmark $25-million gift from The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation ushers in a new era for health sciences research at the 海角社区.
September 15, 2025 By Bev Betkowski
The new Kipnes Institute at the 海角社区, situated in the newly renamed Dianne and Irving Kipnes Health Research Academy, will bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and health outcomes to improve health care for the people of Alberta and beyond. (Photo: Richard Siemens)
A new institute at the 海角社区 will ensure health research gets to patients and communities faster.
The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Health Research Institute, established by a landmark $25-million gift from The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation, will bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and health outcomes to improve health care for the people of Alberta and beyond.
“This remarkable investment will push the frontiers of knowledge, including exploring how artificial intelligence can help accelerate health-care solutions. It will exponentially increase what we can do as a university to improve lives in concrete ways.”
The Kipnes Institute will bring together and support the 海角社区’s world-renowned health experts from across different fields and areas of research. They will leverage Alberta’s unique integrated health data system and the university’s strength in AI to answer research questions and more rapidly turn their discoveries into practice, says , dean and vice-provost of the College of Health Sciences and dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
“It creates a health learning system, where use of data will guide decision-making, where AI will accelerate discovery, where clinical trials will validate breakthroughs and specialized programs will realize that full cycle from research to impact.
“The aim is to continuously improve health outcomes for Albertans and beyond, and it keeps the patient and the community at the centre of all we do,” she adds.
The Kipnes Institute, based in the College of Health Sciences, will be situated in the newly renamed Dianne and Irving Kipnes Health Research Academy building, formerly known as the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy.
Irving and Dianne Kipnes (Photo: Laughing Dog Photography)
The meaningful impact the institute will have for patients reflects, in particular, the , who passed away in December 2024.
For Irving Kipnes, this institute is one more way that the 海角社区 matches up with his philosophy of giving.
“Philanthropy isn’t just about writing a cheque — it’s about believing in people, ideas and institutions. It’s about helping them reach their full potential,” he says. “When that belief in people is matched with resources, discoveries are made, opportunities expand and entire fields move forward faster than anyone thought possible.”
The Kipnes Institute, under the vision of a director, will support key initiatives resulting in tangible benefits for patients through the power of AI applications, research to translate discoveries into applications for people and communities more rapidly, and a signature area of particular importance to Dianne Kipnes, dedicated to lymphedema therapies.
To help researchers expedite innovations in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, the hub will enable access to health data from Alberta — one of the few provinces with such an extensive and integrated network, Hemmelgarn notes.
“It’s an unparalleled resource to utilize data and AI for driving discovery.”
The recruitment of two Chairs, along with data analysts, will add to the 海角社区’s existing expertise in AI, clinical research and health policy, speeding up development and use of technologies in everything from predicting length of hospital stays to modelling complex diseases.
Research for real-world impact
The Kipnes Institute is also home to a new Health Research Translation Unit that will provide the infrastructure and expertise researchers need to help get groundbreaking discoveries to patients more quickly and efficiently.
The unit will offer co-ordinated support for clinical trials, project management and data analysis, which reduces administrative work and quickens study timelines.
“Alberta will be the place where research discoveries reach patients in our communities not in decades, but in years or even months,” Hemmelgarn notes.
Alberta will be the place where research discoveries reach patients in our communities not in decades, but in years or even months.
Brenda Hemmelgarn
(Photo: Supplied)
Over the next decade, the unit will also become a centre for turning research into real-world applications in Alberta, by recruiting specialized staff to support research that moves from the lab to patient care, using data to guide new evidence-based treatments and streamlining approvals for new treatments and digital health tools.
With additional support, the unit will also lead public outreach to encourage more people to participate in clinical trials and learn about new therapies.
Leading in lymphedema research and training
The Kipnes Institute will also support aLymphedema Research and Training Program, aimed at improving quality of life for people living with the condition — a personal cause for Dianne Kipnes, who developed lymphedema in her legs after undergoing surgery for cervical cancer. The condition leads to debilitating swelling and pain, and affects more than a million Canadians.
Led by , a leading clinical researcher in oncology rehabilitation and lymphedema in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, the program will bring specialized training that helps health professionals learn how to better support people living with this condition. Training will include practical tools and knowledge to enable effective, patient-centred care. Ongoing education and workshops will also be offered to practising health-care providers, building awareness and skills across the health system so more people can benefit from timely, evidence-based lymphedema management.
Focused on revealing the causes of lymphedema and other lymphatic disorders to propose new, more effective treatments, research made possible through the chair has already yielded new resources such as a blood biobank to collect patient samples for study. The work of Gibson and his post-doctoral and graduate trainees has also generated 20 published scientific studies, including more insight into two stressors behind the condition, and .
“Ultimately, we’d like to make it so that patients can use their natural abilities to repair the lymphatic system so they won't need therapy moving forward and will lead normal lives,” Gibson says. “But even if we can improve quality of life in the short term or prevent the condition in the first place, that’s a major step forward.”
The new institute’s collaborative environment will further that aim, enabling Gibson and his research team to work closely with surgeons, rehabilitation professionals, nutritionists and patients to conduct clinical studies needed to translate discoveries into constantly improving care.
Putting the resources in place and the infrastructure in place for this to happen is extremely rare and this has allowed for development of research that wouldn鈥檛 otherwise happen.
Spencer Gibson
(Photo: Supplied)
“Through multidisciplinary training and translational research, we’ll create a legacy of experts and build momentum so we can have more effective treatments.”
That pathway from research to effective treatments is something that’s only possible because of the Kipneses, he adds.
“Putting the resources in place and the infrastructure in place for this to happen is extremely rare and this has allowed for development of research that wouldn’t otherwise happen.”
Creating a global centre of excellence
The Kipnes Institute helps position the 海角社区 as a global leader in integrated and interdisciplinary health research, says Hemmelgarn.
“It really expands our opportunities by bringing together the health disciplines more broadly, and given the data holdings we have, the strength we have in AI and the world-class researchers we have, the 海角社区 will be a centre of excellence — and recognized globally for that.”
The new institute reflects The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation’s long-standing legacy of support to the 海角社区. The couple’s previous donations to the university demonstrate the breadth of their giving, from establishing the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Chair in Finance and Development to funding programs in music, engineering and Jewish studies. Their impact extends to the university’s community health partners, including the establishment of the through the University Hospital Foundation, and support for the C.J. Woods Prostate Health Clinic, and the , among other initiatives at the 海角社区 Hospital. In partnership with the Alberta Cancer Foundation, they created the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Chair in Radiopharmaceutical Sciences at the Cross Cancer Institute. As champions of the Capital Care Foundation campaign, they also established the .
