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Discover the latest news from SOMA, our clients, relevant industries and beyond.

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Vancouver Sun: An Abbotsford boy's devastating diagnosis, and the clinical trial that saved his life
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Vancouver Sun: An Abbotsford boy's devastating diagnosis, and the clinical trial that saved his life

Emmett Willms was just five months old when his parents, Josh and Alisha, started noticing their first-born didn’t seem to be hitting typical physical development milestones other infants did, such as grasping adult fingers or holding his head up.

The Abbotsford family was referred to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. He was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness and wasting.

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CTV News: Vancouver grandmother loses both son and husband to pancreatic cancer in 55-day span
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

CTV News: Vancouver grandmother loses both son and husband to pancreatic cancer in 55-day span

Lynda Blundell’s home is full of wonderful memories. The clock her son Phillip made for her hangs on her living room wall, as she dusts dozens of cannon figurines her husband Peter collected over the years.

Two years ago, Phillip was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A few months after his diagnosis, in August 2021, Phillip died at the age of 49. Sadly, the grief didn’t end there for the family. Fifty-five days after her son's death, Blundell's husband died of the same disease.

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Global News: Dream Lottery
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Global News: Dream Lottery

This morning’s interview with Dr. Harris, Harmehar Samra and mom, Amanjot Kaur, in support of BC Children’s Hospital’s Dream Lottery. The 2023 Dream Lottery grand prize draw winner will be announced tomorrow, Nov 2 during the Global TV Noon News.

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Ocean Legacy Foundation’s Co-Founder and Executive Director Chloé Dubois named to Canada’s Clean16 list for 2024
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Ocean Legacy Foundation’s Co-Founder and Executive Director Chloé Dubois named to Canada’s Clean16 list for 2024

Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF), the Canadian non-profit organization that develops and implements worldwide plastic pollution response programs, announced that its Co-Founder and Executive Director Chloé Dubois was named to Canada’s Clean16 in the primary resources category. Chloé was selected from an initial pool of over 1,000 nominees and was chosen after screening and research by Delta Management, with advice from internal researchers and external advisors.

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Dream Lottery: Surrey girl receives life-saving treatment at BC Children’s Hospital
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Dream Lottery: Surrey girl receives life-saving treatment at BC Children’s Hospital

Harmehar Samra is an energetic five-year-old who loves swimming, skating and going to the park every day. Like most kids her age, it is a daily struggle to tear her away from the playground.

Looking at her, one would not know that the Surrey girl who started kindergarten in September has already had two open heart surgeries and four cardiac catheterizations.

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'Real success story': Metro Van parks to become part of B.C.'s circular tire economy
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

'Real success story': Metro Van parks to become part of B.C.'s circular tire economy

The executive director of Tire Stewardship BC says picking communities to receive grants to use recycled rubber in community spaces was an emotional process.

Rosemary Sutton tells CityNews that the applications the tire recycling agency receives for these spaces can be emotionally charged with pleas from community members for revitalized spaces.

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CTV News: Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

CTV News: Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness month. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men. Dr. Gleave, Director at Vancouver Prostate Centre and Head, Department of Urologic Sciences at UBC, spoke with CTV about the cutting-edge research and treatments for prostate cancer currently taking place at Vancouver Prostate Centre.

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Interchange Recycling adds location in BC
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Interchange Recycling adds location in BC

Arjun ESSO in Armstrong has received a grant from Interchange Recycling, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the collection and recycling of used motor oil, oil filters, oil containers, used antifreeze and antifreeze containers in British Columbia.

The grant will provide a 20-foot modified sea container, 2,200 litre used oil storage tank and 1,000 litre IBC storage container for antifreeze, ensuring the responsible collection and storage of returned used oil and antifreeze materials.

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Waste360: British Columbia’s Local Fix for Tire Waste
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Waste360: British Columbia’s Local Fix for Tire Waste

When you think of Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF), you might envision bands of volunteers combing beaches, lifting cigarette butts and empty water bottles with trash-grabbing poles. But the Foundation, known for its work cleaning up plastic litter from oceans and shorelines, goes after other waterway-bound trash too, including rubber from tires and polystyrene foam that’s packed inside those tires. While tire scraps, and especially foam, wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems, the material has value to recyclers and the industries they sell to.

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Waste360: Canadian Partners Push Housing Relocation Over Demolition
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

Waste360: Canadian Partners Push Housing Relocation Over Demolition

Light House, a nonprofit that shapes policy to “green” Canada’s built industry, is working with partners to push home relocation over demolition, at least in British Columbia. But its new model could work just about anywhere, says Gil Yaron, managing director at Light House. Already a few U.S. municipalities are prioritizing similar circularity approaches as their population grows denser; housing stock thins; and their landfills fill with construction and demolition waste. 

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BC Business: Why B.C. venture capitalist Mike Winterfield is betting on seed-stage climate startups
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

BC Business: Why B.C. venture capitalist Mike Winterfield is betting on seed-stage climate startups

Winterfield’s North Vancouver firm, Active Impact Investments, is pumping up climate tech innovators

Why would a tech executive leave their position to start an environmental investment firm?

“Equal parts being terrified and motivated to do something about climate change,” says Mike Winterfield, founder and managing partner of North Vancouver-based Active Impact Investments. In 2017, Winterfield left his position as COO of Burnaby-based software company Traction on Demand (and president of its recreation management system spinoff, Traction Rec) to start his own impact-focused investment firm. Last year, Traction was acquired by Salesforce.

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BNN Bloomberg: Strong government support, but fewer VC opportunities for Canadian climate tech startups
Client News Bridget Irwin Client News Bridget Irwin

BNN Bloomberg: Strong government support, but fewer VC opportunities for Canadian climate tech startups

As Canada pushes for a greener economy in the race to net zero emissions, industry players say government funding for climate tech is strong – but gaps still exist when it comes to investment opportunities for early-stage companies.

Mike Winterfield, a founder and managing partner at venture capital firm Active Impact Investments, said in an interview with BNNBloomberg.ca that Canada’s climate tech start-ups are “a bit underserved from a financing standpoint.”

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