2025 U of A Innovation Award
4 December 2025
The Innovation Awards, by U of A's Technology Transfer Services, recognize U of A researchers and innovators who have received issued US patents, have licensed IP or formed spinoff companies (meaning those formed based on patentable IP) in 2024-25.
Dr. Darryl Rolfson
Dr. Rolfson was granted a license for the Edmonton Frail Scale, a multidimensional frailty measure that can be used for case-finding, to estimate severity, and to enhance care planning.
Frailty is a complex, multidimensional concept that commonly carries a negative stigma. In the past, health professionals have had difficulty understanding frailty, perhaps because it doesn't’t fit their paradigm for medical problems. But an improved understanding of frailty should lead to better decisions about patient care.
Dr. Rolfson developed The Edmonton Frail Scale at the University of Alberta in 1999. It is a tool that provides a single score of a patient's overall frailty status, as well as identifies specific aspects of frailty that require follow up.
Dr. Rolfson is a professor with the Division of Geriatric Medicine.