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Why is this research important to Alberta? Alberta faces growing health and environmental challenges from chemical exposures caused by wildfire smoke, industrial emissions, pesticides, and pollutants. These exposures contribute to chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, increasing healthcare costs and reducing quality of life. Current monitoring methods are expensive and limited, restricting

Why is this research important to Alberta? Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in men. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening has a high false positive rate making it a controversial screening tool. There is an urgent need for a more specific diagnostic test to improve prostate

There are >500,000 bloodstream infections (BSIs) resulting in >90,000 deaths per year in North America. Every hour that elapses between the onset of BSI symptoms and the administration of appropriate antibiotics increases the risk of dying by 7%. Current diagnostic tools take 24–48+ hours to identify which antibiotics will be effective. During this time, clinicians

Kidney transplantation is the best treatment for patients with kidney failure. However, over 25% of kidney transplants in Canada fail within 10 years due to both rejection and other causes of injury. Currently, doctors rely on an old blood test called creatinine to monitor the health of the kidney organ, but it is known that

This project will develop, validate, and roll out an updated and expanded pharmacogenetic test panel that will predict the risk of 7 severe chemotherapy-induced adverse drug reactions (ADRs – also known as ‘side effects’) in pediatric oncology. This test panel is a practical solution for adopting and implementing a precision health strategy into pediatric oncology.

Pharmacogenetics (PGx) testing helps doctors tailor medications and doses based on a patient’s genetic profile, improving treatment outcomes and reducing side effects. Despite its proven clinical and economic benefits, PGx testing has not been widely adopted. This is partly due to challenges in standardizing how genetic test results are reported and integrating these results into

Fusion genes, created when two genes combine, play a major role in fueling cancer growth and are important targets for diagnosis and treatment. Detecting these genes is critical, especially for cancers like sarcomas and pediatric tumors, and has led to life-saving drugs like ALK inhibitors for certain lung cancers and NTRK inhibitors for tumors with