BC Children’s Hospital’s role as a national leader in the field of pediatric precision health was highlighted today with the announcement of the result of Genome Canada’s 2017 Large-Scale Applied Research Project (LSARP) competition.
Held every four years, this prestigious national funding competition supports precision health projects that promise to transform the way Canadians receive medical care. Precision health uses a patient’s unique genetic makeup to identify new ways to prevent disease, improve diagnosis and deliver targeted treatment.
“The incredible success of our investigators in this distinguished competition denotes the high-calibre of research taking place at BC Children’s and the potential our work holds to transform child health in BC and beyond,” says Dr. Wyeth Wasserman, Executive Director of BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
Six of the 15 projects funded through the LSARP competition are led or co-led by investigators at BC Children’s; this accounts for more than one-third of the successful projects.
Four projects are led by BC Children’s investigators and have been awarded $33.6 million over four years. These projects will:
- Improve genetic testing and care for Indigenous kids in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples
- Develop new approaches to diagnose and prevent asthma
- Use genomic technology to prevent dangerous drug reactions in kids being treated for cancer
- Support families undergoing whole genome sequencing with the specialized care provided by genetic counsellors
Two projects are based at other centres and are co-led by BC Children’s researchers. They will:
- Improve access to state-of-the-art genomic sequencing to improve diagnosis of unexplained, rare diseases
- Support the use of a NIPS, a more reliable way to screen for certain genetic disorders in pregnancy, to give expectant families important health information earlier and at no cost
The results of this funding competition were announced as part of a larger $255 million investment by the Government of Canada – through Genome Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and co-funding partners – to fund genomics and precision health projects and support advanced genomics technology platforms across the country.
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