Altis Labs, Inc. ("Altis"), the computational imaging company advancing precision medicine with AI, today announced a new research collaboration with Hamilton Health Sciences to develop and evaluate prognostic AI models for breast cancer. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer and second leading cause of death from cancer in Canadian women.
The initiative is led by Dr. Jeremy Petch, Director of the Centre for Research in Education and Academic Technology in Health (CREATE) at Hamilton Health Sciences.
This project will collate and de-identify real-world clinical and imaging data of breast cancer patients from Hamilton Health Sciences, creating a longitudinal, research-grade database. This data will then be used to foster AI research. This initiative aims to train and validate prognostic AI models that will subsequently be evaluated on a prospective cohort of patients to rigorously assess performance. Researchers will also be able to evaluate the potential utility for these models to help clinicians make more informed decisions about the best course of treatment.
"We are truly excited about the possibilities that this research holds," said Dr. Jeremy Petch. "By curating such a large, high-dimensional dataset, we're enabling the development and rigorous validation of AI that will hopefully have significant clinical utility and improve patient outcomes."
"We are delighted to partner with Dr. Petch's team and HHS given their fantastic track record for enabling outstanding patient care and research," said Felix Baldauf-Lenschen, CEO of Altis Labs. "This is an opportunity for us to expand into the most common type of cancer in women and help grow the industry's largest real-world cancer imaging database for AI research."
The project is backed by Innovation Factory's Southern Ontario Pharmaceutical & Health Innovation Ecosystem (SOPHIE) program, which supports collaborative initiatives for Ontario-based life science firms in the later stages of commercialization. SOPHIE is funded by a Government of Canada investment of more than $7 million, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), to help technology companies develop, test and commercialize innovative healthcare solutions.
"The Government of Canada is committed to supporting our life sciences entrepreneurs," said the Honourable Filomena Tassi, former Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. "These entrepreneurs are dedicated to finding solutions to protect the well-being of Canadians. Innovation Factory and Synapse Life Science Consortium are creating opportunities for life sciences companies through the SOPHIE program. Together, we are creating a healthier future and stronger economy for Canadians."