Toronto, Canada, September 17, 2024 – Lifebit, a leading provider of federated Trusted Research Environment technology, and CanPath (the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health), Canada’s largest population health study, proudly announce a strategic partnership aimed at transforming health research in Canada. Combined with Amazon Web Services (AWS), this collaboration will leverage Lifebit’s cutting-edge platform to securely store, manage, and analyze extensive health data collected by CanPath, creating unprecedented opportunities for research and innovation.

This collaboration will deliver a state-of-the-art data analytics and information exchange platform on the AWS cloud. The goal is to enable secure and ethical access to anonymized, de-identified health data for collaborative research that will increase our understanding of the factors affecting health and disease in Canada. By securely integrating diverse datasets from seven regional cohorts, the platform will foster groundbreaking research and provide comprehensive insights into the health of Canadians. 

Lifebit’s federated Trusted Research Environment is at the forefront of data management technology, offering a unique solution that brings the analysis to where the data resides. This eliminates the need to move or copy sensitive data, thus ensuring the data’s security and integrity. The platform will remove barriers to securely accessing CanPath data, allowing approved researchers from research and healthcare institutions across Canada and internationally to analyze data without requiring significant computing resources. Researchers can upload their own analytical tools and develop new methodologies directly within the platform, promoting innovation and efficiency.

The sensitivity of CanPath data necessitates the highest standards of security and privacy. Lifebit’s Trusted Research Environment technology ensures compliance with global data use regulations, providing robust security measures to protect participants’ data. The platform’s strict access controls guarantee that data is not shared or accessed without proper authorization, maintaining the confidentiality and trust of study participants. Both the Trusted Research Environment and CanPath’s extensive dataset will be hosted on the AWS cloud, ensuring a scalable and secure data storage solution, further enhancing the platform’s capabilities and security.

Collaborative data research has been instrumental in expanding our understanding of various diseases. For instance, initiatives such as Genomics England have enabled researchers to uncover new genetic markers for rare diseases, leading to improved diagnostic tools and therapies. The CanPath and Lifebit partnership aims to replicate this success, leveraging CanPath’s extensive dataset to address pressing health challenges in Canada and beyond.

“This partnership with Lifebit marks a significant advancement in our ability to manage and utilize data for health research,” said Dr. Philip Awadalla, National Scientific Director of CanPath. “By leveraging Lifebit’s advanced technology, we can unlock new insights from our data, accelerating research that will ultimately improve the health of Canadians.”

“We are delighted to partner with CanPath to enhance data-driven health research,” said Dr. Maria Dunford, CEO of Lifebit. “Our federated Trusted Research Environment will ensure that CanPath’s invaluable data are securely managed and available to the research community for driving forward innovative research for the health of people across Canada.”

This project is made possible through the generous support of Genome Canada’s Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP).

About CanPath

CanPath, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health, is Canada’s largest population health study and a national platform for health research. Comprised of more than 330,000 volunteer participants, CanPath is a unique platform that allows scientists to investigate how genetics, environment, lifestyle, and behaviour interact and contribute to developing chronic disease and cancer. CanPath is jointly hosted by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health with national funding from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. www.canpath.ca.

About Lifebit

Lifebit is a global leader in genomics and health data and software, empowering organizations across the globe to transform how they securely and safely leverage sensitive biomedical data. We are committed to solving the most challenging problems in precision medicine, genomics and healthcare with a mission to create a world where access to biomedical data will never again be an obstacle to curing diseases. www.lifebit.ai @lifebitAI

Response to journalists

Requests for an interview with Dr. Philip Awadalla via Megan Fleming megan.fleming@utoronto.ca 

Media enquiries to be directed to:

• Amanda White, Director of Communications and PR, Lifebit by email amanda@lifebit.ai or phone +44 7841 538380
• Megan Fleming, Communications & Knowledge Translation Officer, CanPath by email megan.fleming@utoronto.ca or phone +1 416-978-5824.
• Michelle Doblanko, PR Manager, AWS, by email mdoblank@amazon.com or phone +1 647-963-8468