At IWK Health, we are pioneering a new era in healthcare as Canada’s Maritime hub for Precision Medicine.
Advancing Data Governance and Technology
The IWK Maritime Centre for Precision Medicine (MCPM) uses data, technology, and partnerships to help shape the future of precision medicine. Our goal is to use health information in new ways to better understand health and improve care for children, youth and families across the Maritimes. We are committed to using data and artificial intelligence responsibly. That means strong privacy protections, clear governance, and clinical experts overseeing how these tools support care.
Building a Secure Foundation for Genomic Data
We have established the IWK Genomics Data Repository, a secure environment for storing and connecting genetic and clinical information. We built it with Nova Scotia's provincial cybersecurity and data services, and it meets federal security standards for protected health information. A governance framework, developed with privacy, legal and cybersecurity teams, controls how data is accessed, used for research and retained. It also sets out how patients can be recontacted when research opportunities emerge. As more genomic testing moves into our accredited Clinical Genomics Laboratory, patient data stays in the region under IWK Health's care and remains available for future research.
Turning Data into Actionable Insights
Genetic results are most useful when they are interpreted alongside a patient's clinical features. Our genetics teams record these features using a standardized vocabulary (the Human Phenotype Ontology) which feeds directly into laboratory analysis and helps analysts focus on the variants most relevant to each patient. A new $5.4 million Genome Canada project (2026 to 2028) builds on this work by developing artificial intelligence tools that extract these features, with clinicians reviewing the results. We apply the same principle to pharmacogenomics, starting with validated clinical DPYD testing. This test identifies patients at higher risk of severe side effects from certain chemotherapy drugs before treatment begins.
Collaborating with Partners Across Canada
Precision medicine depends on collaboration with partners across Canada. Through Genome Canada's All for One initiative, IWK Health became one of the first regional sites ready for secure, federated genomic data queries. In this model, data stays where it is held and only approved questions and results are shared. We are also joining a clinical genomics data-sharing network with pediatric centres in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Alberta. Closer to home, we work with the Centre for Translational Genomics in Newfoundland and Labrador. We share knowledge and expertise, and a common goal of sharing data and infrastructure across Atlantic Canada.
Boosting Research
Since 2020, our team has led or contributed to more than $23 million in competitively funded research, as principal investigators (PIs), co-PIs, or collaborators. This work focuses on applying artificial intelligence to genomic data, bringing genome-wide testing into routine care, and strengthening clinical genomic analysis services. We carry it out with partners such as SickKids, CHEO, Dalhousie University and private-sector technology companies, so that new tools reach patients in the Maritimes and across Canada.
Building for the Future
We will continue to build on this foundation. We are adding whole genome sequencing, which reads a patient's entire DNA code. We are also adding long-read sequencing, which reads longer pieces of DNA at once and finds changes that other tests can miss. Over time, new tests will also show how genes are switched on and off. Together, these tools will give a fuller, multi-omic picture of each patient's health. We also plan to link this information with Nova Scotia's electronic health record, OPOR (One Person One Record), so results stay up to date as science advances.
IWK Maritime Centre for Precision Medicine -for Health Professionals