TORONTO, March 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is amongst an elite group of health care organizations across the country that will form the Canadian Precision Health Initiative (CPHI). The initiative will build Canada’s largest-ever collection of human genomic data that will drive personalized, preventative and cost-effective care.
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced the Government of Canada’s landmark investment through Genome Canada. Overall, more than 100,000 genomes representing the diversity of Canada’s population will be sequenced through this initiative.
An investment in children and youth with neurodevelopmental, brain and mental health conditions
Neurodevelopmental, brain injury and mental health conditions affect almost 10 per cent of children and youth in Canada. Despite this, there have been few breakthroughs in efforts to optimize the overall health and well-being of these children.
Genome sequencing is revolutionizing health care by providing the genetic blueprints—and comparative data – needed to more accurately and effectively diagnose and provide tailored treatments and interventions. Until now, children and youth have been poorly represented in genetic and genomic research.
Through the Canadian Precision Health Initiative, Holland Bloorview will bring together a first of its kind cohort of expert scientists, clinicians and people with lived experience, across several institutions. Together, they will create the largest genomics dataset, dedicated to understanding childhood onset neurodevelopmental, mental health and brain injury conditions sequencing 10,000 individuals.
Genome Canada, along with provincial partners, including the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) and matching fund programs, will fund the $12 million investment at Holland Bloorview.
“The Canadian Precision Health Initiative is a landmark investment in Canada’s genomics ecosystem and in children and youth with disabilities and developmental differences,” says Julia Hanigsberg, president and CEO of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. “Through this funding, world leading scientists at Holland Bloorview and from across the country will bring precision health care innovation to children and youth, transforming the care they receive and the lives they lead.”
Transforming care through precision health
By linking genetic sequencing data with clinical, environmental and administrative datasets, scientists will have the opportunity to inform life changing, proactive and personalized treatments and interventions for children and youth. Scientists and industry partners across the country and around the world will have access to data that can inform predictive models, support earlier identification and develop tailored interventions and treatments.
“Children and youth are at the forefront of a national investment to transform health care,” says Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, vice president of research at Holland Bloorview and principal investigator of this project. “Through this investment, we will build the largest Canadian transdiagnostic sequencing effort in neurodevelopmental conditions, mental health and brain injury, representing the diversity of the Canadian population. These efforts will transform genome science as a tool for equitable access to innovation and will democratize knowledge on genetic differences underlying neurodiversity, brain injury and mental health to support personalized health solutions for all.”
Partnering with Holland Bloorview in this work are the Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network (UHN), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), The Royal, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University, London Health Sciences Centre, Queen’s University, Grandview Kids, as well as Children’s Healthcare Canada and collaborators nationally and internationally.
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About Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital believes in creating a world where all youth and children belong. We are the only children’s rehabilitation hospital in Canada focused on combining world-class care, transformational research, and academic leadership in the field of child and youth rehabilitation and disability. We are a top 40 Canadian research hospital that is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. Providing both inpatient and outpatient services, Holland Bloorview is renowned for its expertise in co-creating with clients and families to provide exceptional care and is the only organization to ever achieve 100 per cent in three successive quality surveys by Accreditation Canada. Holland Bloorview is a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners working to create a high quality, consistent and coordinated approach to pediatric health care that is centred around children, youth and their families. Together we champion a world of possibility. For more information or to donate, please visit hollandbloorview.ca or connect on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and parent-blog BLOOM.
- Holland Bloorview leads national precision health initiative for children and youth
