NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genome British Columbia announced on Wednesday that it has committed roughly C$850,000 ($700,000) to research projects aiming to prevent the spread of drug-resistant bacteria and expand the use of genomic testing in cancer.
In the first project, regional provincial health authorities, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), and the Provincial Infection Control Network of British Columbia (PICNet) will use genomic sequencing to analyze detected carbapenemase-producing organisms — bacteria that have developed resistance to carbapenem antibiotics — in order to determine if they originated locally or abroad. This effort's total funding is C$400,000, which includes investment from Genome BC, BCCDC, and PICNet.
"The molecular fingerprints will explain how transmissions are spread in healthcare settings to devise targeted prevention measures," Mel Krajden, associate medical director at BCCDC, said in a statement. "The lessons learned will be shared with PICNet, which aims to reduce healthcare associated infections by improving infection prevention control practices in BC, and with colleagues around the world."
In the second project, the BC Cancer Agency's Centre for Clinical Genomics (CCG) is developing a web-based interface for the submission of clinical specimens for genomic testing and subsequent delivery of results. This project is receiving C$2 million in total from Genome BC and the Provincial Health Services Authority.
"The project will create a simple web-based process to receive patient information from clinicians requesting a genomic test, analyze the resulting data in an automated and quality controlled fashion, and then integrate patient demographics and analysis results into an intuitive report accessible via the same web-tool the clinician used to submit the sample," CCG Medical Director Aly Karsan said in the statement.