Vancouver, British Columbia, February 4, 2020 – The Vancouver Prostate Centre is launching a collaboration with Roche and PHEMI Systems aimed at finding new insights into precision medicine and oncology treatment with help from the most advanced technology in data privacy and security.
Dr. Colin Collins, a professor in the Department of Urological Sciences at the University of British Columbia, a senior research scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) and the Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Genomic Analysis, is the research lead of the project, which will integrate multiomics and clinical data to develop new insights into metastasis of prostate tumors and treatment outcomes. The VPC, a research centre housed within the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, is one of the world’s most respected cancer research facilities and has earned this reputation through its innovative approaches in treatments for prostate cancer.
“We are pleased to work in partnership with Roche and PHEMI to build translational genomic models where data, computer science, genome science and clinical science are integrated for discovery,” said Dr. Collins.
As a global leader in personalized health care, Hoffmann-La Roche Canada Limited (Roche Canada) believes the meaningful use of health data has the potential to transform patients’ lives by delivering tailored care to each individual.
“Partnerships and new innovative approaches using integrated data sets and analytics is critical to the discovery of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools and will provide the insights necessary to enable delivery of treatment to the right individuals at the right time,” said Dr. Michael Duong, Head of Personalized Healthcare at Roche Canada.
PHEMI Systems facilitates the collaboration through its PHEMI Data Privacy Manager software that secures and governs access to the petabytes of complex data underlying precision medicine, allowing scientists and researchers to focus on developing novel analyses, generating new insights and creating innovative approaches to treatment. PHEMI’s Data Privacy Manager is a best-in-class data privacy solution to advance healthcare innovation.
“Through richer science, deeper insights and the use of a broader spectrum of data, this collaboration will lead to improved treatments and better health outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, Chief Medical Officer at PHEMI Systems.
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The Vancouver Prostate Centre at Vancouver General Hospital is a national Centre of Excellence, Canada’s most comprehensive and one of the world’s leading facilities for translational research and treatment of prostate cancer. The Prostate Centre is part of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and comes under its research umbrella, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine. The Centre’s focus is not just prostate cancer, but other benign diseases of the prostate. https://www.prostatecentre.com
The Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) is the research body of the Vancouver Coastal Health and a world leader in translational health research. VCHRI is academically affiliated with UBC Faculty of Medicine and includes three of BC’s largest academic and teaching health sciences centres—Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, and GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre—as well as other hospitals and public health agencies across Vancouver Coastal Health. As one of Canada’s top funded research institutes, VCHRI receives between $80-100 million in research funding annually to support health research and discoveries with direct health, economic and social impact on British Columbians. https://www.vchri.ca/
The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine is a global leader in both the science and practice of medicine, consistently ranked among the top medical schools in the world. Across British Columbia, more than 11,000 faculty and staff are training the next generation of doctors and health care professionals, making remarkable discoveries, and helping to create the pathways to better health for our communities at home and around the world. https://www.med.ubc.ca/
PHEMI Systems provides NSA-grade data privacy software. Healthcare organizations use PHEMI Data Privacy Manager to address their urgent need to secure, govern, curate, and control access to privacy-sensitive information. Optimized for Microsoft Azure, PHEMI’s software is easy to deploy and manage, connects to hundreds of data sources, and integrates with most popular data science and business analysis tools. The software enables data sharing and provides a governance framework to facilitate compliance with privacy regulations. PHEMI Data Privacy Manager can scale to any size of organization, with a flexible usage-based pricing model. https://www.phemi.com/
About Roche
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people's lives. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof, combined with a focus on innovation, have made Roche the leader in personalized healthcare - a strategy that aims to provide patients with timely access to their best possible healthcare solution.
Roche is the world's largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management.
Founded in 1931, Roche Canada is committed to searching for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases while making a sustainable contribution to society. The company employs more than 1,200 people across the country through its Pharmaceuticals division in Mississauga, Ontario and Diagnostics, as well as Diabetes Care divisions in Laval, Quebec.
Roche aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. Roche Canada is actively involved in local communities through its charitable giving and partnerships with organizations and healthcare institutions that work together to improve the quality of life of Canadians. For more information, please visit www.RocheCanada.com
