November 12th 2024

Quebec City (Canada)— Linearis with its tandem Ventures Fund and Laboratory is pioneering and supporting discoveries to prevent, detect and cure metabolic diseases including cancers & diabetes through artificial intelligence (AI)-life science precision medicine projects. “Linearis is proud to be part of a pan-Canadian team of researchers collaborating on new tools to help better understand cancers, thanks to new funding from the Terry Fox Research Institute and the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN).“ Alexandre Le Bouthillier, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of Linearis.

The research consortium, funded through the Technology Development Awards, will seek to standardize a cutting-edge approach using metabolomics to unlock new insights into cancer diagnosis, treatment and patient management.

“Metabolomics is the study of small molecules, known as metabolites, which are found in our blood and play essential roles in maintaining health,” explains Anne-Marie Mes-Masson PhD, a world-renowned researcher from the Centre de Recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM), who will lead the team. “While current medical practice measures only a few metabolites at a time—such as cholesterol, this project introduces a novel method capable of analyzing ~1,300 metabolites from a single blood sample, the largest of its kind. This vast amount of collected information has the potential to deepen our understanding of health status and disease development, paving the way for other biobanks to increase their omics AI-ready data”.

The project’s primary goal is to prove that a large metabolomics panel pioneered by researchers at The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC), an Alberta-based organization headed by David Wishart PhD, is robust and yields consistent results across different laboratories. These tests will be performed by both TMIC and Linearis labs to establish a new standard in metabolomics assessments that can be used worldwide. To achieve this, the team will analyze blood samples from ovarian cancer patients, tracking how the disease affects specific metabolites at diagnosis and over time. This approach could reveal critical clues about early cancer detection, treatment response and disease progression. With a large dataset, the team also plans to leverage AI to deepen our understanding of complex data.

This project will advance precision medicine in ovarian cancer while tackling critical unmet needs. The researchers will integrate the information with genomic data collected as part of the MOHCCN Gold Cohort by providing unprecedented and reliable patient metabolomic datasets.

“Combining metabolic and genetic data offers a powerful way to predict, diagnose, and track cancer, ultimately leading to more personalized, effective treatments and improved ovarian cancer care”, says Dr. Mes-Masson. This metabolomics dataset will grow over time, potentially expanding to include additional patients with various cancer types and scientific questions, all to improve patient outcomes, cancer journey and quality of life.

“Developing new state-of-the-art methodologies, coupled with AI, that can be easily integrated into clinical practice is a vital step toward achieving the MOHCCN’s ultimate goal—impacting the lives of each cancer patient” notes Dr. Mes-Masson.

Project Title: Metabolomics standardization process

Project Team Members: Anne-Marie Mes-Masson (crCHUM), Mark Carey (BCCA, UBC), Amit Oza (PMH, UHN), David Wishart (TMIC, UAlberta), Alexandre Le Bouthillier (Linearis), Jacques Corbeil (CHU de Québec-Université Laval)

About Linearis

Linearis with its tandem Ventures Fund and Laboratory is pioneering and supporting discoveries to prevent, detect and cure metabolic diseases including cancers & diabetes through AI-life science precision medicine projects.

To learn more about Linearis visit us at: https://www.linearis.com/

Linearis- Media Contact: Manon Boisclair MS, MBA, ICD.D, 

COO & CCO (media@linearis.com)