COVID Cloud
Bringing together Canadian expertise to provide real-time monitoring of the COVID-19 virus.
Project Overview
The Problem
As COVID-19 continues to spread globally, there is an urgent need to understand the DNA footprint of this rapidly evolving virus.
How We Are Solving It
Led by DNAstack, the COVID Cloud project harnesses Canada’s genomics research capabilities to rapidly sequence, share and analyze the genomic profile of COVID-19 and the people who have contracted it in Canada and around the world. This information will help inform the development of public health policies, diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. Many countries, including Canada, are mobilizing efforts to generate large volumes of genomic sequence data. However, significant challenges remain in using technology to harness the data and using the information to deliver timely insights.
COVID Cloud brings together Canadian expertise in areas such as genome science, infectious diseases, virology, software engineering, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, pharmaceuticals and policy to accelerate the development of a digital technology platform to provide near real-time monitoring of the virus’ evolutionary strains, transmission patterns, mutation rate and drug targets.
In addition to accelerating the response to COVID-19, the platform will serve as a springboard for further leveraging genomics and precision health in the years to come, including preparing for future waves and outbreaks of other infectious diseases.
Project Lead
Project Partners
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“It was astonishing to see how many partners throughout Canada stepped up and rallied in support of this common vision. Our country has so much talent – in AI, genomic medicine and policy. What’s so special about the Supercluster is that it enables us to build world-class consortiums and scale quickly in a way that hasn’t been done before.”
Co-Founder & CEO, DNAstack Watch the COVID Cloud Project Video