University of Ottawa

Purpose

NARWHAL combines expertise in lipid quantification and machine learning (ML) driven diagnostics to develop a personalized health monitoring tool possibly deployable using NRC’s automated microfluidics platform. The combination of machine learning (ML) methodology, miniaturization of sample processing, and new fluorescent-based assay of lipids seek to enable new diagnostics. Previous collaborative work with NRC has resulted in a panel of lipid biomarkers for COVID19. In this Project, the team will now develop and miniaturize novel experimental and analytical methodologies for automated ML-driven diagnostics of depression, cardiovascular problems, and long COVID19. The goals of the Project are to validate fluorescent lipid biomarker quantification against the gold-standard of mass spectrometry, select optimal markers for this approach through ML, and to optimize ML methods for real-time personalized diagnostic evaluation. NARWHAL will enable clinicians to have rapid clinical diagnostic testing in remote locations.