Our Research

One Child Every Child Research Initiative: A Canada-first research initiative with a vision for all children to be healthy, empowered and thriving.

https://research.ucalgary.ca/research/our-impact/one-child-every-child

Care4Rare SOLVE: Harnessing multi-omics to deliver innovative diagnostic care for rare genetic diseases in Canada

Deborah Marshall is a Co-Primary Investigator with Care4Rare SOLVE. The SOLVE study aims to optimize the delivery of clinical genome-wide sequencing in provincial healthcare systems, while using multi-omic approaches, global data-sharing and new bioinformatics to find diagnoses for the hardest to diagnose patients.

Dr. Marshall and her research team are involved with the component of SOLVE focused on estimating the clinical utility of whole exome sequencing (WES), costs related to a diagnosis, health care resource use and costs related to the care trajectories of patients with rare genetic diseases, and cost effectiveness of WES relative to conventional diagnostic testing pathways.   

TIGeR (Translational Implementation of Genomics for Rare Diseases)

Deborah Marshall is a Co-Lead with the TIGeR Study. The TIGeR study aims to transform the care of patients with rare diseases by optimizing clinical workflows, building clinical genomics capacity, driving the implementation of clinical genome-wide sequencing, integrating genomic data in Alberta and Canada, while also evaluating the effectiveness of in-Alberta clinical genome-wide sequencing to support evidence-informed decisions.

Dr. Marshall and her research team are involved with the component of TIGeR focused on the evaluation of clinical genome-wide sequencing performed within Alberta. Specifically, the costs associated with in-province clinical genome-wide sequencing, the impact of in-province sequencing on patients, and patient preferences for clinical genome-side sequencing.

UCAN CAN-DU (Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network Canada-Netherlands) and UCAN CURE (Precision Decisions for Childhood Arthritis) personalized medicine networks in childhood arthritis combining genomic techniques, machine learning methods, and simulation modeling to predict response to treatment and its associated health outcomes and economic impact. 

https://www.ucancandu.com/

IMAGINE (Inflammation, Microbiome, and Alimentation: Gastro-Intestinal and Neuropsychiatric Effects) Chronic Disease Network

Deborah Marshall is the Co-Principal Investigator and Patient Engagement Working Group Co-Lead for the IMAGINE Chronic Disease Network. The IMAGINE Chronic Disease Network involves 17 hospitals/universities and 75 researchers across Canada who study the interactions between the inflammation, microbiome, diet and mental health in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The IMAGINE Network is one of five chronic disease networks in the SPOR (Strategy for Patient Oriented Research) initiative of CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research).

Dr. Marshall and her research team coordinate and conduct multiple studies within the IMAGINE Network focusing on patient engagement in research, patient preferences in the treatment of IBD, health care resource use and costs related to both IBD and IBS, and machine learning based predictive models to estimate healthcare costs of patients with IBD and IBS. They also liaise with Patient Research Partners in the IMAGINE Network, involving patients meaningfully in a variety of roles from research participants to co-investigators.