TD Bank awards $1 million to Sinai Health for AI lab

TORONTO – Sinai Health Foundation has received a $1-million gift through the TD Ready Commitment, TD Bank Group’s global corporate citizenship platform, to create The TD Artificial Intelligence Health Research Lab at Sinai Health.

The TD Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health Research Lab will focus on improving health outcomes through technology with the goal of transforming medical diagnostics, personalized care and the management of chronic diseases at health facilities across Canada.

“This generous gift will allow Sinai Health to build capacity for the latest technology and house the brightest minds in the field of artificial intelligence,” said Louis de Melo, CEO of Sinai Health Foundation. “TD has been a steadfast supporter of Sinai Health for close to 70 years, and its generosity has helped transform patient care.”

There have been great advances in the use of AI to improve healthcare and health research in recent years, however, as Dr. Stephen Lye (pictured), interim Koffler Director of Research at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) notes, Canada has few platforms to study, test and harness AI solutions within real-world clinical settings.

“Sinai Health is optimally positioned to partner with the AI industry and create collaborations across the healthcare spectrum,” said Dr. Lye. “This lab would be a rare Canadian AI hub that would be a destination for those exploring AI solutions to pervasive health-care challenges.”

The lab will support the integration of radiomics, genomics and proteomics with clinical datasets and bring together emerging and established radiologists, geneticists, statisticians, clinical epidemiologists and other experts in one, cutting-edge space within Mount Sinai Hospital, part of Sinai Health.

“Offering more personalized healthcare and treatment is key to improving patient outcomes and creating a healthier and more equitable future,” said Andrea Barrack, global head, Sustainability and Corporate Citizenship at TD Bank Group. “Through the TD Ready Commitment, we’re proud to support this brand-new facility that will leverage technology to enable research and collaboration and help transform our understanding of health and disease.”

Construction of the lab is already under way and is anticipated to be complete by 2022.

About Sinai Health Foundation
Sinai Health Foundation takes the vision of Sinai Health’s physicians, clinicians, scientists, and healthcare providers and helps turn it into a reality. Philanthropy is essential for advancing research, care, and outcomes for those facing cancer, a high-risk pregnancy, stroke recovery, and other conditions and diseases. Thanks to philanthropy, SHF helps fund world-class facilities and offers patients access to some of the most impactful clinical trials and studies that have taken place over the past 30 years.