Photo caption: Dr. Guillaume Paré, director of the HHS Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank – Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (CRLB-GMEL).
The director of a renowned Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) research lab is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to develop state-of-the-the-art precision blood tests that would radically reduce the cost of blood testing, saving billions of dollars worldwide. These new tests would also improve patient care by offering more insights into a person's health.
“This project has the potential to transform blood testing, much like digital photography replaced film," says medical biochemist Dr. Guillaume Paré, director of the HHS Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank – Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (CRLB-GMEL). Paré launched the start-up company Pareon Biosystems to develop precision blood tests using AI.
Precision blood tests are advanced types of tests that give doctors more specific and personalized insights into a person's health by measuring multiple tiny markers such as proteins, genes and other molecules to better monitor health and track diseases. Biomarkers are a protein, chemical or gene that can show if something's wrong, such as an infection or illness. Biomarkers can also help doctors track how well a treatment is working.
Globally, over $134 billion (CDN) is spent each year on blood tests alone, says Paré. “It's a massive international market in need of better solutions, and our tests could dramatically decrease this cost."
How savings work
Traditional bloodwork involves multiple tests to check for diseases and give an overall picture of a person's health. On average in North America, about 25 blood tests are done per person, per year, amounting to about 10.5 billion tests each year, says Paré.
While many blood tests are inexpensive on an individual basis, when combined they add up to tens of billions of dollars worldwide. Pareon Biosystems uses AI to find a wider range of patient health information using customized precision blood tests that check for multiple biomarkers in one sample.
“Just three years ago, our tests wouldn't have been possible," says Paré. “But rapid advancements in AI have allowed scientists to innovate at a much faster pace."
A winning idea
In support of this project, HHS awarded Paré, and Pareon Biosystems, a 2025 DRIVE Spark grant of $50,000 at October's Research & Innovation Awards of Excellence event. DRIVE Spark funding grants from HHS support original, new projects aimed at improving health care delivery. DRIVE – which stands for Dare, Research, Innovate, VenturE – cultivates the development of HHS research and innovation into medical technologies and solutions with the goal of transforming new ideas into real commercial solutions aimed at improving patient outcomes and advancing health care.
Advancing blood testing through innovation
Currently, with blood testing there are two extremes, says Paré. At one end are the traditional tests, with their hefty multi-billion dollar annual costs. At the other end are highly specialized blood tests performed in research labs like the CRLB-GMEL, where several thousand blood biomarkers can be identified from a single blood sample.
“These highly specialized lab tests are extremely costly on a per sample basis, and this level of testing would also be complete overkill with respect to what's needed clinically from patients' bloodwork," says Paré.
The precision tests being developed by Pareon sit somewhere in the middle. The Pareon team will test smaller groups of biomarkers in the development phase, moving to as many as 200 for the research phase. From the research phase, tests will be trialed in a clinical setting, such as an HHS hospital site.
“We're currently at the starting point," says Paré, adding that he sees enormous potential for improved patient care down the road. “For example, a hospital emergency department could test every patient coming through their doors, and with a single blood sample that checks for multiple biomarkers triage patients based on their test results for much faster, targeted care."
Paré was one of three innovators to receive a 2025 DRIVE Spark grant of up to $50,000 to support commercialization of new, game-changing health-care innovations. The other winners were HHS gynecological surgeon Dr. Esther Chin, and HHS gynecological surgeon and ultrasound specialist Dr. Mathew Leonardi for the development of a digital tool to improve treatment plans for patients diagnosed with endometriosis.