$12M gift from UCalgary alumna Susan Nelson launches Nelson PULSE Centre to revolutionize personalized health care

In the spring of 2014, University of Calgary alumnus Andreas Dauter, then 14, was experiencing troubling symptoms during strenuous activities like skiing — fatigue, nausea, even some fainting spells at school. 

Something was wrong, but it took him two full years to get answers. 

At the time, precision medicine — an approach that considers the combined value of diagnostic testing, and inclusive of each person’s medical imaging, genetics, environment and lifestyle — was in its infancy. But today it could have predicted much sooner that Dauter, BHSc’21, has X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy — a genetic condition that can lead to heart failure.

Thanks to a $12-million gift from visionary entrepreneur and community leader Susan Nelson, BA’70, precision medicine — a research priority at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) — is about to gain even more momentum.

The Nelson Precision Medicine and Learning Health System (PULSE) Centre for Innovation will establish a provincewide data platform that securely links anonymized diagnostic tests, such as imaging and electrocardiogram tracings, with laboratory, medication and health-outcomes data. 

This will allow researchers and physicians to identify patterns and insights that can help them answer questions about how best to detect diseases sooner and select the most effective treatments for each patient.

“Knowing a gift to accelerate this work would create added value and benefit patients, caregivers, doctors and researchers, gives me a great feeling of happiness,” says Nelson. 

“My past experience working with hospitalized children made me so aware of how difficult the diagnosis and treatment area is.” 

Personal experience also propelled her decision. 

“We learned so much when I got an autoimmune disease, inflammatory myositis, because it showed us the advantages of connecting with other medical facilities across the province and North America,” the philanthropist and business leader says. 

Nelson wanted to bring more cutting-edge health care advancements to all Albertans, through a home-grown solution. And, because of her background in high tech and artificial intelligence, Nelson realized CSM researchers are well positioned to lead efforts to sort — and investigate — Alberta health data more efficiently.

“Susan is a very strategic and very focused person,” says fellow philanthropist Gordon Case, Nelson’s husband. “It’s not just identifying the problem; she’s able to see the easiest and quickest solutions.”

Nelson’s gift will help fund the Centre’s operation through 2032. Nationally recognized as a driver of social impact, she also hopes to inspire future philanthropic support. 

“I hope others think about how they can make a difference, how they can leverage and create something that will benefit many people — that’s so valuable in today’s world,” Nelson says.

Building on UCalgary precision medicine infrastructure and expertise

The Nelson PULSE Centre builds on the CSM’s leadership and success in connecting datasets to improve heart-health outcomes at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute. Now, thanks to Nelson’s philanthropic spirit, the model will expand into other key areas such as stroke, critical care, women’s health and more.

“Susan Nelson is an incredible role model for how philanthropy can accelerate innovation and improve lives,” says Dr. Ed McCauley, PhD, president and vice-chancellor of UCalgary. “Susan is an extraordinary alumna and longtime UCalgary supporter who is helping us turn research into real-world solutions. 

“Her latest gift positions UCalgary to be a global leader in precision medicine, and we are deeply grateful.”

CSM Dean Todd Anderson, MD’85, applauds Nelson’s generosity and foresight, noting that her donation “will allow Alberta researchers to make cutting-edge advancements in personalized medicine, making health care faster and more customized for everyone.” 

Anderson adds he’s thrilled the CSM’s precision medicine research leadership and vision to advance equitable, personalized health care through data, AI and machine learning, has attracted Nelson’s lead gift. 

Anonymous health data super bank to power action

Nelson’s commitment will foster province-wide collaboration, including with other Alberta universities, and further catalyzes innovation to improve health care for all patients, says Dr. James White, MD, director of The Nelson PULSE Centre. 

Right now, disconnected banks of health information exist across the province. The Centre has already established infrastructure that can securely link diagnostic scans, lab results, prescriptions and hospital visits to other health information, such as lifestyle and how patients access care. 

This will be done in an anonymized way to protect patient privacy. AI and other tools will allow researchers, health administrators, doctors and nurses to uncover patterns and trends in the data that can better inform personalized patient care, or model how they might respond to a treatment — the opposite of “one-size-fits-all” medical treatment. The Nelson PULSE Centre will work closely with health-care providers to help them bring this improved level of care to patients.

“Susan’s shared vision for The Nelson PULSE Centre is critical to its success,” says White. “It’s an ambitious goal to bridge health-data resources from an entire province and bring them together for innovation. 

“We want to make sure that all faculties and institutions gain access to this information to maximize its impact.”

Patient-centred approach

Dauter says he knows Nelson’s generosity will transform precision medicine. 

“Susan’s gift means that patients will have diagnoses faster,” says Dauter, himself now a precision medicine researcher working towards his PhD while studying genetic disease at CSM. 

“They’ll get treatment that is better and they’ll get it earlier, so these lifesaving years can actually be given back to them and give them and their families a bright future. 

His heart condition is stable and he feels confident in his highly personalized treatment plan.

“That’s really the difference precision medicine makes.”