Our History

About CALIPER

CALIPER (Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric Reference Intervals) is a nation-wide initiative to improve the diagnosis and care of children, both at SickKids and at healthcare centres across Canada and globally. Our main objective is to establish a comprehensive database of healthy reference intervals (normal ranges) for blood test results in children and adolescents.

History

The CALIPER program was initiated by clinical chemists and medical biochemists from the Paediatric Focus Group of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC). Three workshops were held from 2004 to 2006 among paediatric hospital laboratories on establishing a new laboratory reference interval database for biomarkers of paediatric disease.

The group recommended collaborative studies to determine the effect of age, gender, and ethnic origin on blood test results in children, and establish a comprehensive database of paediatric reference intervals for Canadian children and adolescents. They called the national initiative the CALIPER (Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric Reference Intervals) program.

Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (Link)

Achievements

CALIPER has successfully established reference intervals for hundreds of blood tests thanks to 12,000 children and adolescent participants and their families. This data is used by thousands of institutions around the world, and has received several awards and accolades.

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children have participated
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laboratory tests studied
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peer-reviewed publications

2012–2014

2014–2016

  • CALIPER principal investigator, Dr. Khosrow Adeli, awarded a seven-year CIHR Foundation Grant (2016-2023) to further CALIPER initiatives
  • CALIPER awarded the 2015 Innovations Award by the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists
  • Developed the first edition of the CALIPER app for iPhone and Android

2016–2018

  • Published the CALIPER White Paper
  • Completed the CALIPER Reference Interval Ethnicity study
  • Initiated the Lipid Metabolism in Adolescents Study

2018–2020

  • Launched the new CALIPER Pediatric Reference Interval Database and mobile app, used by thousands of institutions worldwide
  • CALIPER principal investigator, Dr. Khosrow Adeli, awarded the AACC Academy Outstanding Research Award

2020–Present

  • Launched the Mother and Child Health Initiative, which has been awarded a grant from March of Dimes
  • Launched the COVID-19 Seroprevalence Study, which has been awarded funding from Abbott Diagnostics and Merck Inc