PureSpire Innovation Empowers Firefighters to Manage their Cancer Risk
Crystal Sweeney was alarmed by the increasing frequency of wildfires across North America and how these events were impacting the health of firefighters.
Beyond forest fire smoke, Sweeney’s concern grew deeper when she thought about fires occurring in urban centres, where the combustion of modern building materials and plastics exposed firefighters to a toxic soup of carcinogens.
Sweeny knew firefighters wore protective gear and followed strict decontamination procedures. However, these safeguards are inadequate, and occupational cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty firefighter deaths, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).
As an analytical toxicologist and postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University, Dr. Sweeney wanted to put her expertise into action. “Firefighter cancer is an epidemic and I wanted to do something to protect our heroes,” says Sweeney.
Dr. Sweeney joined forces with Dalhousie’s biomaterials expert, Dr. John Frampton, to develop biosensor patches capable of monitoring carcinogen levels in firefighters’ sweat. The patch would be capable of detecting substances like heavy metals, phthalates, PCBs, and volatile organic compounds.
Lab2Market Solution
Drs. Sweeney and Frampton turned to Dal Innovates’ Lab2Market Validate for entrepreneurial support. Lab2Market guided Sweeney through a customer discovery process involving interviewing over 75 firefighters. “I learned that what they really want are new ways to both monitor and reduce their body burden before cancer develops,” says Sweeney.
Lab2Market instructors encouraged her to get out of the lab and network. So, she used part of the $15,000 in Lab2Market funding to attend the International Firefighter Cancer Symposium in Miami where she was immersed in the latest research in firefighter cancer prevention, early detection, and treatments.
Sweeney decided to continue her entrepreneurial journey and is taking part in the Lab2Market Launch program, a 12-week summer accelerator for researchers committed to growing their ventures.
“The guidance from the Lab2Market instructors gives us the confidence and direction to take our startup to the next level.” Dr. Crystal Sweeney, founder of PureSpire Biomonitoring Technologies.
The Impact
Dr. Sweeney and her team are focused on getting the PureSpire patch to market as soon as possible. This patch has the potential to be an essential tool for firefighters to monitor their exposure to harmful substances and take steps to proactively reduce their exposure risks.
Story adapted from Where Ideas Meet Impact: Analytical toxicologist builds startup to help firefighters manage risk of carcinogen exposure – Dal News – Dalhousie University
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