Alberta's Tomorrow Project

As the largest health research cohort study in western Canada, Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP) aims to explore what causes and what may prevent cancer and chronic disease. Following 55,000 men and women for the next 50 years, our long-term cohort provides significant depth and breadth of detailed information to researchers within Alberta and around the world. Thanks to billions of data points and thousands of biological samples, scientists can examine how lifestyle, genetics and environment influence the health of generations to come. The project is actively promoting its broad database for analysis by researchers across Alberta and beyond. All participants were between the ages of 35 and 69 years, with no prior malignant cancers, upon joining the project. They have consented to linkage with administrative databases, and to participate in follow-up surveys for up to 50 years. Dietary intake, physical activity levels, prescription drug use and health screening patterns represent just some of the data which will be evaluated against physical measurements and biomarkers to map the progression of cancer and chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the years ahead. In 2008, ATP joined a nation-wide research platform called the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health representing more than 300,000 participants. Together, the consortium of seven regional studies provides not only greater statistical power for research, but an opportunity to examine geographical trends in health and wellbeing across Canada’s vast landscape. Alberta’s Tomorrow Project is funded by Alberta Health and the Alberta Cancer Prevention Legacy Fund, the Alberta Cancer Foundation, and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and is based in Cancer Care Alberta at Alberta Health Services. Researchers interested in applying for access to data and biosamples are invited to visit the research portal at https://myatpresearch.ca or to email atp.research@ahs.ca