Working Together to Develop Automation for NPS Identification - BC Provincial Toxicology Center

The Provincial Toxicology Centre is a clinical reference laboratory that performs post-mortem toxicology testing for the province of British Columbia (BC). BC is a large coastal territory that has significant trade with Pacific Rim countries, which has made it a hotbed for proliferation of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Additionally, BC has some of the highest rates of drug-related deaths in the world that are attributed to the unregulated illicit drug supply. Accordingly, early identification of NPS is key for public safety and to prevent the unnecessary loss of life. To this end, they have collaborated with colleagues from various institutions, across Canada and the United States to implement an automated high performance computing system that rapidly detects NPS.