Category: Videos-Podcasts

Thin Air Labs Founder Mindset Podcast with Catalina Vasquez

Click here for the Season 3 Episode 8 podcast

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, host Leah Sarich speaks with Catalina Vasquez, Co-Founder and COO of Nanostics Inc. Catalina opens up about her unexpected journey into entrepreneurship, from working in labs in Colombia to moving to Canada and building a biotech company that is reshaping prostate cancer diagnosis.

She discusses the origin and evolution of Nanostics’ flagship product, ClarityDX Prostate, including the critical pivot from nanotechnology to machine learning. Catalina highlights the global impact of making accurate, affordable prostate cancer diagnostics widely accessible, the resilience needed to push through scientific setbacks, and how her team is building toward FDA approval and international partnerships.

Listeners will gain insight into the challenges of biotech entrepreneurship, the power of collaboration, and the profound personal growth that comes with leading a mission-driven company.

About Catalina Vasquez

Catalina Vasquez is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Nanostics, a Canadian biotech company transforming how prostate cancer is diagnosed. Originally trained as a microbiologist in Colombia, Catalina moved to Canada in 2007 and quickly built a career at the intersection of science and innovation. From her early work in Dr. John Lewis’s lab to leading clinical trials, she embraced challenges that eventually led her into entrepreneurship, a path she once thought she’d never pursue.

As COO of Nanostics, Catalina has been central to the development of ClarityDX Prostate, a diagnostic tool that uses machine learning to improve early detection of prostate cancer. She has helped guide the company through pivotal scientific and business decisions, international collaborations, and progress toward FDA approval. Passionate about mission-driven innovation, Catalina is committed to making life-saving diagnostics accessible worldwide while also mentoring and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

Alberta Health Innovation Passport: ClarityDX Prostate reduces unnecessary biopsies and improves patient outcomes

HealthPro Canada Alberta Health Innovation Passport – Nanostics

Dr. Desmond Pink, Co-founder & CSO of Nanostics, speaking about Nanostics’ ClarityDX Prostate test. Click here to watch the YouTube video.

Category: Software as a Medical Device (SAMD) for early detection of prostate cancer

Overview: Nanostics, a precision diagnostics company, uses its AI-powered ClarityDX platform to predict disease. Its internationally validated lead test, ClarityDX Prostate, reduces unnecessary biopsies and improves patient outcomes. Commercially available across Canada, “the test puts patients in a leadership role [in their healthcare journey],” explained an Albertan patient.

System Benefits:

Reduces 47% of unnecessary prostate biopsies, resulting in system savings of $258,250 per 1,000 men with elevated PSA levels
Eliminates biopsy caused side effects like sepsis, incontinence, erectile dysfunction and anxiety
Accelerates accurate diagnosis with AI-driven risk assessment
Expands access through scalable lab/SaaS delivery models

Dr. John Lewis Speaks on “How can I protect myself from prostate cancer?” on CBC Podcast The Dose

Listen as Dr. John Lewis speaks on the CBC’s podcast The Dose by Dr. Brian Goldman: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men, with an estimated one in eight men expected to be diagnosed during their lifetime. John Lewis, a prostate cancer researcher and University of Alberta oncology professor, says better screening tools will help detect the disease more effectively in men.

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Sean Secord Speaks on Prostate Cancer Screening at PROSTAID

Sean Secord had the opportunity to speak at PROSTAID’s monthly meeting in Calgary, where he discussed the importance of prostate cancer screening and the impact ClarityDX Prostate can have on patients’ lives. The group was very engaged and raised thoughtful questions around screening frequency, accuracy, and what the future of prostate health management could look like with ClarityDX Prostate.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Nanostics Gets Featured on New Podcast by AIMSS

Nanostics was excited to be the first to be featured on a new podcast by AIMSS, called ByteMed! Watch us delve into the transformative world of diagnostic technology. Discover how the innovative platform, ClarityDX®, harnesses advanced machine learning algorithms to create noninvasive disease risk scores, particularly in the realm of cancer detection.

Sean Secord and Robert Paproski from Nanostics Inc. had the chance to discuss the critical importance of early prostate cancer detection and how ClarityDX leverages machine learning to improve patient outcomes. They also shared some interesting insights—be sure to listen to the full conversation!

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Nanostics Featured on Global News

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men in Canada, and early detection can save lives. Nicole Stillger from Global News talked with Nanostics COO Catalina Vasquez about how ClarityDX Prostate works and how support from Alberta Innovates helps advance our research.

Nanostics has developed a game-changing, innovative algorithm called the ClarityDX Prostate test that helps confirm if a biopsy is needed for men with elevated PSA levels. Eighty-five percent of men with elevated PSA who have a prostate biopsy done are found to be negative for prostate cancer, so they did not need to have a biopsy.

The ClarityDX Prostate blood test is available in Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec in a month it will expand to US. Vasquez says not only will the test save patients from an invasive biopsy – it will also take pressure off the healthcare system.

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