Kenneth Fuh | Top 40 Under 40 2022

Kenneth Fuh’s PhD research helped develop a new blood test to detect breast cancer. Now, he aims to bring the test to patients around the world.

Photograph by Jared Sych

Age: 34

Job title: Co-founder and Director of Product Development, Syantra Inc.

Why he’s a 2022 Top 40 Under 40: Kenneth Fuh’s PhD research helped develop a new blood test to detect breast cancer. Now, he aims to bring the test to patients around the world.

By 5:30 a.m., Kenneth Fuh is often awake, trying to catch colleagues in Europe before their day ends. It’s all part of his dream to bring Syantra DX, a made-in-Calgary blood test to detect breast cancer, to women around the world.

His philosophy? “If you’re determined, you can do it,” he says.

Fuh grew up in Cameroon. When he was 21, he won a prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship to do his master’s degree in biotechnology at the University of Manchester — an experience he describes as the biggest challenge of his life. After graduating, he came to Canada to do his PhD, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of breast-cancer progression.

His research helped lead to the development of Syantra DX, an assay that uses a unique set of biomarkers to detect breast cancer from a blood sample. “This test represents a major innovation in breast cancer detection,” Fuh says. The tool can pick up breast cancer at an early stage when it may be easier to treat. It may be especially helpful for younger women who are not recommended for screening, but account for 18 per cent of breast cancer diagnoses.

Syantra DX is currently available to patients across Canada, and Fuh and colleagues are working toward making it available to patients in Europe. Getting the test to patients is only one goal. Eventually, he hopes that his work will help identify drug targets for difficult-to-treat breast cancers. Beyond that, he believes the company will be able to offer similar testing for other cancers. “If we could put all these together within the next five years, I would be very happy,” he says.

But there’s more to his day than work, and that’s the secret ingredient. “When I get home, I shut everything down and spend time with my family,” he says.

Thank Yous
“My beautiful wife and lovely kids, thank you for your constant love and for always being there for me; and thank you to my parents, siblings, friends, mentors, colleagues (past and present) and classmates for shaping different aspects of my life.”

 

Top 40 Under 40 2022

Tomi Ajele

Nagwan Al-Guneid

R.J. Bailot

Gursh Bal & Kai Fahrion

Kerry Black

Mark Blackwell

Doug Brown

Iman Bukhari

David Campbell

Andrew Chau

Vicki Van Chau

Brett Colvin

Jonathan M. Cornish

Amber Craig

Shaun Crawford

Sean Crump

Connor Curran & Dustin Paisley

Shannon Doram

Sam Effah

Jessie Fiddler-Kiss

Kenneth Fuh

Jiami Guo

Karl Hirzer

Jessica Janzen Olstad

Alex Kingcott

Evan Legate

David Leinster

Brendan MacArthur-Stevens

Madeleine MacDonald

Maximilian Michalowski

Sabrina Mueller

JP Pedhirney

Ali Pormohammad

Robert Price

Jordan Raugust

Alex Sarian

Simone Elizabeth Saunders

Harnarayan Singh

Leslie Skeith

Katie Smith-Parent

This article appears in the November 2022 issue of Avenue Calgary.

Related posts

Top 40 Under 40 2022

Alana Willerton

Top 40 Under 40 2022 Judges

avenuecalgary

Katie Smith-Parent | Top 40 Under 40 2022

avenuecalgary

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Privacy Policy

Privacy & Cookies Policy
Avenue Calgary