SPECIALTY AND TITLE

Masters Candidate, Senior Clinical Genetics Laboratory Technologist

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS

Kingston Health Sciences Centre

UNIVERSITY AFFILIATIONS

Queens University

AREAS OF RESEARCH

My research is in the space of molecular profiling for hematological malignancies such as: CLL, MDS, AML and MPN, using a NGS approach, to uncover drivers that may have critical impact for treatment and patient outcomes. My work aims to explore the technical benefits and limitations for assessing DNA vs. RNA, especially as it relates to the circulation of tumour content, to develop technical standards for the interpretation of somatic variants, laying the foundation for clinical frameworks.

MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE AND/OR HEALTH CARE DELVIERY

For the past ten years, one of my areas of focus have been in the technical development and clinical implementation of rapid standalone molecular testing for the diagnosis of acute and chronic hematological malignancies, for patients within southeastern Ontario. These assays have been built and optimized to detect the most common molecular genomic drivers, (FLT3, NPM1, JAK2, MPL and CALR), for the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemias (AML) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). In more recent years, my efforts have focused on technical accuracy and the efficient use of laboratory tests, to support timely treatment for our patients.