Biography:

My main academic interest is in perinatal (fetal and placental) pathology. I am currently studying congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), in which a hole forms in the fetal diaphragm which can lead to altered fetal lung growth and development and post-natal complications. Fetal lung development in CDH is altered by molecular mechanisms and environmental factors that are currently not well understood. I am collaborating with Drs. M. Goncheva, M. Mudri, and M. Prusinkiewicz (Victoria) to use immunohistochemistry and qPCR techniques on CDH archival specimens to characterize lung proteins and mRNAs of interest. I have supervised a number for UBC Medicine FLEX students in this project.

My research interests extend to endometriosis, which is associated with pain (often severe), decreased fertility, and in rare instances, cancers. I am working with WHRI investigators Drs. P. Yong and Anglesio to characterize expression of select proteins in endometriosis biopsy samples, correlate it with clinical variables, and find patterns that inform better prognostication or treatments. Our work has been published in a number of reproductive science, pathology, and general scientific interest journals.

I also have a long-standing collaboration with various members in the Department of Pediatric Radiology at BC Children’s Hospital, performing radiology-pathology correlation in a wide variety of conditions in fetuses, infants, and children. This work has led to multiple peer-reviewed studies, educational exhibits, and conference presentations.

Finally, I am a pathology reviewer for the Personalized Oncogenomics (POG) Project at BC Cancer and PROFYLE (PRecision Oncology For Young peopLE).