Biography:

Dr. Barakauskas is Clinical Biochemist and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.  She trained with a BSc in Biochemistry, a PhD in Neuroscience and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical chemistry. She is board certified through both the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. She has clinical laboratory experience in multiple settings including high-volume and esoteric reference lab work (Salt Lake City, UT), high-volume community outpatient settings (Edmonton, AB) and joined the lab in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital in 2016.

Dr. Barakauskas has an interest in improving laboratory quality through understanding test utilization, improving interpretive support, process improvement, and development and validation of appropriate laboratory tests. Her current research focuses on improving our understanding of normal values by establishing reference intervals during pregnancy and in infancy to support correct test interpretation and improve patient management using both prospective reference interval derivation approaches (the PRISM study, funded through the BCCHRI and MSFHR SPOR Unit) and using retrospective data sets (CIHR).