Clinical Scientists are healthcare professionals within acute care, private, and public health laboratories and faculty members of the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department. The BC Association of Clinical Scientists (BCACS) is a not-for-profit organization registered under the BC Societies Act that promotes professional standards and education in clinical laboratory medicine and serves as the representation for Clinical Scientists in the province.
Clinical Scientists work in laboratory medicine as independent practitioners to deliver diagnostic and consultation services, while adhering to strict quality and safety standards. They are highly-qualified PhD-trained laboratorians that have undergone clinical postdoctoral fellowship training and board certification by North American regulatory bodies. Certification specialities include clinical chemistry, cytogenetics, molecular and biochemical genetics, immunology, microbiology, and toxicology. Clinical Scientists participate in diverse aspects of laboratory medicine including but not limited to clinical service, research, education and training. There are Clinical Scientists working in all Health Authorities in the province at acute care, private, and public health laboratories. Although the responsibilities of Clinical Scientists impact patient care, their activities remain unregulated. Ongoing provincial and national efforts are aimed at obtaining and harmonizing health professional regulation.
Dr. Agatha Jassem, PhD, D(ABMM), FCCM
Clinical Microbiologist & Program Head, Virology Lab,
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC
Dr. Jassem is a Clinical Microbiologist with board certification from the Canadian College of Microbiologists and the American Board of Medical Microbiology. Her service contributions have resulted in implementation of diagnostic strategies that enable rapid testing, including to emerging pathogens, and enhance diagnostic and confirmatory yields. Most recently, she led the implementation of a PCR assay for monkeypox detection to support the provincial response to the current outbreak. Previously, she led implementation of rapid PCR methods for early detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern during their emergence as well as HCV RNA reflex testing on serum, the latter which has significantly enhanced confirmatory testing for active infection. She helps to develop provincial and national testing guidelines for various viral pathogens. Dr. Jassem also leads initiatives aimed at advancing surveillance for respiratory viruses, including genomic strategies for viral characterization, serosurveillance programs that also inform on vaccine protection, and data integration efforts enabling provincial infection estimates, all of which are directly used to inform population health such as RSV immunoprophylaxis program initiation and COVID-19 preventative measures. She is also the BC laboratory lead for the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network monitors vaccine effectiveness against influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 to inform vaccine deployment and design. Dr. Jassem promotes best practices and knowledge translation in her roles as President of BCACs and the Canadian Association for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Jassem has been nominated for a 2022 Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Leadership/Service.
Dr. Tracy Tucker, PhD, FCCMG
Clinical Molecular Geneticist & Cytogeneticist, Cancer Genetics & Genomics Laboratory, BC Cancer Agency
Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC
Dr. Tucker is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists, certified as a clinical Molecular Geneticist and Cytogeneticist. She works in the Cancer Genetics and Genomics Laboratory (CGL) at BC Cancer which is a full-service lab providing cancer genetics testing for the province of British Columbia and cytogenetics services to four of the six BC health authorities. Dr. Tucker has recently lead the implementation of a circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) sequencing assay for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. As the importance of genetics continues to increase in cancer patient care, she collaborated with her clinical and laboratory colleagues and served as the lead to secure additional funding for new genetic tests and the introduction of novel genetic technologies within CGL. Dr. Tucker has served locally on the BC Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services (PLMS) Test Review Committee and on the Clinical and Systems Transformation (CST) initiative as the genetics practice representative. She is actively involved in education serving as the Chair of the CCMG Molecular Pathology Working Group, member of the CCMG Cytogenetics Exam Committee and Director of the UBC pathology residency genetics rotation.
Dr. Tucker led the development of a one-week introductory genetics course that is mandatory for all UBC pathology and oncology clinical residents. She is also course coordinator and teacher within the UBC Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Sciences Program. She is the recipient of the UBC Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Excellence in Education Award (2021) and the UBC Roberta Miller Resident Teaching Award (2018). Dr. Tucker was recently awarded a UBC Killam Teaching Prize (2022) for her achievements in educating students and residents.
Dr. Tanya Nelson, PhD, FCCMG
Clinical Molecular Geneticist, BC Children’s & BC Women’s Hospitals
Division Head, Genome Diagnostics, BC Children’s Hospital
Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC
Dr. Nelson is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists, certified as a clinical Molecular Geneticist. She leads the Division of Genome Diagnostics at BC Children’s and BC Women’s Hospitals, the provincial laboratory responsible for providing academic pediatric, adult, and maternal-fetal medicine genetic and genomic care to BC’s patients. Genetic and genomic patient care is rapidly evolving, requiring healthcare systems to move away from historical approaches and towards a new vision of genomic care and care delivery models. This evolution impacts local, provincial, and national clinical services. Under her leadership the Division has successfully implemented funded genomic care for BC’s patients; most recently, the Division is spearheading provincial implementation of genome-wide sequencing and leading-edge reproductive testing to improve the care of BC’s patients, with the generous support of local donors and national funding bodies and in partnership with the PLMS and Provincial Medical Genetics Program. In collaboration with clinic colleagues, she is leading, facilitating and supporting the changes to provincial clinical service delivery required to support this care, including successfully integrating molecular genetics and cytogenetics care into a single delivery care model. Dr Nelson actively participates in the development of provincial and national practice guidelines, policies, and standards for genetic and genomic patient care through the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists (CCMG), BC Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee (GPAC), Diagnostic Accreditation Program (DAP), BC Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services (PLMS), Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, and Health Canada, and has served on the CCMG Board of Directors, Education Ethics and Public Policy, Clinical Practice, and Laboratory Practice committees, as well as serving as Director of the UBC CCMG Molecular Geneticist Training Program and Chair or member of various other Hospital and UBC Committees. To promote professional standards and education in clinical laboratory medicine, in 2011 she led the incorporation of the BC Association of Clinical Scientists, and served as the first President.
Dr. Mari DeMarco, PhD, DABCC FCACB
Clinical Chemist, St. Paul’s Hospital, Providence Health Care
Research Director, Providence Research
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC
Dr. DeMarco is a Clinical Chemist with board certification from the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and the American Association of Clinical Chemistry. She oversees high-volume routine chemistry and special (protein) chemistry in the Clinical Chemistry laboratory at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. She also leads research focused on the development and implementation of novel diagnostic tests for use in patient care, with an emphasis on clinical mass spectrometric analysis of peptide and protein biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, her research group aims to create better tools for timely diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal degeneration, and related disorders, and make these tools easily accessible to those that need them. As an example, Dr. DeMarco is the Principal Investigator of a Canada-wide study investigating the impact of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in routine care (www.impactAD.org) – a major outcome of which was the launch of the national Alzheimer’s disease biomarker testing program which provides access to medical testing for the core Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers to physicians across Canada. Dr. DeMarco has received a number of awards for her research achievements, including a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award (2016), an Outstanding Scientific Achievements by a Young Investigator Award from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (2016), an Early Career Excellence in Research and Discovery Award from the UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (2017), the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists Award for Research Excellence (2022) and the Michael S. Bereman Award for Innovative Clinical Proteomics (2022).