Faculty Spotlight: Josko Ivica

Dr. Josko Ivica finished his Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and afterwards worked in a teaching hospital in the clinical laboratory in the city of Split, Croatia, where he was born. After that clinical experience, he pursued his PhD studies at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. His thesis was focused on the application of liquid chromatography for the discovery of biomarkers of disease. When Dr. Ivica moved to Canada, his goal was to pursue a clinical biochemistry career, so he applied to the McMaster postdoctoral fellowship in clinical biochemistry. He is currently certified by the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (CACB).

Q. What is your specialty and why did you choose it?

A. “I have always loved biology and chemistry since I was a child, so this profession came natural to me as my career choice. I’m specializing in newer techniques used by clinical chemistry laboratories such as, chromatography and mass spectrometry. I chose this specialty because of my previous experience with chromatography, and I wanted to advance my experience with mass spectrometry. I did a few projects utilizing mass spectrometry while in training here at McMaster University. These techniques are mainly applied in testing for monitoring of various medications used in therapy, toxicology as well as endocrinology or for certain tumor markers.”

Q. What is your favourite aspect of your current position?

A. “My favourite aspect of my current position is that I am involved in special chemistry laboratory, as mentioned previously, as well as involvement in core chemistry tests. I also enjoy teaching, especially new generations of the laboratory professionals but also undergraduate students who wish to pursue careers in various health professions.”