Faculty Spotlight: Landry Nfonsam
Landry Nfonsam is a Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) in Genetics at Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program (HRLMP) and the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. Prior to becoming a CLS, Landry worked as a Genome (technical) specialist in cancer genetics at HHS and also trained as a Genetic and Genomic Diagnostics (GGD) fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists (CCMG) in the Department of Pathology and Molecular medicine, McMaster University. Before joining HRLMP/HHS, Landry was a Genome specialist focusing on cardiomyopathies, connective tissue disorders, and breast-ovarian cancers in the Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory at CHEO Hospital in Ottawa.
Landry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Buea in Cameroon, a Master’s Degree in molecular-reproductive biology from New Mexico Highlands University, USA, and a Ph.D. degree in Biology specializing in Developmental and Molecular Genetics from New Mexico State University. He did a one-year postdoc in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, and an additional three-year postdoc at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in the Genetics and Genome Biology Program.
Q. What is your specialty and why did you choose it?
A. My specialty is in molecular/cytogenetics, and in leveraging the strength of clinical Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to interrogate genomic alterations relevant to disease pathogenesis through translational bioinformatics. My interest in this field stems from graduate school at a time when NGS was just beginning to revolutionize molecular medicine. As a trainee, I used NGS to understand various developmental pathways and also utilized molecular and cytogenetics to evaluate genomic alterations associated with disease pathogenesis.
Q. What advice would you provide to someone interested in your field?
A. Consider courses in genetics, be ready to become a lifelong learner, and be passionate about pursuing your dream.
Q. What is your favorite aspect of your position?
A. No two days are the same. Each day comes with a new set of interesting cases and new challenges.
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