Capstones to Careers: Alex Margaritescu

A recent graduate from the MHSc in Medical Genomics program, Alex Margaritescu demonstrates the power of a Capstone practicum by turning hers into an exciting, opportunity-filled career with Geneseeq Technology Incorporated.

After receiving her HBSc in Biology from the University of Toronto in 2020, Alex took some time to explore her options as a graduate before finding the Medical Genomics program almost by happenstance. Yearning to “gain real world skills…[and] make a career”, the Medical Genomics program appealed to Alex due to its focus on professional development, skill-building, and real-world applicability. She was particularly drawn in by the Capstone practicum and success stories of past graduates.

During the program, Alex gained an appreciation for variant interpretation which is what lead her to her practicum, and subsequent job, with Geneseeq. Alex describes variant interpretation as “detective work”, stating she enjoys “following a trail and being able to uncover what lies ahead” as she investigates the unanswered questions of a reported variant’s pathogenicity – or lack thereof.

In January of this year, Alex started her practicum with Geneseeq as a Medical Reporting Curator Intern. In this role, she focused on variant annotation, working to review, refine, and update databases of cancer-associated genetic variants for report generation in various genetic testing products. Working in a China-based company, a large aspect of Alex’s role is coordinating with cross-border colleagues to ensure annotations and subsequent reports are accurate. “It's really funny because when we write to each other, I'll write in English then translate, and they'll write in Mandarin then translate… and we collaborate!” she says describing the back-and-forth between her and her Mandarin-speaking counterparts. Despite being unconventional, the collaboration is effective, producing robust English-based catalogues that aid the company’s goal of expansion into English-speaking markets.

During her four-month practicum, Alex was able to partake in a variety of rewarding projects. One such project was designing a cancer-associated gene database that was subsequently used in a company research lab server, allowing for a better user experience by being able to access gene information directly in the server. It was a rewarding experience for Alex to see “the fruits of [her] labour come to fruition”, especially in such a short period.

A continuing major project has been annotating a huge database of BRCA1/2 variants, the largest database in the company. She has annotated over 2700 variants for this database – an enormous task for any variant analyst! To tackle this, Alex developed her writing and researching strategy, becoming an “expert article skimmer” in the process. She can now quickly scan through all parts of an academic journal and extract the necessary pieces of information. Moreover, she leverages her knowledge of DNA sequence changes to form ideas about pathogenicity to accelerate and simplify processing the large number of variants. Despite being one of her first projects, Alex has around 100 variants left in this database to assess pathogenicity for and asserts that “it'll be so satisfying” once she’s done.

Deciding to stay at Geneseeq after her practicum was over was an easy decision for Alex, as she appreciates the warm atmosphere amongst her coworkers, and the company focus on employee satisfaction. Moreover, she mentions her supervisors prioritize her development – “they’re open to career growth… [and] very forthcoming about opportunities within the company”. In the long term, she says her future remains open as she prioritizes finding enjoyment and fulfilment in her career. For the time being, Alex is excited to keep exploring opportunities within Geneseeq and seeing how her work will continue to be applied within the company – “I enjoy what I'm doing here. I'm happy to go into work. I'm like, yeah, let's go knock out some variants!”

Alex Margaritescu represents the impact of one’s practicum experience by establishing her value within the company and being offered a permanent position. We are proud of her accomplishments and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavours.