Learn More About Assistant Professor, Dr. Johanna Carroll!

Dr. Johanna Carroll is an assistant professor, teaching stream in the M.H.Sc in Medical Genomics Program, and has been instrumental in designing and implementing the program. In particular, she has been heavily involved in constructing and lobbying for the Capstone Practicum, an internship program that allows students the chance to gain real-world experience before graduation.

It’s well-known within the Medical Genomics program that Dr. Carroll is an incredibly accomplished scientist. Hailing from Boston, Johanna completed her undergraduate studies at Hamilton College, a small college in upstate New York, where she majored in biology. She found herself drawn to lab work, first researching sea coral genetics during a semester abroad in Australia, and ultimately completing her undergraduate thesis in molecular biology and cancer research. From there, Johanna pursued graduate studies at UC Berkley, where she spent 6  years studying gene expression in yeast. Her research focused on investigating gene expression is controlled at the RNA level, particularly in regards to RNA decay. Though she has now left RNA research behind, Johanna brings her vast expertise into the classroom, teaching the RNA sequencing/analysis and transcriptomics units of MMG3003Y: Genomics Methodologies to first-year students.

After obtaining her Ph.D, Johanna decided to return to the East Coast to continue her education, pursuing a postdoctoral degree at the Dana Farber Medical Research Institute and Harvard Medical School; where she investigated the roles of RNAs and non-coding RNAs in regulating gene expression in cancer. Though Johanna found the research to be both interesting and fruitful, she knew she wanted to shift her career to focus more on teaching. Similar to Dr. Styles, Dr. Carroll expressed that she valued the experiences she had teaching and mentoring students during her graduate studies, and wanted to find a position that combined her interest in teaching with her science expertise. She chose to take the leap and move to Toronto to join the MedGen Program.

Johanna explains that what she finds the most exciting about the MedGen Program is how it teaches students to analyze large amounts of experimental data. As technologies continue to improve and the cost of sequencing decreases, more sequencing data is being generated but few professionals (including researchers) are able to properly analyze it. These analysis skills make MedGen students valuable in the field, and prepare them for a wide variety of careers.

Johanna is most involved with the Capstone Practicum, a 4-month internship program that helps students gain professional experience in a field of their choosing. Many students express how the practicum is a major benefit of the program, as it often provides a crucial starting point as they begin their careers. (To learn more about how students used their practicum experiences to start and shape their careers, see our Capstone to Careers feature pieces.) Johanna has been instrumental in shaping the Capstone Practicum to what it is now, as it was initially unclear if it should be more of a practical experience course, or if sufficient positions would be available to students. Johanna met with many representatives from clinical diagnostic labs, research labs, clinical teams, and biotechnology companies to create these opportunities for students. Luckily, many of these organizations expressed interest in taking on students who had the expertise the MedGen program teaches. Johanna happily expresses that her job recruiting practicum partners has become easier over the last few years, as MedGen alumni have entered and have had success in the field, encouraging their colleagues to take on students.

Johanna offers her perspective on how the field of medical genomics is evolving: “We’ve seen that clinical diagnostics is shifting to whole genome and whole exome sequencing, but we’re likely also going to be seeing more RNA sequencing and other -omic technologies becoming integrated.” She explains that the program will adjust to these changes by teaching current clinical practices, but also topics that are still in the research realm, such as bisulfite sequencing. Beyond that, Johanna explains how important it is that the program prepares students for their careers by instilling a mindset centered around learning: “we want our students to be prepared to face changes in the field; them to know how to seek answers from experts and stay on top of the literature, so that they may continue their education beyond the classroom.”

Besides being an accomplished scientist and an excellent teacher, Johanna is an avid cyclist (even biking from Boston to Toronto when she moved to Canada), camper, and sourdough baker. We are thankful for her valuable and generous contributions to the MedGen Program.

Images provided by Dr. Johanna Carroll