Learn More About Nicole Park and her Career in Medical Genomics!

Dr. Nicole Park is an Annotation Specialist at the University Health Network, where she contributes to the analysis and interpretation of cancer variants - reporting genetic findings that are relevant to patient management. Dr. Park is also a lecturer in MMG3001Y: Advanced Human Genetics in the MedGen Program.

Dr. Park became interested in cancer research at a young age when her cousin was diagnosed with cancer and treated at SickKids Hospital. She has been contributing to cancer research her entire career, becoming primarily focused on cancer genetics during her undergraduate studies at Queen’s University, while she was completing an internship at North York General Hospital in the cytogenetics department. Dr. Park described the experience of seeing chromosomes under a microscope as “life changing – it was incredible to know you can help make a diagnosis with just the human eye”. Dr. Park went on to pursue graduate studies at Western University, where she completed her MSc researching breast cancer using bioinformatics approaches. Finally, Dr. Park completed her Ph.D. researching glioblastoma stem cells under the supervision of Dr. Peter Dirks at SickKids Hospital, bringing her cancer research career full circle. After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Park was interested in transitioning into the clinical world and began working in variant analysis – she is focused on genetically profiling cancer patients and determining what the genetic findings mean for patient management.

Dr. Park has recently been granted the CCMG Fellowship which will allow her to complete intensive training in molecular and cytogenetics so that she may one day lead and direct a genome diagnostics lab. Her greatest aspiration is to become a leader in medical genomics, and she hopes to contribute to expanding genomic testing so that it becomes more accessible and comprehensive. As she explains, “I want to see us moving towards an ‘omics’ approach and hope to lead these developments, perhaps by marrying clinical and research genetics”. Though cancer genetics might always be her “true love”, Dr. Park is considering delving into rare disease research, as it is a specialty where shifting to more comprehensive genomic testing (including RNAseq and epigenetic analysis) will be instrumental.

Many MedGen students and alumni credit Dr. Park for inspiring them to pursue variant analysis and interpretation. In her words, “Variant analysis allows you to continually learn about science and apply that knowledge – to be able to interpret medical literature and understand how a genetic finding can affect a patient’s treatment or diagnosis is powerful.”

We would like to congratulate Dr. Park on her fellowship and look forward to following her achievements as her career continues – hopefully to lab director and beyond.