A Laboratory Analyst/Clinical Scientist/ LC-MS/MS & GC-MS/MS Method

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Kandeepan Karthigesu PhD

**, ********** **, ********, *** 2H1 ON, Canada

Email: ********@********.**

***********@*****.***

Professional Summary

Experienced Clinical Scientist with a strong foundation in clinical laboratory diagnostics, mass spectrometry, and method development. Demonstrated expertise in newborn screening, metabolomics, and biochemical analyte assays, with practical experience in LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, and other biochemical and immunological analyzers. Skilled in developing and validating analytical methods that support clinical decision-making, improve diagnostic accuracy, and enhance patient care. Deeply engaged in the clinical biochemistry field to meaningful health outcomes and committed to advancing healthcare through scientific innovation, analytical precision, and collaborative practice. Work

Experience

2024 to date Postdoctoral Research Fellow-McMaster University

First project

Biochemical Genetics (BCG) lab, McMaster Children’s Hospital, McMaster University.

LC-MS/MS method development and validation for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) in collaboration with Newborn Screening Ontario (NSO), CHEO, Ottawa, Canada.

o Possess extensive expertise in preparation of dried blood spot (DBS) in-house QCs and calibrations, and working with CDC and Chromsystem QCs and EQA.

o Expert in per-analytical steps and extraction of samples from DBS. o Expert in instrumentation, maintenance and troubleshooting of LC-MS/MS. o Developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) in preanalytical, analytical, and postanalytical procedures for X-ALD measurement and reporting.

LC-MS/MS method development of amino acids.

Received training in amino acids (water-UPLC), acylcarnitine (Waters LC-MS/MS), urine organic acids and urine purine and pyrimidine (Agilent GC-MS) and peroxisome (Waters LC-MS) estimations.

Got training on LIS, including Epic and OMNI.

Expert in validation parameters as per the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute

(CLSI) guidelines.

Second project

Clinical Chemistry and Immunology (CCI) Lab, Hamilton General Hospital, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Developing new methods for dried blood spot (DBS) analytes from blood and urine samples using Quido Ortho XT7600, Immulite, Optilite, Vitros, Capillarys and LC- MS/MS.

o developing DBS methods and validations for estimating several biochemical analytes from plasma and urine samples of patients 2

o received training in the preparation of samples, instrumentation, and Bio-Rad LIMS.

Attended several sessions and coursework conducted by ADLM, CSCC, MSACL

Lab tour of the Core lab and CCI lab, Hamilton General Hospital

Third project

Biochemical Genetics (BCG) lab, McMaster Children’s Hospital, McMaster University. Method development and validation of sterols using Agilent 1260 Infinity II LC-MS/MS. Plasma very long-chain fatty acid method development.

PhD work experience

LC-MS/MS method development of specific fatty acid oxidative products (e.g. isofuran)

Fatty acid composition analysis using LC-MS/MS

Enzyme assays (Glutathione estimation using glutathione peroxidase assay)

Cell culture work (THP-1 monocyte leukemic cells) to assess the oxidative stress

Experts in ELISA, Western blot, qPCR, Endoplasmic Reticular Stress, Aseptic Total Parenteral Nutrition Compounding and Optimization, and Sterile Procedures.

Contributed to tumour research in breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231/MCF-7- 7/SKBR3) and investigated the role of LPL in cardiovascular disease.

Teaching Experience

2020-2023 Teaching Assistant for Biochemistry students (received the best teaching award) Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL Canada

Teaching

Biochemistry 1430: Basic biochemistry, Biochemistry 2201/Pharmacology 2004: Introduction to biochemistry, Biochemistry 4140: Nutrigenetics & nutrigenomics, Biochemistry 4230: Lipid and lipoprotein metabolism Responsibilities: Conducting teaching and tutorials, giving quizzes and assignments, correcting the assignments and exam papers, evaluating student presentations, and uploading the presentations, the assignments, and the quizzes on the online platforms of Memorial University of NL.

Laboratory demonstrator

Biochemistry 3906 (Winter 2020 to Winter 2023): Biochemistry and Metabolism laboratory, Biochemistry 3907 (Fall 2022): Molecular biology laboratory (RNA and DNA lab)

Responsibilities: Conducting laboratory demonstrations, giving quizzes, correcting the laboratory reports, and evaluating the students’ write-ups and presentations. 2010-2019 Lecturer and Examiner in Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Course Instructor

Medical biochemistry for medical students

Clinical Biochemistry for Medical Laboratory Technologist (MLT) students, Biochemistry and biophysics to biological science students 3

Responsibilities: Conducting teaching and tutorials, giving quizzes and assignments, setting questions, correcting the assignments and exam papers, evaluating student presentations, supervising student research projects, and uploading the presentations, the assignments, and the quizzes on the online platforms. Research Supervision

Supervised several Medical Laboratory Technology student research projects.

Clinical Experience

Working for 16 months in the Biochemistry Genetics lab, Clinical Chemistry and Immunology lab, and Core lab, Hamilton Hospitals, and I have 5 years of working experience in the clinical biochemistry lab of General Hospital, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Expert in specimen collection, Epic, Citrix, barcode printing, preparation of blood and urine samples for several assays, analyzing and reporting the results, reference interval establishment, and pathophysiology of diseases.

Course Work

2025 LC-MSMS 302- Advanced LC-MSMS method development, troubleshooting and operation for clinical analysis (16 hours)- Mass Spectrometry & Advances in the Clinical Lab

(MSACL), Montreal, Canada

202*-****** Updated guidance and best practices in clinical implementation of LC-MS/MS- Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM), Chicago, USA

(6.0 ACCENT credits/CME)

Training

2025 Measurement of Sirolimus, Homovanillic Acid (HVA), Vanillylmandelic Acid (VMA), 5- Hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) using LC-MS/MS

Measurement of urine drugs using the Beckman Coulter AU480 Chemistry analyzer. 2024 Newborn screening of amino acids, acylcarnitine, succinylacetone, guanidinoacetic acid, argininosuccinic acid, deoxyadenosine, and C26:0 lysophosphatidylcholine using FIA- MS/MS, LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, Preanalytical work, and reporting By Newborn Screening Ontario (NSO) at CHEO, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 2024 Privacy Annual Review and Personal Health Information Certificate of Completion-2024 By Hamilton Health Sciences, Ontario, Canada

Training on LC-MS/MS by Thermo Scientific, USA and Waters, USA

Education

PhD in Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Title: In vitro optimization of antioxidants for total parenteral nutrition for newborns

Master of Science (MSc) in Biostatistics, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka: GPA=3.5/4.0

Expertise in: Data analysis and interpretation using statistical software, regression analysis, parametric and non-parametric statistics, normality, confidence limits, ROC curves, likelihood ratios, odds ratios, categorical data analysis, time series analysis, etc.

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)/MSc in Biochemistry, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka Thesis title: A study on malnutrition and associated biochemical parameters among children aged one to five years in Jaffna district

Expertise in: Biochemical analysis of nutritional biomarkers from plasma (albumin, ferritin, hsCRP, retinol binding protein) and urine (urinary iodine), clinical assessment of malnutrition, anthropometric measurements, surveys, and data analysis.

Expertise in: Pathophysiology of diseases, diagnosis, treatment, management, clinical chemistry, immunology, pathology and molecular medicine, ethics, etc. Distinction in biochemistry and clinical biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, immunology, pharmacology, and pathology.

Skills and Qualifications

• Laboratory instrumentation: operation, calibration, and troubleshooting of analyzers

(chemistry, immunoassay, LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, HPLC).

• Advanced analytical skills on ionization method, chromatographic separation, instrument operation and troubleshooting of LC-MS/MS.

• Teaching and presentation skills

• Skilled in the development, management, and coordination of clinical biochemistry work, with responsibility for supporting the team’s operational and strategic objectives, as well as the team’s overall expectations.

• Method development and validation: designing, optimizing, and validating new assays

(precision, linearity, limit of detection/ limit of quantification, reference intervals).

• Quality management: Quality controls (QC) (Westgard rules), proficiency testing, instrument comparability.

• Statistical skills: reference interval establishment, ROC analysis, regression, uncertainty of measurement.

• Demonstrated experience in supervising, training, and guiding the researchers, laboratory technicians, and students to ensure standards.

• Extensive academic and research foundation in clinical lab medicine research, supported by a PhD in Biochemistry, an MPhil in Biochemistry, an MSc in Biostatistics, and a BVSc in Veterinary Science.

• Successful track record in grant writing and scholarly publications.

• Skilled in coordinating all aspects of quality procedures to ensure alignment with clinicians’ needs and patient care.

• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision while excelling in multidisciplinary team environments.

• Advanced proficiency in computer programming for extracting and linking data from existing databases (LIMS), with expertise in statistical software such as SPSS, R, and SAS.

• Excellent in self-directed learning, communication, teamwork, decision-making, and interpersonal skills, effectively collaborating with clinical biochemists, clinicians, laboratory technicians, students, and researchers.

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