Dr. Monika Schmidt, PhD, is a creative problem-solver with a solutions-driven focus.
Monika Schmidt is a researcher specializing in rare genetic disorders and diseases, particularly repeat-associated disease. Monika earned her PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto (2021) and an honours BSc in Biomedical science from the University of Guelph (2013). Following her doctoral research, Monika completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children (2022), then took the plunge into freelance scientific consulting, writing, and editing during a career break to look after her two young children and an unwell family member. Most recently, Monika co-edited a reference manual focusing on rigorous and reproducible genetic and genomic research with Academic Press (an imprint of Elsevier). Monika is fluently bilingual in English and French, with conversational skills in German, and a passion for language acquisition.
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Scientific research and communication
In the academic realm, Monika is passionate about exploring the genetic basis of rare disease, particularly the mechanism by which DNA repeat expansions are implicated in disease development and progression. In understanding these mechanisms, appropriate therapeutic targets can be identified towards the development of life-changing therapeutics - a realm that Monika is excited to learn more about, in particular, advocating for genetic testing/counselling and rare disease therapeutics as part of Canada's universal healthcare plan. Monika's formal training in the lab and expertise in scientific communication poise her well to synthesize and integrate complex scientific ideas into clear, plain-language text for audiences at a variety of levels of technical expertise.
Mentorship & outcomes improvement
Beyond the bench, Monika has a long-standing history of advocacy and public-facing volunteer roles that have brought her great personal satisfaction and achieved notable outcomes. Throughout her graduate studies, Monika pursued opportunities to empower, mentor, and uplift trainees. Monika was a member of the Career Development Committee (formerly Training and Development Committee) at the American Society of Human Genetics (2015-2018), elected to the role of Chair in 2017. Monika co-hosted an Invited Session on rigour and reproducibility at the 2017 Annual Meeting (blog post here). Monika mentored and supervised numerous undergraduate and graduate trainees during her graduate work and fellowship. In 2015, she launched the Graduate Student Peer Review (GSPR), an internal grant review process between peers for graduate students to receive feedback prior to submitting their grant applications to CIHR/NSERC (federal funding bodies in Canada). GSPR became a precursor program to the present-day formalized internal peer review required for trainee grant submissions. Recently, Monika has taken on an ad hoc role as a medical liaison and navigator for individuals experiencing challenges understanding complex diagnoses or having productive conversations with their healthcare providers. She assists with identifying appropriate therapeutic channels and advocating for care.
Event organization
Monika has additional experience in large event planning, public-speaking, and budget management. Monika was part of the inaugural SickKids Research Institute Staff Engagement committee (2014 - 2020, Co-Chair 2015-2017, Past-Chair 2018), hosting six informational or themed events per year for 300+ attendees from the Research Institute. In this role, Monika managed a large team of volunteers (20+), regularly coordinating with numerous groups within the Research Institute and the Chief of Research, managed a budget of $30,000, and introduced an executive structure in 2015. Monika assisted in planning, organization, and on-the-ground execution of two topic-focused scientific conferences (Unstable Microsatellites and Human Disease, Costa Rica 2015 and Capri 2018), many trainee-focused workshops (multiple trainee-focused events at the ASHG Annual Meetings 2015-2017; ERA-NET Neuron Co-Fund Meeting, 2019), as well as team building events and recently, a work anniversary retreat for Dr. Pearson (see Portfolio).