Dr. Tyler’s Journey to Leadership in Public Health

by Denise Sabac

Graphic design by Anne McGrath

Dr. Andrea Tyler is the chief of Computational Biology at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) and an alum of the Institute of Medical Science (IMS) program at the University of Toronto. In addition, she is a kind and motivated individual who enthusiastically offered to share her story with us to inspire current and future students in the program.

Dr. **Andrea** **Tyler**, PhD

Photo provided by Dr. Tyler.

Andrea Tyler completed her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at the University of Toronto in 2013. After specializing in microbiology during her undergraduate studies, she chose to investigate inflammatory bowel disease for her Ph.D. work. After four short years, she moved back to her hometown in Winnipeg to pursue a unique opportunity to complete her post-doctoral studies at Canada’s NML. The NML is part of the Public Health Agency of Canada and conducts research that supports preparedness and response to infectious and chronic disease control.¹ Accordingly, Andrea Tyler was fascinated by the potential to work in a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory (highest level of risk) and investigate an array of pathogens. While Dr. Tyler faced some uncertainty regarding what she would do after graduating from IMS, once this laboratory caught her attention during her graduate studies, she immediately knew this was the right fit for her.

As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the NML, Dr. Tyler studied Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB). More specifically, she conducted whole genome sequencing of Canadian TB islets to assess whether genetic data can improve our ability to track outbreaks and predict bacterial phenotypes. After completing this work, she continued her involvement at the NML by accepting a position in the bio-forensics group. Subsequently, she was promoted to her current position as the chief of the department of Computational Biology.

Currently, her research focuses on understanding the genetic composition of pathogens that threaten public health. During our interview, Dr. Tyler provided some examples of her work during the COVID-19 pandemic to explain her responsibilities at the NML. She mentioned that throughout the pandemic, her work emphasized increasing whole genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen across Canada to understand its molecular mechanisms. Further, she was interested in more broadly using data from these sequencing projects for public health use rather than just niche areas of research. Following this mandate, she became involved in the processing of about 600,000 isolates across Canada. Furthermore, Dr. Tyler developed the pipelines and tools needed to process this abundant data and make it accessible for use. Despite the demanding nature of this project alone, Dr. Tyler also develops similar pipelines for other pathogens. Every day, she works towards improving the health of our nation one sequencing analysis at a time.

Dr. Tyler also emphasized her interest and appreciation for the computational nature of her work; she enjoys the fast-paced nature of statistical methods and their ability to keep up with the rapidly evolving healthcare needs of our country. She also expressed her appreciation for her team and other collaborators who support her work. As leader of the Computational Biology team, Dr. Tyler supervises a group of scientists that support her ability to meet public health needs through high-impact research. Furthermore, she works with epidemiologists and public health partners who inform her work and facilitate its influence on public health policies. In the future, Dr. Tyler hopes to create new collaborations that will support her research interests to pursue agnostic pathogen detection within metagenomic samples. She describes that in an ideal world, when we are unsure why someone is sick, we could “get a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample and run a meta genomics assay on it to help identify what the disease-causing agent is.” In summary, Dr. Tyler will continue to create meaningful partnerships that support her involvement in clinically focused and influential research.

When I asked about her ability to navigate this demanding role, Dr. Tyler mentioned that she “got a lot of transferable skills from IMS,” which benefitted her success. She explained that because a lot of her Ph.D. work was self-directed, she acquired the ability to learn new computational skills independently, which supported her continued growth. On the other hand, one challenge she faced was navigating career development and self-promotion, which Dr. Tyler defines as knowing how to convey to others the skills that one possesses. While this was difficult for her at first, she gradually acquired the vocabulary and confidence needed to communicate her strengths, which she believes was foundational to acquiring her current position. Furthermore, by growing her communication skills, she can instill an encouraging and supportive environment in her lab by reminding her staff of their capabilities and amazing work. Lastly, adopting this managerial role was new to her. Previously, she was accustomed to doing all the “nitty gritty” work herself and misses that aspect sometimes; however, she expressed that these sentiments are replaced by fulfillment from seeing the great work completed by the people she is supervising.

Dr. Tyler also expressed that she enjoys working for the government. She explained that her lab is “not dependent on grant-based funding to maintain operations,” which minimizes the stress of supervising an academic team. In addition, she explained that by working in the public health sector, she enjoys seeing the direct impact of her research on public health policy. Another benefit that she conveyed is the flexibility of her work; if there is a specific topic that she wishes to investigate further, she can pursue grant applications to support new projects in addition to her existing research. Last, she conveyed her appreciation for the strong work-life balance that her current role offers. Dr. Tyler can work from home most days, although she also thanks the computational nature of her work for that possibility. Further, her workdays typically end at 4 p.m., allowing her to disconnect at the end of the day–at least most days. Because she works in a managerial role in the public health sector, Dr. Tyler must still be available to attend to work emergencies. During the pandemic, she explained that such emergencies were more frequent, while today, they are rare. Nevertheless, Dr. Tyler’s appreciation for her current role was evident throughout our discussion.

Lastly, I asked Dr. Tyler what she desired to convey to current IMS students, and her response emphasized the importance of networking. She mentioned that students should “make the most of opportunities to meet new people.” Dr. Tyler initially got into NML through a collaborator that she worked with in graduate school, so she encourages students to take the opportunity to network “because you never know what doors it could open.” At large, she conveys that relationships are foundational to her success and encourages students to make meaningful partnerships along their journey.

Autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are common neurodevelopmental conditions with a worldwide prevalence of around 1% and 6%, respectively.¹ The typical symptoms of ADHD include hyperactivity, impulsivity, and/or inattention and have a continual impact on one’s daily life.¹ Autism is typically characterized by difficulty with social interactions and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and activities.¹ Although ADHD and autism are distinct from each other, there is an intriguing crossover between these two conditions: ADHD is present in 30-80% of individuals with autism, and autism is present in 20-50% of individuals with ADHD.² Both conditions are neurodevelopmental, that is, the conditions develop during early childhood and have overlapping symptoms, such as self-dysregulation. Self-dysregulation manifests itself in three key aspects: emotions, behavior, and cognition.² In the context of these key aspects, self-dysregulation may involve internalizing issues like anxiety, depression, and suicidality, or externalizing issues such as aggression and impulsivity. Understanding these patterns becomes crucial as they are observed at higher rates in individuals with autism and ADHD. Further, autism and ADHD also have intricate relationships with another neurodevelopmental condition, intellectual disabilities (ID).

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