Jennifer Guthrie, Ph.D.

Jennifer Guthrie, Ph.D.

Western University

Jennifer Guthrie, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Epidemiology & Biostatics at Western University in Ontario, Canada. Her research focuses on pathogen genomics with an interdisciplinary approach—combining bioinformatics, epidemiology, public health, genomics and microbiology principles. The aim is to use these tools to improve our ability to predict antimicrobial resistance, understand patterns of disease transmission, detect outbreaks and provide insights into pathogen evolution.

Guthrie is also an adjunct scientist at Public Health Ontario and has played a central role in developing and implementing the SARS-CoV-2 genomics program at Public Health Ontario, which serves as the lead organization for the Ontario COVID-19 Genomics Consortium (OCGN). She also co-chairs the OCGN Bioinformatics and Data Analysis Working Group. In addition, she is a contributing member of several Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network and Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network committees and working groups setting national and international standards for genomic surveillance, metadata harmonization and bioinformatics analysis.