Jennifer Gardy is a Canadian scientist, educator and broadcaster, with expertise in the fields of

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

, and

bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field of science that develops methods and Bioinformatics software, software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Bioinformatics uses biology, ...

. Since February 2019 she has been the Deputy Director, Surveillance, Data, and Epidemiology on the Global Health: Malaria team at the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

. She was previously an associate professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Population and Public Health, a Canada Research Chair in Public Health Genomics, and a Senior Scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control. She is an occasional host of

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

The Nature of Things ''The Nature of Things'' (formerly, ''The Nature of Things with David Suzuki'') is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on 6 November 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect th ...

, a science communicator, and a children's book author. She was elected to the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

in 2021 as an International Member.

Education

Gardy received her PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

in 2006. Previously, she earned a BSc in Cell Biology and Genetics from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(2000) and a Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 2001.

BC Centre for Disease Control

Dr. Gardy began working for the

BC Centre for Disease Control The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is the public health arm for British Columbia's Provincial Health Services Authority. The BCCDC is located at 655 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC. The Centre has tuberculosis and sexually transmitted inf ...

(BCCDC) in 2009. During Dr. Gardy's time at the BCCDC, her team published the first paper to use next-generation DNA sequencing to reconstruct person-to-person disease transmission events in a large outbreak of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. This and subsequent work from her team helped to establish the new field of pathogen genomic epidemiology. In 2014, she was made the

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

(Tier 2) in Public Health Genomics.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

In her current role at the Gates Foundation, Dr. Gardy oversees strategy and investment activities for the Malaria Surveillance, Data, and Epidemiology portfolio, which focuses on empowering National Malaria Control Programs to use better-quality data and advanced analytics for malaria strategic planning, decision-making, and policy-setting. Her portfolio includes work related to strengthening routine surveillance systems for malaria, improving data use within malaria programs, malaria genetic and genomic surveillance, and geospatial and mathematical modeling to understand malaria epidemiology.

Media

Jennifer Gardy has appeared on Discovery Channel Canada's

Daily Planet The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics ...

. Jennifer Gardy has made regular appearances on CBC's documentary series The Nature of Things and hosted these episodes: * Bugs, Bones & Botany: The Science of Crime * Myth or Science * Myth or Science 2: The Quest for Perfection * Dreams of the Future * Myth or Science 3: You Are What You Eat * Myth or Science 4: In the Eye of the Storm * While You Were Sleeping (The Science of Sleep) * Myth or Science: The Secrets of Our Senses * Myth or Science: The Power of Poo

Selected publications

* Gardy JL, Johnston JC, Shannon JHS et al. 2011. Whole genome sequencing and social-network analysis of a tuberculosis outbreak. N Engl J Med 364:730-739. * Lynn, DJ, Gardy JL, Hancock REW, Brinkman FSL. 2010. Systems-Level Analyses of the Mammalian Innate Immune Response. Book chapter in Systems Biology for Signaling Networks, Springer Publishing, NY. * Gardy JL, Lynn, DJ, Brinkman FSL, Hancock REW. 2009. Systems biology of the innate immune response: emerging approaches and resources. Trends in Immunology 30:249-262. * Vivona S, Gardy JL, Ramachandran S, Brinkman FSL, Raghava GPS, Flower DR, Filippini F. Computer-aided biotechnology: from immunoinformatics to reverse vaccinology. Trends in Biotechnology. 26:190-200. * Brown KL, Cosseau C, Gardy JL, Hancock REW. 2007. Complexities of targeting innate immunity to treat infection. Trends in Immunology. 28:260-6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardy, Jennifer Living people Canadian biochemists Women biochemists Canadian evolutionary biologists Women evolutionary biologists Simon Fraser University alumni McGill University alumni 21st-century Canadian biologists 21st-century Canadian women scientists Canadian public health researchers University of British Columbia alumni 1979 births