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Nathan Zelyas
Dr. Nathan Zelyas is a medical microbiologist in Alberta, Canada. He is one of “about 20” such specialists in the province.1)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Zelyas supported the implementation of molecular diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 infections in Alberta.2)
Affiliations
Alberta Health Services
Zelyas is the Provincial Laboratory representative for the AHS COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group under Alberta Health Services.3)
Alberta Precision Labs
Zelyas is a Medical Microbiologist at Alberta Precision Laboratories, and is the APL Public Health Program leader for Respiratory Viruses.4)
University of Alberta
Zelyas is Program Director for the Medical Microbiology Residency Program at the University of Alberta.5)
Publications
- August 11, 2021: Precision Response to the Rise of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 Variant of Concern by Combining Novel PCR Assays and Genome Sequencing for Rapid Variant Detection and Surveillance6)
- Funded by the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN) supported by Genome Alberta and Genome Canada.
- The Board of Directors for Genome Canada includes representatives from Bayer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States National Institutes of Health, Shell, SickKids, and the University of Oxford. They also received funding from BIOTECanada (AstraZeneca, Biodextris, GlaxoSmithKline, IMV, Janssen, Medicago, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, Valneva, VBI Vaccines, Virica Biotech, and VIDO-Intervac).7)
Media Appearances
CBC News
- Omicron surveillance key as Alberta tries to control new, worrying variant8)
1)
Weltz, L. (2020, May). Always on alert for health threats. Alberta Doctors’ Digest. https://archive.ph/7akGj/
2)
Poliquin, G., Forgie, S., Zelyas, N., & Charlton, C. (2021). Challenges in COVID-19 Laboratory Testing. Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (AMMI) Canada (p. 3). Public Health Agency of Canada. https://ammi.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CUPA-TEA-Challenges-in-COVID-19-diagnostics-FINAL.pdf
3)
2019-nCoV Scientific Advisory Group. (2021, May 27). Alberta Health Services. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/ppih/if-ppih-covid-19-sag-terms-of-reference.pdf
4)
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Laboratory Update. (2020, January 31). Alberta Health Services; Alberta Precision Laboratories. https://archive.ph/wph4a
5)
Contact | Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. University of Alberta. Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://archive.ph/NKRka
6)
Zelyas, N., Pabbaraju, K., Croxen, M. A., Lynch, T., Buss, E., Murphy, S. A., Shokoples, S., Wong, A., Kanji, J. N., & Tipples, G. (2021). Precision Response to the Rise of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 Variant of Concern by Combining Novel PCR Assays and Genome Sequencing for Rapid Variant Detection and Surveillance. Microbiology Spectrum. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00315-21
7)
BIOTECanada. (2021, October 15). Canada’s Vaccine Industry Committee. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from http://www.biotech.ca/policy-matters/health/canadas-vaccine-industry-committee/
8)
Lee, J. (2021, December 7). Omicron surveillance key as Alberta tries to control new, worrying variant. CBC News; CBC/Radio-Canada. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/omicron-surveillance-alberta-1.6275783