Jennifer Taher

Dr. Jennifer Taher is a Clinical Biochemist in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP) at the University of Toronto.

She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in the Department of LMP studying lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in insulin resistance and subsequently completed the Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Chemistry.

Dr. Taher has an active role in education. She serves as a member on the Professional Graduate Education Committee in LMP, and supervises Clinical Biochemistry Postdoctoral Fellows for 6 months/year.

Dr. Taher is also an active member of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemistry (CSCC) Covid-19 Special Interest Group and has led efforts for the development of a national consensus guidance document. She is heavily involved in several local and national Covid-19 research initiatives.

Research Synopsis

Dr. Taher is the Co-Principle Investigator of a CIHR funded prospective, observational cohort study called GENCOV.

The project is conducted among COVID-19 patients seen at 6 hospitals in Ontario. The team is comprised of 25 co-investigators and collaborators with clinical and laboratory expertise from Sinai Health System, University Health Network, Baycrest Health Sciences, Mackenzie Health, and William Osler Hospital.

The project goal is aimed at linking genome and viral sequencing information to antibody/serological response to identify characteristics of Covid-19 patients that result in poor and favourable outcomes.

Follow the GENCOV study on Twitter

Selected Publications

Bohn, MK., Hall, A., Wilson, S., Taher, J., Sepiashvilli, L., Adeli, K. Pediatric evaluation of clinical specificity and sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM serology assays. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. 2021; 6: e235-e237.

Taher, J., Naranian, T., Poon, Y., Merola, A., Mestre, T., Suchowersky, O., Kulasigam, V., Fasano, A. Vitamins and infusion of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel. The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 2021; 20: 1-30.

Bailey, D., Konforte, D., Barakauskas, VE., Yip, PM., Kulasingam, V., Abou El Hassan, M., Beach, LA., Blasutig, IM., Catomeris, P., Dooley KC., Gong, Y., Kavsak, P., Randell, EW., Robinson, JL., Shaw, J., Taher, J., White-Al Habeeb. Nicole. Canadian Society of clinical chemists (CSCC) interim consensus guidance for testing and reporting of SARS-CoV-2 serology. Clinical Biochemistry 2020; 85: 1-7.

Taher, J., Chen, C., Kulasingam, V. A puzzling case of hyperviscosity syndrome. Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine. 2020; 5(1): 209-213.

Taher, J., Beriault, DR., Yip, D., Tahir, S., Hicks, LK., Gilmour, JA. Reducing free thyroid hormone testing through multiple plan-do-study-act cycles. Clinical Biochemistry. 2020; 81:41-46.

Taher, J., Brinc, D., Gilmour, J., Hicks, L., Beriault, D. Validating thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) reflex cutpoints in a tertiary hospital. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. 2019; doi: 10.1515/cclm-2019-0396.

Taher, J., Cosme, J., Renley, B., Daghfal, D., and Yip, P. A novel Sigma metric encompasses global multi-site performance of 18 assays on the Abbott Alinity system. Clinical Biochemistry. 2018; 63:106-112.

Taher, J., Baker, C., Alvarez, D, Ijaz, L., Hussain, M., Adeli, K. GLP-2 increases fasting dyslipidemia and VLDL production through increased hepatic de novo lipogenesis. Endocrinology. 2018; 159(9):3340-3350.

Online Resources

Taher, J., Tran, V., Dubbay, J. A rapid test but not a rapid solution. University of Toronto, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Online News. 2021

Appointments

Clinical Biochemist, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital

Honours and Awards

Distinguished Educator Award, Mount Sinai Hospital (2020)