Alison Elliott: Associate Professor at Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Associate Professor

Faculty of Medicine

Research Classification

Other health sciences

Research Interests

rare disease

genomics

Congenital Malformations

Skeletal and limb anomalies

Genetic Counselling

Health services implementation science

Relevant Degree Programs

View all programs

Affiliations to Research Centres, Institutes & Clusters

BC Children's Hospital Research Institute

Women's Health Research Institute

Research Options

I am available and interested in collaborations (e.g. clusters, grants).

I am interested in and conduct interdisciplinary research.

I am interested in working with undergraduate students on research projects.

Open All

Research Methodology

qualitative and quantitative methods, health services implementation science, genetic counselling

Recruitment

Looking to recruit:

Master's students

Doctoral students

Postdoctoral Fellows

Potential research project areas:

Genetic counselling

Birth defects

Health Implementation Science

Other options:

I am interested in hiring Co-op students for research placements.

I am interested in supervising students to conduct interdisciplinary research.

Complete these steps before you reach out to a faculty member!

Check requirements

Familiarize yourself with program requirements. You want to learn as much as possible from the information available to you before you reach out to a faculty member. Be sure to visit the graduate degree program listing and program-specific websites.
Check whether the program requires you to seek commitment from a supervisor prior to submitting an application. For some programs this is an essential step while others match successful applicants with faculty members within the first year of study. This is either indicated in the program profile under "Admission Information & Requirements" - "Prepare Application" - "Supervision" or on the program website.

Focus your search

Identify specific faculty members who are conducting research in your specific area of interest.
Establish that your research interests align with the faculty member’s research interests.
- Read up on the faculty members in the program and the research being conducted in the department.
- Familiarize yourself with their work, read their recent publications and past theses/dissertations that they supervised. Be certain that their research is indeed what you are hoping to study.

Make a good impression

Compose an error-free and grammatically correct email addressed to your specifically targeted faculty member, and remember to use their correct titles.
- Do not send non-specific, mass emails to everyone in the department hoping for a match.
- Address the faculty members by name. Your contact should be genuine rather than generic.
Include a brief outline of your academic background, why you are interested in working with the faculty member, and what experience you could bring to the department. The supervision enquiry form guides you with targeted questions. Ensure to craft compelling answers to these questions.
Highlight your achievements and why you are a top student. Faculty members receive dozens of requests from prospective students and you may have less than 30 seconds to pique someone’s interest.
Demonstrate that you are familiar with their research:
- Convey the specific ways you are a good fit for the program.
- Convey the specific ways the program/lab/faculty member is a good fit for the research you are interested in/already conducting.
Be enthusiastic, but don’t overdo it.

Attend an information session

G+PS regularly provides virtual sessions that focus on admission requirements and procedures and tips how to improve your application.

ADVICE AND INSIGHTS FROM UBC FACULTY ON REACHING OUT TO SUPERVISORS

These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor.

Supervision Enquiry

If you have reviewed some of this faculty member's publications, understand their research interests and have reviewed the admission requirements, you may .

Graduate Student Supervision

Master's Student Supervision

Theses completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest theses.

Investigating trends in out-of-pocket pay for out-of-province genetic testing in British Columbia (2022)

Introduction In British Columbia (BC), the institution responsible for funding out-of-province genetic testing (clinical genetic tests not provided by BC laboratories) changed as of June 1st 2018, from the Medical Services Plan (MSP) public health insurance to the BC Agency for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (BCAPLM). This study aimed to investigate the effect of this changeover, by examining the trends in out-of-province testing and uptake of patient out-of-pocket (OOP) pay, from January 1st 2015 to December 31st 2019. This study also aimed to explore relationships between patient OOP pay and variables such as clinical indication, postal code, and income.Methods De-identified patient data was received from the BC Provincial Medical Genetics Program (PMGP) and the BC Cancer Hereditary Cancer Program (HCP). To examine the effect of the change in funding authority on out-of-province testing, an interrupted time series analysis was performed using PMGP data. Regression analysis using HCP data was carried out to explore the relationships between OOP pay with patient and test characteristics.Results The number of out-of-province tests completed through the PMGP, and the number of tests completed through the HCP, rose year-on-year between 2015 and 2019, with increases of 260% and 320%, respectively. Under MSP, the total number of out-of-province tests did not exhibit a statistically significant change (mean difference per month, 0.33; 95% CI -0.37, 1.02). Under BCAPLM, the number of tests increased by 2.35 per-month (95% CI 1.03, 3.66). In particular, the volume of known mutation tests, panel tests, and exome singletons increased considerably following the changeover. The likelihood of a patient having an OOP payment decreased by 87% under BCAPLM (95% CI 0.06, 0.32). For each year studied, patients who paid OOP had average annual income at least $3500 higher those who received funding, indicating that patients with lower incomes were less likely to pay OOP.Conclusions While many factors contribute to the demand for and coverage of clinical genetic testing, for example emerging data about the utility of exome sequencing for singletons vs. trios, coverage of out-of-province genetic and genomic testing has improved in BC since the introduction of BCAPLM.

View record