Carmen Charlton
PhD, FCCM, D(ABMM), MSc, MLT, BScH
Medical microbiologist
Other Titles/Affiliations:
Associate professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta
Research areas
- microbiology
- virology
- hepatitis
- infectious disease screening
- emerging pathogens
Brief biography
Dr. Carmen Charlton is a board-certified Clinical Microbiologist with a certificate in Medical Microbiology and Public Health. She completed her PhD in Bacteriology at McMaster University, and her Clinical Microbiology training at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has experience in diagnostic infectious disease testing for public health, and has overseen provincial Hepatitis, HIV, and prenatal testing programs for Alberta. She is an associate professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta, where she engages in research on blood screening for public health. Dr. Charlton is part of the Canadian Blood Services donation policy and studies team and is excited to bring her experience in public health to donor testing and help ensure the safety of the blood supply.
Research interests
Dr. Carmen Charlton’s research focuses on the diagnosis of infectious diseases and how these diseases influence public health and blood donor screening. Particularly, she examines how changes to clinical laboratory testing algorithms can improve disease detection and subsequent linkage to care and treatment of disease. Dr. Charlton wants her research to have a direct influence on patient care and seeks to find ways to improve patient experience and efficiency of the healthcare system.
She has worked extensively with prenatal populations to understand the understand the level and transmission of diseases such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis, rubella and varicella.
Finally, Dr. Charlton has an interest in vaccine-preventable diseases and is exploring the role of cell mediated and humoral immunity on vaccine protectiveness against rubella and varicella in local Canadian populations.
Other appointments
- CACMID/AMMI Central Planning Committee, 2015–2024.
- Treasurer Canadian Association of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (CACMID), 2020–2024.
- President CACMID, 2019–2020.
- Vice President CACMID, 2017–2019.
- CACMID board member, 2015–2017.