Rousseau Gama1,2, Jin Ye Yeo3
1Black Country Pathology Services, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton, UK; 2School of Medicine and Clinical Practice, Wolverhampton University, UK; 3JLPM Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. JLPM Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: jlpm@amegroups.com
Expert introduction
Prof. Rousseau Gama (Figure 1) is tenured professor of Laboratory and Metabolic Medicine in Wolverhampton University, UK and Consultant Chemical Pathologist for the Black Country Pathology Services, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton, UK. Prof Gama received his medical degree (MB ChB) from Liverpool University and subsequent doctorate in medicine (MD) on the clinical and cost effectiveness of laboratory tests based in the Wolfson Research Laboratories, Birmingham, UK. After training in general internal medicine with a focus on endocrinology and metabolism, he completed specialised training in Chemical Pathology (Clinical Biochemistry) in Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, UK.
Prof. Gama holds or has held several national and regional appointments for the Royal College of Pathologists, Association of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Association of Clinical Pathologists and Health Education West Midlands. Prof Gama has over 180 cited publications and serves on editorial boards of several journals.
Prof. Gama looks after patients with dyslipidaemia, endocrine disease and metabolic disorders in his clinics. His overriding laboratory interest is in developing patient pathways driven by research focusing on laboratory healthcare delivery leading to improvements in patient safety, care and outcomes.
Figure 1 Prof. Rousseau Gama
Interview
JLPM: What drove you into the field of laboratory and metabolic medicine?
Prof. Gama: My undergraduate and postgraduate medical and scientific training made this a logical choice. Like most things in life, however, it is people who inspire and for me this was the late Professor Vincent Marks. After working with him, there was no looking back or sidewards…and no regrets.
JLPM: Could you provide a brief overview of the current publication landscape in laboratory healthcare delivery? Are there any articles that stood out to you?
Prof. Gama: Laboratory medicine is pivotal in the diagnosis and management of most disease and therefore its academic landscape is vast and never-ending. This makes it impossible to pick out stand out articles; there are so, so, so many. I will, however, follow progress on blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease with interest.
JLPM: What aspects of laboratory healthcare delivery do you believe have received insufficient attention?
Prof. Gama: Laboratory medicine should be much more than just a factory which produces precise, accurate, and quality-assured results. Is it possible for the laboratory to produce more meaningful data other than numbers with units attached? Whilst the pre-analytical phase and analytical phase of the laboratory test process continue to be well-addressed, the post-analytical phase has received relatively scant attention. Greater emphasis should therefore be placed on providing an evidence base for improving post-analytical processes leading to better patient care and outcomes.
JLPM: A few years back, your team at Black Country Pathology Services (BCPS) laboratories developed a novel laboratory-based IT-driven clinical pathway to improve the detection of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). How has the application of this algorithm improved the intervention and treatment of FH?
Prof. Gama: This novel laboratory IT solution (Figure 2) for improving detection of FH and streamlining the patient pathway allows for earlier intervention, and treatment of patients has been implemented by Dr Lauren Starbrook and is currently under evaluation. After exclusion of secondary hyperlipidemia, a FH risk score is calculated by the laboratory information system. A high-risk score generates an automatic email referral to regional genetic service for genetic testing. The requesting clinician receives the results and outcomes using established pathology result reports and the patient is informed by automated telephone texts. If successful, we envisage direct laboratory referral to secondary and tertiary care which could be applied across multiple patient pathways; the laboratory at the heart of direct patient care.
Figure 2 Novel laboratory-based IT-driven clinical pathway to improve the detection of familial hypercholesterolemia
JLPM: Could you share some ongoing projects you are currently involved in? What research gaps do you hope to address with these projects?
Prof. Gama: Our research and innovation projects are driven by improving service provision. Current interests include plasma and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in exclusion of post-operative acute kidney injury, clinical utility of salivary testosterone, trisodium citrate laboratory sample contamination, and the clinical utility of blood markers of traumatic brain injury.
JLPM: In addition to research, you also have a rich experience being part of numerous professional organizations. How do you apply these experiences in your teaching and research?
Prof. Gama: I am not a natural committee person, often but not always feeling “never has so little been done by so many”. It is my clinical, laboratory, research, teaching, and mentoring experience and those of many others that have helped me deliver and try to improve medical and scientific healthcare education and training for various professional organizations.
JLPM: Looking back, what do you consider to be the most significant achievement/milestone in your career?
Prof. Gama: There is no looking back; I know that I could and should have done much better. I would like to think that for many trainees “we lit the fire rather than filled a vacuum” and this has been the basis of their outstanding success, but clearly how brightly the fire burns has been down to them.
JLPM: How has your experience been as an Editorial Board Member of JLPM?
Prof. Gama: Enjoyable, educational, satisfying, and fun. I have enjoyed working with the excellent editorial team; work is always more enjoyable when you do it with people you like.
JLPM: As the Associate Editor-in-Chief, what are your expectations for JLPM?
Prof. Gama: JLPM is already a highly respected journal which attracts a multinational authorship and readership. My hopes and expectations for JPLM are continued success and to be indexed by PubMed.