Our Team | Program Office for Laboratory Quality Management

	Dr. Lucy Perrone MSPH, PhD, Director of Program Office for Laboratory Quality Management (POLQM), Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia Dr. Lucy A. Perrone is a diplomatic and value-centric leader and has more than 20 years’ experience at the international level strengthening health and laboratory systems in more than 30 countries. Dr. Perrone’s work focuses on diagnostic medicine accuracy and equity, specifically laboratory quality and compliance, taking system- level approaches to ensuring equitable access to quality assured testing, network optimization, laboratory service sustainability, regulation and governance. Dr. Perrone has held faculty and leadership positions in academia and government, collaborated with many international NGOs and UN agencies including the WHO in nearly every region. She has published 60+ peer- reviewed manuscripts, National plans, National policies and National guidelines. Dr. Perrone currently holds the Donald B. Rix Professorship in Laboratory Quality, and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Perrone is the Chair of the Canadian Microbiology Proficiency Testing Program (ISO 17043:2022 accredited), and the Director of the Program Office for Laboratory Quality Management. Dr. Perrone is a member of the Canadian Standards Association and the ISO working group TC2-12 which shapes the ISO 15189:2022 standard.
	Kim Nicholson MLT, BA, Strategic Lead, Medical Biochemistry, BC’s Agency for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Provincial Health Service Authority, British Columbia Kim Nicholson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership as well as being registered as a Medical Laboratory Technologist with the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science. The focus of Kim’s MLT career has largely been Biochemistry but he has also spent significant time involved in accreditation, quality management, and informatics. Kim started his career in Saskatoon in biochemistry and developed an interest in informatics. From there he took advantage of job opportunities being offered in the Middle East with the aim of not only broadening his career but to use the opportunity to travel the world. The highly dynamic workforce and resulting career opportunities turned what was to be a 1 year contract into 20. The Middle East not only enabled expanded possibilities and growth in biochemistry and informatics but also opened up quality management and accreditation opportunities. With the College of American Pathologists being the predominant accreditation body operating in the Middle East at the time, Kim not only became adept at navigating the CAP standards and the quality management principles which they inculcate. It was only a small leap to becoming a CAP inspector in the region. On his return to Canada, Kim soon joined the Diagnostic Accreditation Program within the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. Working as an accreditation assessor with the DAP provided Kim the opportunity to travel the province and work collaboratively with the laboratory community through accreditation. As part of its mandate, the DAP began a project to incorporate ISO 15189, 15190 and 22870 standards within their own, with the eventual aim to offering ISO accreditation to interested laboratories within British Columbia. Kim was an integral part of the team tasked with revising and adapting the DAP standards to be compliant with ISO. Kim now works with British Columbia’s new provincial lab agency responsible for strategic planning of medical biochemistry in the province with a mandate to ensure that clinical laboratory diagnostics are quality driven, achieve excellent clinical outcomes, and remain sustainable by being provided effectively and efficiently.
	Mr. Mario Hemens Accreditation and Risk Consultant for the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority in Moose Factory Medical Laboratory Technologist, member of CSMLS since 1982 and also member of the CMLTO. MLT training at the IWK Hospital for Children in Halifax, Nova Scotia and worked in various hospital labs across Canada, the United States and Saudi Arabia. Also have experience in the private lab sector having worked at Dynacare in Ottawa and LifeLabs in Victoria. Initial focus of my working career was in hematology/special coagulation. Recent years my focus has changed to laboratory management with an interest in quality management, accreditation, continuous improvement and people development. Certificates in Laboratory Quality Management from UBC and the Michener Institute. Familiar with the CAP and ACD (IQMH) accreditation process, including auditing. Green Belt in Lean 6 Sigma training. Currently Accreditation and Risk Consultant for the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority in Moose Factory.
	Jane Weitzel Jane Weitzel has been working in analytical chemistry for over 40 years for pharmaceutical and mining companies. She is a member of the 2025-2030 EC Pharmaceutical Analysis Lifecycle and Data Science Expert Committee and was elected to the United States Pharmacopeia Council of Experts as chair of the 2020-2025 General Chapters–Measurement and Data Quality Expert Committee. She was a member of the USP 2015-2020 Statistics Expert Committee. She has been Director of pharmaceutical Quality Control laboratories. She has experience with many different regulatory environments. She is currently a consultant specializing in laboratory management systems, GMP testing, and ISO/IEC 17025. She is an auditor and an educator. Jane has applied Quality Systems and statistical techniques, including the evaluation and use of measurement uncertainty, in a wide variety of technical and scientific businesses. She is focusing on the implementation of the new USP General Chapter <1220> Analytical Procedures Life Cycle. .
	Mr. Phillip Morehouse MLT CMQ/OE (ASQ) Phillip is a Registered Medical Laboratory Technologist with the Canadian Society of Medical Laboratory Sciences and a Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence with the American Society of Quality with over 4 decades of senior leadership experience spanning technical, operational and management for a wide range of laboratory disciplines including Quality Management, Regulatory Compliance and Infection Prevention and Control. Phillip has held leadership positions at the Director level in a large multisite Public Hospital Health Authority and most recently a large Private Canadian Reference Laboratory which is certified to ISO 15189. He has experience with Accreditation Canada Diagnostics (ACD), the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia Diagnostic Accreditation (DAP) and the College of American Pathologist Accreditation. Phillip has been an Accreditation Canada Diagnostics Advisory Panel Member since 2023 and was appointed to the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Expert Panel on Quality Management Systems in Jan 2025. His contributions to CLSI include QMS01: Quality Management Systems: A Model for Laboratory Services, 5th Edition, QMS26: Developing and Managing Laboratory Records, QMS 20: Applying the Cost of Quality in Medical Laboratories and QMS 29 Management Review. Phillip has been an Instructor in the Laboratory Quality Management Course at University of British Columbia for the last 5 years and hopes to impact the Quality of Laboratory Services Globally through continuous learning and improvement.
	Dr. Jaya Shrivastava Interim Head of Research and Development at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, UK Dr Jaya Shrivastava has over 20 years of experience in the field of Parasitology combining strengths in clinical diagnostics and life science research with advanced expertise in proficiency testing and laboratory quality management. She is a Clinical Scientist with her MSc and BSc degrees from India. She went onto do her D. Phil at University of Oxford on Molecular Epidemiology of Schistosomes. She followed it up with a post-doc at Cancer Research UK investigating a genome wide gene deletion for identification of novel cell cycle inhibitors. She has managed the UK NEQAS’ proficiency testing schemes for Parasitology and successfully run 10 such schemes at global level. Jaya is also an honorary Associate professor at the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Faculty of Infectious and Tropical diseases). Currently, Jaya is working within the NHS as Head of R&D at RCHT wherein she enables improved health outcomes through integrated research.
	Mr. Kilian Songwe PMP, The AG Group, Regional Director -Africa Kilian Songwe is a leader in quality systems strengthening in laboratory medicine on the African continent. He has spent over 15 years on the African continent supporting over 16 government ministries of health, Department of Laboratory Medicine and leading over 35 laboratories at different levels to ISO 15189, ISO 17025 and ISO 9001 accreditation and certification respectively. Kilian was formerly the Principal Investigator for a number of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cooperative Agreements to support laboratory strengthening. During this time, he developed training curricular and materials, supported mentorships and coaching at laboratory facilities from district laboratories to national reference level laboratories. He also trained laboratory personnel and other ministry of health laboratory personnel on how to conduct both internal audits and external audits using ISO 19011. He is an expert at developing curriculum within context of different countries; he most recently developed the SLMTA Supplemental Curriculum for Uganda that led to the certification of over 45 laboratories by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM). Kilian is currently a senior consultant for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supporting the establishment of National Public Health Institutes in the nine countries of Central Africa of which laboratory systems and network is one of the five key pillars. Kilian is also supporting as a mentor, the Global Laboratory Leadership Program (GLLP) aimed for laboratory directors and senior laboratory professionals to specialize in leadership and management thus allowing for labs to play their key role in the detection, prevention and fight against diseases. Kilian is a member of the WHO -Afro Multilingual Laboratory Expert Training (MELT) team and has supported the review and revision of the WHO -Afro SLIPTA checklist. Kilian was most recently tapped by the World Health Organization, Uganda office to support the ministry of health in Uganda evaluate the laboratories in country for effective COVID-19 testing thus leading to the decentralization of COVID-19 testing and strengthening of all border health post. As the Regional Director -Africa of The AG Group, Kilian works very closely with development partners, government agencies and the private sector to support implementation of quality systems that will result in effective and efficient service delivery for patients and clients to health facilities. Kilian is often invited as quest speaker to international conferences, most recently to the 4th International Forum on Management of Public Health Emergencies in Cameroon, Nov. 2022. Kilian is an expert at brokerage, and was instrumental in convening bodies such as SANAS, SADCAS and KENAS to support LQMS in Uganda. Kilian is trained and is an auditor for ISO 9001, ISO 15189, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. He holds an MPH from The George Washington University, an MSBA from Strayer University and BSc (Hons) in Medical Laboratory Technology from The University of the District of Columbia.
	Ms. Maggie Ma Program Coordinator, UBC Program Office for Laboratory Quality Management Maggie has been the program coordinator for the Program Office for Laboratory Quality Management since 2008. She is the primary contact for POLQM.
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